Workshop series helping businesses fill gaps

The city of Dayton’s efforts to support the success of small and disadvantaged businesses are expanding with a new series of workshops focused on technical assistance, acquiring capital and other needs.

The Passport to Success series will take place every second Tuesday through December and is designed to equip city- and state-certified businesses with tools and information for growth.

The program is presented by the Dayton Human Relations Council (HRC) with support from JPMorgan Chase.

“It’s imperative that small businesses have access to the tools they need to succeed,” said Aaron Lumpkin, JPMorgan Chase community manager for Dayton. “These workshops will provide valuable resources and information surrounding topics all small businesses need to succeed such as accessing contracts, counseling and access to capital.”

Each workshop is designed to address business owners’ needs expressed in HRC’s recent small business development survey. The survey identified existing gaps in technical assistance with certified enterprises doing business with the City of Dayton.

“Our goals are to ensure that the hardest-to-reach minority business enterprises are informed of general and upcoming opportunities and have critical resources and assistance in the bidding process,” said Erica Fields, HRC executive director.

The dates and topics are as follows:

July 12-Estimating/Bidding Assistance;

Aug. 9-Access to Capital; Sept. 13-Recruiting/Retaining Quality Employees;

Oct. 11-Capabilities Statements/Marketing;

Nov. 8-Joint Venturing, Mergers/Acquisitions, and Laws Regulating Them;

Dec. 13-Bonding, Insurance, and Workers Compensation.

Registration is available at https://youarecertified. eventbrite.com. For more information, contact Donerik Black of the Dayton Human Relations Council at 937-3331439.