The Metro South Chamber in partnership with North Easton Savings Bank held the 10th Annual Multicultural Business Forum & Business After Hours in Brockton. Guest speaker, Bob Nelson, Small Business Administration MA District Director remarked “The Metro South Chamber has been a strong partner of the SBA over many, many years; we consider you to be one of the best chamber leaders in the entire state of Massachusetts. Thank you for all that you do to support small businesses.” He continued, “This is a special month, Women’s History Month, it’s only fitting that we have a panel of three women entrepreneurs. Women’s entrepreneurship is on fire. When you look at the data from across the United States as far as how many small businesses are being started by women entrepreneurs: 13.3 million female owned small businesses across the United States supporting 10.5 million employees and $2.5 trillion dollars in sales.”
The new SBA Regional Administrator for Region 1 (New England) Peter Steele, a Portuguese Cape Cod native also spoke at the event, emphasizing New England as a highly respected well-run and tight-knit region in the White House and throughout the SBA itself.
The panel of women and minority owned small business owners featured Valencia Jacobs-Brown, J. Brown Realty; Ana Rojas, Red Apron Charcuterie; and Kerry Aglugub, KMA Web Design. The business expo included: South Shore Women’s Business Network, SCORE Business Mentors, U.S. Small Business Administration, Supplier Diversity Office, MassHire Greater Brockton Workforce Board & Career Center, South Eastern Economic Development (SEED) Corp., Greater Brockton Young Professionals, Cape Verdean Association, DCAMM, and more.
Thank you to our event sponsor Dan Trout, North Easton Savings Bank, and emcee Maria Celli, Brockton Neighborhood Health Center.
View more photos on flickr! Photos courtesy of Rich Morgan Photography.
Couldn’t make the event? Don’t worry, we recorded it for you – thanks BCA!
