On May 4th, the Brunswick County Department of Economic Development and the Brunswick County IDA partnered with the RISE Collaborative and the Longwood Small Business Development Center to host a Rise and Shine event. Bar 9 on South Hicks Street hosted the event and provided a delicious breakfast. Rise & Shine is a twice-a-month meetup for entrepreneurs, makers, and innovators in Southern Virginia.
There was standing room only as a large number of people came to network and collaborate. Lauren Mathena, Director of Economic Development and Community Engagement from Mid-Atlantic Broadband, and Tom Chapman from Chapman and Co. were in attendance. The meeting opened with an icebreaker activity. Each attendee was asked to introduce themselves and share how they would invest one million dollars. For the second month in a row, Mrs. Regina Williams brought members of the Brunswick High School Future Business Leaders of America and it was so refreshing to hear these students share their ideas of how they would invest one million dollars in their community. Some of the ideas included education, access to quality health care, and entrepreneurship opportunities.
Mrs. Alfreda Jarrett Reynolds shared, “It is so thrilling to see the attendance at Rise and Shine grow exponentially each month. We are seeing connections and partnerships being formed and I feel that this initiative will create positive change in our locality. So often, business owners feel isolated and coming together with like-minded people can be very refreshing and energizing.” Lauren Mathena shared, “We are excited to support the entrepreneurial energy that is growing in Brunswick County. The Rise & Shine meetups are a great place to get involved. Everyone is welcome to attend, and you will find a great mix of people from students to business owners to educators and community leaders. If you want to find other people who are passionate about solving problems and growing small businesses, you're invited to join RISE Collaborative in Brunswick County.” Mike Dotti, Executive Director of the Brunswick County IDA stated, “The IDA is working with rise Collaborative and Brunswick County to provide information and access to experienced entrepreneurs, existing or potential business and as reference to our youth, we are happy with the participation. Even experienced business people including myself have benefited. We welcome anyone who is interested to come join us. If you want to learn or importantly inspire the next generation of business leaders this is your opportunity.”
There were multiple local businesses represented at this event to include an asphalt maintenance company, a financial advisor, a consulting firm and the directors of three non-profit organizations. In addition, Rise and Shine was attended by Lawrenceville Mayor Scott Martin, Lawrenceville Town Manager Everette Gibson along with Special Projects Coordinator Kimberly Martin. Staff from the county and the Brunswick County IDA were also present. LaVern Dillard, IDA Administrative Services Coordinator and Brunswick County Economic Development Administrative Services Coordinator Beth Raney handle the logistics and schedule for these events.
To see photos from this event, click HERE!
The next Rise and Shine event will be held on June 1, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. at Bar 9. For more information and to register, visit https://sovarise.com/riseandshine/. If you have any questions, please contact LaVern Dillard at the Brunswick County IDA at 434-848-0248 or Beth Raney at the Brunswick County Department of Economic Development at 434-848-3107 or [email protected].