e Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC).

The mayors of Shelbyville and Wartrace met recently with local Hispanic business people and the state executive director of TSBDC, Gregory Sedrick. The focus of the meeting was to inform the Hispanic community about small business development and training that is available free of charge.

Two meetings will be held within the next few weeks: one for start up businesses on Tuesday, Nov. 8, and on Nov. 9 for existing businesses at noon until 2 p.m. on both days. The location for the meetings are to be announced and will be open to all, not just Hispanics wanting assistance.

The TSBDC is a network of professional business consultants with 12 centers and two satellite offices in 14 cities with several smaller affiliate offices throughout Tennessee, offering free assistance to help people grow and develop successful, thriving businesses. The closest office is located in Murfreesboro at the Chamber of Commerce.

They also maintain an International Trade Center and a Technology and Energy Services Center for those in need of specialized help. Over 79,000 businesses in Tennessee have received TSBDC's counsel in the areas of accounting, banking, expansion, international trade, marketing, public relations, sources of capital, tax planning, advertising, employee relations, finance, management, operations, sales training, and location analysis.

The TSBDC also works with the U.S. Small Business Administration, Tennessee Board of Regents, and the State of Tennessee. The organization also has a partnership with the Mexican government offering classes in Spanish literacy, so that the same counselors can work with Hispanics with their small business needs.

Some of the Hispanic businessmen present noted that many that come to the area are not sure what kind of business they want to go into and, most of the time, just go into the business they already know.

Bartolo Pina, who has been here since 1988, runs a different business: J&K Jewelry and Accessories, which has branched out to handle weddings, communions, 15th birthdays, presentations and baptisms.

Sedrick said they do not want to close any doors to Hispanics and want to know what they are interested in. Shelbyville Mayor Geneva Smith noted that most Hispanics that come to the area go into the grocery business targeting only their community or restaurants.

"There are people here who run a grocery store and they really need to expand, but they don't know what to do," Pina said.

Sedrick said that for every dollar invested by the TSBDC, a little over six dollars is returned in the form of state and federal income sources. Over 80 percent of the jobs in the 1990s were created by small businesses and 89 percent of the businesses in Tennessee were small businesses.

However, half of the businesses started this year will be bankrupt five years from now, Sedrick said, primarily due to lack of planning and capital. The TSBDC will sit down with clients, examine their business plan and help get it into shape. They also help with filling out Small Business Administration (SBA) guaranteed loan forms and conventional bank loans.

For more information about the meetings and service available for those wanting to get into small business, contact Sedrick at (615) 653-1293 or e-mail gsedrick@mail.tsbdc.org.