No-cost Workshop Explores Social Entrepreneurship

nwi-sbdcThe Northwest ISBDC is teaming up with the Indiana University Northwest Center for Urban and Regional Excellence and the School of Business and Economics to offer a social entrepreneurship workshop.

The event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday March 13 at IUN, 3400 Broadway at the Dunes Medical/Professional Building in Room 2158. For parking information, visit www.iun.edu/parking/index.htm.

Sponsored in part by Innovate Indiana, there is no cost for the workshop but registration is required as there is limited seating. To register, call the Northwest ISBDC at (219) 644-3513 or register online at http://goo.gl/2iwaoA. Light refreshments will be provided.

The workshop will explore the idea of social entrepreneurship and help connect participants with local high school students to exchange ideas and work toward developing a concept design for a small business social entrepreneurship initiative.

IUN professor of marketing Subir Bandyopadhyay, PhD, will facilitate the event, which also aims to help business owners in developing a template for a business plan for a social entrepreneurship project.

"Social entrepreneurship offers an excellent opportunity to an entrepreneur to combine business objectives - such as growth in sales and profits - with a social need - for example providing clean water," says Bandyopadhyay.

“Since a distinct social cause is associated with social entrepreneurship, it helps in building goodwill and consumer loyalty for the company and its products or services which, in turn, leads to growth and development for the company.”

Serving seven counties in the region, the NW-ISBDC offers no-cost assistance for entrepreneurs starting or expanding their businesses. Through one-on-one consulting, the NW-ISBDC helps guide small businesses toward their goals by offering referrals, workshops, training opportunities and other essential business tools. It is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the Small Business Administration, the State of Indiana and other local partners.

For more information, visit www.nwisbdc.org.