Mayor Thomas Congratulates 19 Graduates from the Inaugural Mount Vernon Entrepreneurship Training Program

Last Thursday, we graduated 19 Mount Vernon entrepreneurs who completed the Women’s Enterprise Development Center 60-hour Entrepreneur Training program. This was the inaugural class of the Mount Vernon Entrepreneurial Training Program, part of the Mayor’s Healthy Homes Initiative. The goal of the program is to provide high quality business training and advisory services to residents looking to realize their American Dream in the city of Mount Vernon.

Since the class began in February, the students met every Thursday to learn about small business fundamentals from book keeping, marketing, cash management to how to put together a successful business plan. It was an emotional night for many of the graduates who were joined by friends and family.

“First, I want to congratulate all the entrepreneurs here tonight,” said Mayor Thomas. “This is the first time we’ve offered this program in our city, and I’m proud of the 19 entrepreneurs that are here tonight graduating. Investing in our small business community has been a major priority for my administration. I want to thank the Women’s Enterprise Development Center for partnering with the City of Mount Vernon to bring this program to our city. I hope be able to visit your business soon.”

Redina Hembree, owner of King’s Southern Delight Restaurant located at 284 E. 3rd Street in Mount Vernon, gave the opening remarks. As an alumni and board member of Women’s Enterprise Development Center (WEDC), she talked about her first-hand experience with starting a business in Mount Vernon. “A small business is like a new born child. You have to nurture it in order to make it grow, she said. “You will also have unexpected situations that you must overcome to succeed. By completing this course, you have acquired some of the skills necessary to succeed.” 10 years ago Ms. Hembree completed a similar WEDC entrepreneur training.

Class representative Maalkah Francis, owner of the Zest for Life juice company, thanked Mayor Thomas on behalf of the class for his vision to bring this program to Mount Vernon. The Thomas Administration has worked with WEDC on access to capital and many other small business seminars over the past two years. Funding for the program was provided by the City of Mount Vernon Community Development Grant Program.

For more information on WEDC’s entrepreneur training programs, please visit wedcbiz.org.