VGCC to offer Agricultural Entrepreneurship program in Vance & Granville counties
With partners at the local and state levels, the Vance-Granville Community College Small Business Center will soon offer the “NC REAL Agricultural Entrepreneurship” program in Henderson and in Oxford.
The seven-week course is designed specifically to help local farmers and budding entrepreneurs succeed in developing profitable, environmentally-sound small farms or agricultural businesses.
The class will be offered at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market (210 Southpark Drive, Henderson) on Saturdays, Jan. 23 through March 5, from 8 until 11 a.m.
At the Granville County Expo & Convention Center (4185 U.S. Highway 15, Oxford), the class will be offered on Mondays, Feb. 8 through March 21, from 6 until 9 p.m.
Space is limited to 20 students at each location.
NC REAL Agricultural Entrepreneurship is designed for small business owners who grow crops or trees, raise livestock, or make sauces, pickles or jams with items from a garden. The goal is for participants to strengthen their business savvy in order to gain the highest profit margin possible.
Participants will consider challenges such as pricing their products; the logistics of getting their products to the market; selecting the best market; and how to generate income between growing seasons. Other topics include business development and management, finance and regulatory requirements, quality and safety standards. Participants will also be introduced to resources and contacts that can help them operate more efficiently and effectively.
The instructor at both locations will be Carrie Harvey of Harvey Hills Farms in Oxford, who is also a client of the VGCC Small Business Center.
“This is a hands-on, interactive program, beneficial to farmers or anyone who grows a marketable agricultural product, who wishes to start a business or has been in business less than three years,” said Tanya Weary, director of the Small Business Center. Each participant will receive free, one-on-one counseling as a client of the Small Business Center, which will help them take their ideas to the next level of business planning.
Tuition for the course is $70, and the cost of the textbook is $25. Scholarships to offset the cost of tuition are available to qualified participants, thanks to support from the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission.
For more information and to register, contact Kyle Burwell, coordinator of Human Resources Development, at (252) 738-3276 or hrd-wk@vgcc.edu, or Tanya Weary at (252) 738-3240 or smallbusiness@vgcc.edu.
Propel GPS holds Ribbon Cutting
Propel GPS, LLC held a ribbon cutting on December 8th to celebrate the expansion of their offices at 946X Crossroads Shopping Center on Highway 39. A Chamber member for over 2 years, the company opened in Henderson over 3 years ago.
Company owner and CEO Rick Burtner welcomed attendees to the event which was part of a Christmas Open House featuring catered refreshments and introductions of team members from various parts of the US. The company offers a one-stop solution for asset management and sensor monitoring in a robust, secure, reliable platform that combines the accuracy of Global Positioning System (GPS) wireless communications using global satellite and cellular technology. It’s user-friendly application is easy to install, operate and manage and allows for the ease of tracking vehicles and/or critical assets directly from a desktop or mobile phone.
If your company has a fleet to manage, drivers to monitor or temperature sensitive perishable goods to haul, Propel GPS may be just the solution for you. In addition, the company takes pride in their involvement with area universities and Vance-Granville Community College through the use of interns, practicum classes and student hires as well partnerships with veterans and veteran groups.
The company has offices in Reston, VA and in Henderson, NC and can be reached for business inquiries at 901-359-4731 or on the web at www.PropelGPS.com.
Blakebrough and Crosson Earn Doctoral Degrees
Donna Blakebrough, an assistant principal at Henderson Middle School, and Jacqueline Crosson, assistant principal at New Hope Elementary School and Pinkston Street Elementary School, have earned doctoral degrees in education.
Both were notified in late October of their success in completing requirements for the degrees. Blakebrough earned her doctorate in school leadership and administration from N.C. State University. Crosson earned her doctorate in educational leadership with a concentration in curriculum and instruction from the University of Phoenix.
Blakebrough and Crosson worked full time as school adm
inistrators while they worked on getting their doctoral degrees. Both admitted that meeting all of their responsibilities, while doing the in depth work required for the degree was challenging.
inistrators while they worked on getting their doctoral degrees. Both admitted that meeting all of their responsibilities, while doing the in depth work required for the degree was challenging.
Blakebrough began work on her degree about eight years ago. During that time, her husband became ill and battled cancer for two years. He lost his battle and Blakebrough said it took another two years for her to gain the motivation again to pursue the degree. She did her dissertation on the teaching and learning that went on at Henderson Institute from 1952-1970, interviewing 10 graduates of the school.“After the interviews, I knew I had to finish this for all these wonderful alumni,” she said.
Blakebrough’s exhaustive research included hours of interviews with the graduates.
“There were several things that struck me during my research,” Blakebrough said. “First, there was the tremendous school culture in which the teachers held such high expectations for their students and told each of them they would be successful, because they had prepared them well. There was no ‘I can’t’ in the school. Teachers were always saying, ‘You can.’
“Then, there were the teacher attributes,” she continued. “All of the graduates told me that they knew their teachers loved them, because they would tell them they loved them and cared for them. The third thing was that the school had very student centered activities. The relationship between the teachers and students was all based on respect. And, there were strong relationships between the school, parents and the community. The community interest was centered around the school, even with adults who didn’t have children in the school.”
Blakebrough said she will always treasure the experience of researching and writing her 200-page dissertation.
“It was lot of work, but the historian in me loved it,” she added. “I learned so much not only about Henderson Institute (grades 9-12), but about the Henderson community. I wouldn’t take anything for that experience of talking to every one of the graduates and learning from them.”
Crosson took almost four years to complete work on her degree. Her dissertation was on the correlation between teacher retention and the principal’s leadership style in Vance County Schools.
“I received such wonderful support from people here in our schools,” she said. “I couldn’t have done it without their help.”
She mentioned she received tremendous help from local principals who included Dr. Michael Putney of Dabney Elementary, David Westbrook of Carver Elementary, and Anne Garrison, former principal of Zeb Vance Elementary. Crosson said she was especially grateful for the help and guidance from the two principals she works with, Heddie Somerville at Pinkston Street, and Dr. Harold Thompson Jr. at New Hope. Crosson splits her time each week at the two schools.
“Their support was amazing,” Crosson said of Somerville and Thompson. “They shared such great information with me and were understanding of the work I needed to do to get my degree.”
Crosson noted that she did all of her work online through the University of Phoenix. She completed the first three chapters of her dissertation in slightly more than a year and it then took about two more years to complete the final two chapters.
“It was really all about writing,” she added. “I would write and then submit my work for review. I would get suggested revisions and then I would refine the writing. It was really hard work, but a really good learning experience.”
Both Blakebrough and Crosson readily admit they are glad they have their degrees and that the hard work is behind them.
“It was a great accomplishment and I now have a great feeling of relief,” Blakebrough said.
“I’m glad it’s over,” Crosson added. “I can breathe now and not think about assignments I have to do.”
(Information for this story provided in a news release by Vance County Schools.)