FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 22, 2006

Contact: Katara Williams
Office of Public Relations
P.O. Box 10010
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70813
(225)771-2242 / (225) 771-4374 Fax
www.suagcenter.com

Southwest Center hosts Business Development Meeting

Opelousas, LA- St. Landry parish residents are invited to a one-day informational meeting on business development on Monday, August 28 at the Opelousas Old City Market (131 W. Bellevue Street on the St. Landry Parish Courthouse Square) at 6:00p.m.

This meeting will be hosted by the Southern University Ag Center’s Southwest Center for Rural Initiatives, in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Economic Development.

Representatives from the SU Ag Center and its Center for Rural and Small Business Development, along with Southern University’s College of Business, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Small Business Development Center, St. Landry Economic Development District, and the Opelousas-St. Landry Chamber of Commerce to provide information concerning their respective programs.

According to LaVonya Malveaux, director of the Southwest Center, programs like this workshop will continuously be available to link interested entrepreneurs with resources and technical assistance programs. “We are here to assist entrepreneurs in seeking opportunities to create, expand, and retain businesses within the Southwest Center’s target service area,” she says.

The Southwest Center for Rural Initiatives is a satellite entity of the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Its mission is to promote socioeconomic development within a ten-parish region.

For more information, contact the Southwest Center for Rural Initiatives at (337) 943-2410.

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