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The Poland library hosts Business Symposium
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.One of the speakers during the Business Symposium at the Poland library was Stuart Gibbs, who heads the library's Business and Investment Center.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Corinne DeCesare of Youngstown went through the Business and Investment Center to start her clothing business Jesus Speak.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.The first speaker at the Business Symposium was Art Byrd, a member of the Toastmasters and a teacher of motion picture history at Youngstown State University, who spoke about listening.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Development director of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County Debbie Liptak introduced the speakers at the Business Symposium at the Poland library.
By TIM CLEVELAND
The Poland library hosted a business symposium Oct. 4 that was sponsored by the Friends of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County and the local chapter of the Toastmasters.
The three-hour event had speakers giving presentations on various business topics, as well as vendors showing off their business wares and resources on how to start your own business.
Three members of the Toastmasters gave talks on different aspects of business – Art Byrd spoke about listening, Greg Smith talked about effective communication in business, and Michael Garrick’s presentation was on taking your business presentations from ordinary to extraordinary.
“Art Byrd and I have been talking about this for some time,” PLYMC development director Debbie Liptak said. “We’ve always wanted to do a communications seminar. He has a great relationship with Toastmasters and we thought it’d be a great collaborative with Toastmasters and the Friends of the Public Library [of Youngstown and Mahoning County], and what better way to really promote our Business Investment Center and to have this wonderful seminar.”
Byrd said his talk would focus on how most people need to work on their listening skills.
“I’ll be talking about listening, a workshop on listening, the importance of listening,” said Byrd, who teaches motion picture history at Youngstown State University. “It doesn’t seem like something that’s very important, but as I’ve asked people, they seem like they don’t do a lot of listening. I did a little research on listening and how people listen, don’t listen, and what recall and don’t recall.
“In business, a lot of businesses lose due to a lack of communication. About 50 percent of what we say today will be forgotten in the first half hour after people leave, then 25 percent more will forget two days later.”
Byrd gave an example from his own life on ineffective listening.
“Someone was trying to sell something to me for the university regarding something that I didn’t need and they kept calling me, and I said, ‘This is something I don’t need,’” he said. “They never really listened to what my need was.”
Byrd said a technique he employs is when he hands someone money, tell them the amount of money you’re giving them so it stays in their mind.
“I’m really fascinated by it, the whole listening because lots of people interrupt; people try and finish your sentence,” he said.
Two of the vendors at the symposium that deal in helping people start their own business are SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), which counsels people on small business matters, and the library’s Business and Investment Center, which offers several services.
“I work at the Main branch in information services,” librarian Stuart Gibbs said. “My job is to research business questions and provide access to databases and to teach. I put on classes throughout the branch system on starting a business, locating your customers, knowing your customers better, starting a business plan. I’m here today to tell the people about the programs we have.”
A small-business owner who used the Business and Investment Center was Corinne DeCesare, who started her clothing design business called Jesus Speak two years ago that is located at 2214 Mahoning Ave. in Youngstown at Grace Evangelistic Temple Ministries.
“My entire family runs their own businesses and I grew up in a self-employed household,” said DeCesare, a Lordstown native who now lives in Youngstown. “I have sewn since I was 6 and something I’ve always done. The clothing line just happened. I went to New York and I worked there for a while making costumes for theater and film. When I came back to Ohio it was time for me to start the line.”
DeCesare said she utilized both the Business and Investment Center and SCORE to help her start her business.
“When I came to Youngstown, I moved the business into a small business incubator called the Oak Hill Collaborative,” she said. “I was kind of their first project. When I first started there they sent me to SCORE and I went to the library when I was writing my business plan. I met Stuart and they helped me find resources for writing that plan.”
DeCesare gave some advice to prospective business owners.
“Work hard. You have to be willing to dedicate your life to it for a period of time where you really don’t have a life,” she said. “You just work toward the business. If you like to take vacations, maybe think twice about that.”
DeCesare said Jesus Speak has been doing very well in its short history.
“So far, so good; it’s been excellent,” she said. “I was in the collaborative for the first year then I just moved into the church about two weeks ago.”