Brooks Highlights Services Provided by Small Business and Technology Development Center

Nikki Toth Photography

Mary Beth Brooks

This month's Short Talks from the Hill features Mary Beth Brooks, director of the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center at the U of A. Brooks has held this position since 2018. Prior to that, she worked in banking for 28 years, including more than a decade as president and CEO of the Bank of Fayetteville.

The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center helps small businesses thrive. The center provides one-on-one confidential consulting and guidance to support enterprising Arkansans in the Northwest Arkansas region. It also offers affordable workshops to help small business owners gain the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.

"Many of our clients, we will spend 20 hours over the course of time with them just to help them get their business open," Brooks explains during the interview. "So our average for a new business, for example, is 20 hours with someone. Just to just to make sure they're getting all their I's dotted and T's crossed, to make sure that they have financial capabilities set up, and that they understand how they're going to market it, and they understand their branding strategy and those kind of things."

You can listen to Brooks' podcast by clicking on the link above or by visiting arkansasresearch.uark.edu, the home of research and economic development news at the U of A.

And remember, you can now listen to Short Talks programming wherever you get your podcasts. Previous podcasts can be found at the link above.

Thank you for listening!