Community+Internship

= The Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce, Halifax County  = **//"During the summer of 2011, Erin Swanson worked with me on a new project, the Small Business Academy. We solicited input from various community organizations like the Weldon School District and Choanoke Area Development Association. Erin did an excellent job at conducting extensive research and creating and delivering proposal ideas to our board. She was an independent worker and took initiative when direction was not available. She demonstrated excellent leadership skills and would be a very valuable asset to any school system."//** Stockton "Duna" Dickinson, Business Education Partnership Manager, Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce

During the summer of 2011, I had the opportunity to serve as an intern at the [|Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce] in Halifax County, North Carolina. I worked in collaboration with the Chamber staff, Weldon City Schools, [|NC REAL], and the [|Halifax Community College Small Business Center] to develop a plan and write a grant to start a Small Business Academy (SBA) in a local high school. The short-term objectives of the SBA are to em power high school students in the Roanoke Valley area with the entrepreneurial knowledge, skills, and mindsets necessary to start small businesses in their communities and become leaders in the local workforce. In the process, we aim to improve promotion and graduation rates, instill the importance of post-secondary education, and foster students' self-esteem. The long-term objective of the program is to increase the economic vitality of the Roanoke Valley area, as more students the requisite skills and interest in starting businesses in the area. The final **grant proposal** and a **program summary** are below.



The Chamber identified resources to fund the program, and the Small Business Academy began in the spring of 2012 at Weldon High School in Weldon, North Carolina. Currently, approximately 10 Weldon High School students are working to create viable small business plans with the support of the Chamber staff, Weldon High School teachers, NC REAL, and the Halifax Community College Small Business Center.