Entrepreneur center hosts small business ice cream social

By LYNETTE SOWELL

The ice cream was homemade and scooped by Waffle Cone, but more than ice cream was on the mind of at least two dozen business owners who attended last Thursday evening’s free business networking ice cream  social, hosted at the Copperas Cove Entrepreneur Center. The two current business tenants of the center, Aurora Ute and Cindy Guzman, welcomed area business owners to the facility. Ute, owner of AURorA Metaphysical and Wellness Center, set the timer on her phone while Guzman,  owner of 1ofakind Career Coaching, drew business cards out of a basket. Whoever had a card drawn would then 60 seconds to introduce themselves and share about their business. Business owners who attended ranged from service and product business,  to nonprofit groups, and some business owners wore several “hats” in the local community. Rachel Guidry and her son, Niko  , came to talk about their business, Twisted Texans. Niko, age 10, creates balloon animals and creations with skill, and has been doing so for about a year. The youngest entrepreneur and his mother recently decided to go forward with the business formally and are hoping to get new clients for events. In addition to the balloon creations. “It was great to get the chance to meet other business owners, and get our business put out there so others could see what we do,” Guidry said.  “Niko is good at talking in front of other people, also.” Guidry said they would definitely go to another meet and greet networking event like this in the future.  After each business representative had a chance to speak in front of the group, a business card exchange occurred, with attendees mixing  and mingling, as they enjoyed John Haynes’ ice cream from Waffle Cone. Aurora Ute was pleased with the  turnout and believed everyone had fun. “I know it was a great time for many of the business people who attended this event,” Ute said. “I see events like this not only as meeting  point and contact market for everyone. I like to use this time as a kind of training too. Not everyone was totally in love with the idea standing in front of them, but they did it. And that’s the differences between a successful person and a non-successful person—doing.” Ute said they had the business  card and speech format so everyone had to move around and talk to other business owners.  As a followup, Diane Drussell, business retention specialist for the Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation, sent a copy of the business cards presented by those who  attended the workshop, and encouraged business owners and reps to contact each other.  She also sent a list of past workshops the center has hosted, such as Business Startup, Sales Tax, Customer  Service, Social Media, Business and the Law, as well as Marketing your Business and more.  On August 18, the center will hold a Small Business Development Center workshop and one-on-one business counseling. On August 20, the next evening workshop will begin at 5:45 p.m., with the subject to be announced. Drussell will post the workshop topic on the Copperas Cove Entrepreneur Center Facebook page. The Copperas Cove Entrepreneur Center is located at 207 S. 3rd St. For more information about the entrepreneur center and the workshops, contact Diane Drussell at (254) 547-7874.