Isn't this the center that Betsy Rowell just took over?
(Not to be construed as criticism of Mrs. Rowell. If this is the place, she would just have started.)

The USM SBDC was the most successful SBDC in the state until the current administration took over at USM and decided a center funded by the SBA had to be a profit center.  The former director and staff were pushed out by KM so USM could have someone in charge that would make money for USM - contrary to the SBA grant.  The state SBDC office at Ole Miss shut it down.   

Do you think this could qualify as the "next stupid thing"?       Isn't losing federal funding for a center contrary to the "goals" of our administration?

Kicked up for comments and discussion.

This federally-funded Center is also under the supervision of Ken Malone:

http://www.usm.edu/cced/pages/main.htm

I don't know what the SBDC did, but this CCED sounds like it might be doing some of the same things.

http://onlineindependent.com/

News section: USM loses SBD Center

...Dr. Brian J. Reithel, Dean of the School of Business Administration at the University of Mississippi and director of the Centers located at other educational institutions throughout the state, said it became obvious that the University “wanted to take USM’s Center in a different direction.”

Reithel added that the University had been warned that it was not following program policies but USM did not respond to the warning....

...The focus of the work of the Small Business Development Centers in the state, said Dr. Reithel, has been on “one-on-one counseling with individual business owners, including dealing with business plans, financing, cash flow management, marketing and sales.

“It was our understanding that the extensive and vital one-on-one counseling that is the hallmark of the SBDC system across the nation was not going to be the primary focus of USM’s new direction.”...

...The USM center operated under the direction of Dr. Ken Malone and was staffed by Billy Lawson....

Isn't anyone in the town upset about this? I can't understand why Thames still continues to have support from city leaders.

why don't u try a red blooded drink, like whiskey.

 

Dr. Thames is doing EXACTLY what the IHL hired him to do, and of course most honorable community leaders support this effort.

 

Why can't you liberals see this?  Are you dreaming of the Lucas past?  I can assure you that, come hell or high water, when Meridith puts a new pres in at Southern Miss, he will be different that Shelby but will share that vision of tight managerial control and profit centered effectiveness in budgeting resources.

Get used to it.

LVN wrote:

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thamesbeliever, if you care to, you could explain what "liberal" and "conservative" have to do with the situation at USM, not that we haven't had this conversation a hundred times already on the board.

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Uhh, LVN,  would you mind waiting just a few minutes?  Thamesbeliever had to dash out to the package store to replenish his stock of Mad Dog 20-20. He'll be happy to 'splain the situation to you, soon as he gets back.

LVN wrote:

I could meet him there . . . I'm thinking of taking up drink.

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Good grief, what's happened to the neighborhood?  Let me know where you folks are meeting.  I'm feelin' the need too.

AE

 

AE, Where HAVE you been??

I went out today and bought a bottle of Tylenol PM. Hope a couple of aspirin do the trick tonight when I try to go to sleep. Yikes.

Emma wrote:

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AE, Where HAVE you been?? I went out today and bought a bottle of Tylenol PM. Hope a couple of aspirin do the trick tonight when I try to go to sleep. Yikes.

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Evening Ladies.  I missed you too. I temporarily migrated to British Columbia in September and  liked it so much I stayed a bit longer than planned.  Being an expatriate isn't half bad.  So what's the scoop from Hattiesburg?  I take it Shelboo hasn't been deposed yet, because I hear Invictus humming "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" in the background.  Emma,  are you the Chancellor at USM-D'Lo now?  Has the big coming out party been scheduled?  I need to make a road trip to Mississippi pretty soon to deal with our Katrina damage.  If the USM change-of-command extravaganza is imminent,  I'll try to adjust the travel schedule accordingly. Please keep me posted. 

AE

 

Club soda at 206 Front wrote:

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You can take the long way home, sugar. It's gonna be a while yet.

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Decidedly off topic Club Soda,  but you just reminded me of "The Long Way Home," a bluesy tune  by Tom Waits.  It's featured in the excellent sound track for "Big Bad Love,"  which was based on the short stories of the late Larry Brown of Oxford.  It's a better than average flick,  filmed entirely on location in Mississippi.  If you like Brown's writings,  you'll like the movie.

AE

info wrote:

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HA, 3/6/06 http://hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060306/NEWS01/603060311/1002 Business centers may create revenue By Rachel Leifer The University of Southern Mississippi's Business Assistance Centers offer free hurricane recovery services, but in time they could generate money as well. The Mississippi Development Authority grant that funds the Hattiesburg and Gulfport BACs saved the university about $100,000 in matching funds that its now-defunct Small Business Development Center in Gulfport required, university officials said. And the new center's model could allow the university to charge for some new economic development services that are still being planned.

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To H*ll with serving the public, we are a business.   This is the quote that got my attention:

"We would still do pro bono work when it's warranted, but we wanted the flexibility to charge fees," said Cecil Burge, the university's vice president for research and economic development.

"To charge fees, you have to deliver real value. Free services have never been highly valued."

So Southern Miss allowed its 15-year-old SBDC contract to expire last September and opened its Hattiesburg and Gulfport BACs in February."