John Ross, assistant professor at IU Southeast’s School of Business and Judy Hess, board member of the Horseshoe Foundation of Floyd County.

Thanks to a grant from the Horseshoe Foundation of Floyd County, John Ross, assistant professor at IU Southeast’s School of Business and adviser for the IU Southeast Entrepreneurship Club, will be on the go, helping small businesses succeed.

The grant enables IU Southeast faculty and students to collaborate with professionals from the local business community and provide research-based training and consulting on the latest techniques in management, marketing, taxes, human resources and other key areas.

“Small businesses often lack resources for training,” said Ross. “In looking for ways to serve small businesses, we wanted to offer a way to teach and train them and utilize our strengths to help them succeed. We want to make sure that the community sees IU Southeast as a viable source of help and assistance.”

The project has two main components, the first is a small business breakfast educational series organized by the IU Southeast Entrepreneurship Club and faculty advisors. Professors and community professionals who are experts in the topics covered will lead the sessions. Topics will be determined through a survey distributed by One Southern Indiana, an organization that works to provide connections, resources and services to help businesses innovate and thrive in the local community. The second component of the project involves on-site consulting in which students and faculty travel to Floyd County businesses and work with them on their specific needs.

“One of the key goals of the School of Business is community engagement,” said David Eplion, dean of the School of Business. “Thanks to the generous Horseshoe Foundation grant that Professor Ross was able to secure, we will be able to offer a breakfast series targeted to small business owners in our service region. Perhaps equally important, we will involve our students in the consulting. This will provide them with an outstanding service learning opportunity where they will be able to work on real-world problems under the guidance of one of our faculty members.”

The project is expected to launch in the fall. Project organizers will work with One Southern Indiana to market the breakfast series and to better understand the needs of small businesses in the area. The events are free. However, donations are encouraged to help support the continuation of the series.

“It truly is a win for IU Southeast, our students and our local business community,” said Eplion.