Contractor's College Graduates First Class in Houma

Assisting business is priority number one for Terrebonne Economic Development Authority. In a recent technical assistance training program, TEDA graduated its first class of Contractor's College graduates. The grant funded program was offered over the June 3-4 weekend at South Central Planning and Development Commission in Gray. News of the training program traveled quickly after an article announced it in The Houma Courier. It wasn't long before the class capacity of 25 participants was filled. After five days, TEDA staff began compiling a waiting list for the next offering.

TEDA was able to contract with the New Orleans-based program through a grant provided by Entergy and sponsorships by South Louisiana Economic Council, The Louisiana Small Business Development Center, Options Workforce Partners, L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College, and South Central Planning and Development Commission. Contractor's College is designed to prepare small, disadvantaged, minority-owned, and women-owned contractors compete in the highly competitive contractor marketplace. It's comprised of three components: education, financing and bonding capacity assessment, and on-going technical assistance. Not intended as a substitute for formal education, the program is presented as a supplement to help businesses grow. Course objectives include:

• Improving the participant's knowledge base of business planning and management skills;
• Assisting in increasing the participant's financing and bonding capacity through comprehensive business and personal credit education classes;
• Assisting in increasing the participant's contracting opportunities through business certification and business incentive programs;
• Helping participants prepare for the state contractor's licensing exam; and
• Providing participants an opportunity to network and build alliances with local, state, regional and national contractors.

 "This has been, by far, the best training program I have attended! The speakers were well spoken and very knowledgeable about every topic," said course graduate Tommy Jenkins. Other notable comments from participants include: "Outstanding seminar", "Lots of good information to move my business to the next level", "I would strongly recommend this class to anyone in the business sector."