The Mind Your Business: Black Business After Hours Social at Cool Beanz on February 29 was a wonderful send-off to the celebration of Black History Month, that brought together some of the Statesboro community's most passionate leaders of business development to teach the growing number of local business owners how to maximize their potential.
Kelsey Flannery, the Special Events and Social Media Coordinator at Cool Beanz, described putting together the February 29, 2024 After Hours Social event at the popular espresso bar.
In just a few weeks, a handful of local businesses and community members organized the mixer to highlight and connect the expanding black-owned business scene in Statesboro. With multiple dozens of enthusiastic and aspiring attendees listening in on presentations from expert business and financial educators, we should expect for our local entrepreneurship to continue flourishing.
Flannery says Cool Beanz is prioritizing their focus on bringing community members together by creating an engaging, inviting atmosphere through a series of events that was kicked off at Thursday night's social.
Co-event organizer Divine Consulting Firm LLC helped bring in multiple speakers representing the Business Innovation Group of GSU, the Small Business Development Center, and the Division of Continuing & Professional Education. They learned about free business and financial consulting resources, available office spaces, digital marketing bootcamps, and business development programs that were available to them right here in the Statesboro community.
Visitors then got the chance to mingle amongst each other and complete a BINGO card with different categories and characteristics of businesses owners in attendance. Between presentations, attendees snacked on fruit and charcuterie catered by Divine Elegance, sipped on the house brewed coffee and got the chance to get to know one another.
Over a dozen raffle prizes were given away, including free business headshots, after which speakers from Wells Fargo and Exodus Credit Counseling elaborated on the financial resources they provide. Another raffle and and presentations from IEngageU and Vizionary Impact followed before the conclusion of the event.
Flannery says that Cool Beanz owner David Hoyle wants to inspire the connection of business owners in the community and wants to continue hosting monthly events that will foster those networking opportunities. She says we can look forward to events in the coming months including a ladies business night in this new month of women’s history, then an Earth day event in April, and a mental health awareness social in the following month.
Though Cool Beanz has always aspired to foster community connection, they want to do more now, says Flannery, who emphasized that these events are more than just a way of bringing more folks to the shop.
Flannery says this community engagement “is bigger than buying coffee,” and we should look forward to future networking opportunities hosted at the Downtown Espresso Bar.