Following a successful launch of the BRIDGES Committee for Black and Brown entrepreneurs and a first Black Expo earlier this year, the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce group announces it will hold a virtual Black Business Expo from 5:30pm to 7:00pm on Friday, October 25, 2024.

Available through a ZOOM presentation, registration is required online at bit.ly/48fELBZ.

“We are pleased to once again have this opportunity for sharing valuable information and resources to help African American businesses get to the next level,” said Rise Jones, BRIDGES Committee co-chair and a member of the Chamber’s board of directors

This event will feature a special presentation, “Effective Business Planning” by Charmaine Marshall of Synergy Strategic Business Solutions. She will delve into the “why” for the need to develop a business plan. The presentation will unveil the pros and cons to developing (or not) a business plan. It offers an overview of what's in a business plan and how to begin to develop one or redesign it.

Marshall was raised in Elgin and is a graduate of Elgin High School and Judson University with a BA in Psychology and Sociology and a Masters in Nonprofit Management; with certifications in Program Development and Management, Humane Administration, Grant Writing, DEI in the Workplace.

Her company Synergy Strategic Business Solutions provides business development strategies and planning, management support, and grant writing services to name a few. She also works in the capacity of Assoc. Dir. for a Foundation, and reinvest in her local community via volunteering on an advisory board for a local organization and other community projects. She has extensive leadership and entrepreneur experience in both for-profit and nonprofit sectors. Connecting with and lifting up community to help fill gaps that result in a better quality of life for others is paramount for her.

Colleagues joining Jones as hosts of the evening are: BRIDGES co-chair Mary Nappier, Stanley Steemer; committee Members Jon Pierre Badie (Insperity, Inc.) and Shirley Bassett (African American Coalition of Kane County)’ plus Dr. Glenn Earl (Elgin Community College, Entrepreneurial Studies), and Nelicia Butler, MA, LCPC (Profound Roots Therapy Services).

Attendance is free and all are welcome who are interested in taking the next steps to learn, grow, and prosper.

For further information, contact Tony Lucenko at the Elgin Development Group at tlucenko@elgindevelopment.com or call 847-741-5663.