The Galveston County Small Business Development Center on Thursday hosted The Governor’s Small Business Forum, “Achieving the American Dream of Owning Your Own Business” at the Moody Gardens Convention Center.

Don Gartman, president of the Galveston County Economic Alliance, presided over a panel featuring Carroll Cobb , director of the SBDC; Duncan McGhee, director of the Texas Veteran Entrepreneur & Business Development Program;  Dr. Maya Durnovo, dean of Workforce Development of Houston Community College Northwest and executive director of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Initiative: Mark Winchester, Houston District deputy director of the Small Business Administration Office of Veteran Development; and Carey White, director of the Procurement Technical Assistance Center.  Listen

“Most businesses are started by somebody who knows how to do something,” Cobb said, listing cooks, electricians and physicians as examples.  “They all have one thing in common.  They know how to do what they do, but they don’t know how to run a business.”

McGhee talked about services available to veterans who have started small businesses.

“Veteran entrepreneurship is good for the State of Texas,” he said, noting that Texas has the third largest veteran population in the United States.  “It is good on multiple levels.”

Durnovo explained the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Initiative, which has dedicated $25 million to the program.

“It is free of charge to the small business owner that is accepted into the program,” she said.  “What you get is a 90-hour instructional program, where you are actually sitting in class and you are working on your business.”

The Keynote Speaker was Tom Deierlein, a West Point graduate and decorated veteran who served as an Airborne Ranger in the 1990s and  was called up for the Iraq War 12 years later, where he suffered serious injury. Listen

“There are two basic concepts - freedom and opportunity,” Deierlein said, talking about the American Dream. “The freedom to climb in social status, the freedom to start your own business, the freedom to become something based upon your own works, your own abilities and not be hampered or not have to worry about social class or social caste systems.”  

To learn more about programs available to entrepreneurs visit www.GCSBDC.com.