Archive for category: Images

From Forbes.com:

“A grant must sound too good to be true for small business owners—it’s free money, plain and simple. No repayments or interest rates, no credit scores, no haggle, no hassle… Right?

Unfortunately, funding your small business with grants isn’t that easy. Otherwise, every small business owner on the block would cash out on them—and nobody would need to look for a loan, search out crowdfunding or investing, or ask their relatives for favors. There are two main obstacles to landing those grants:

1. Grants are notoriously hard to locate. Sure, there are a few websites you can use to search—like BusinessUSA or Grants.gov—but they’re generally either paid services, difficult to parse, or poorly updated. Many grants and contests are outdated by the time they make it onto these lists, or else their links have changed. Regardless, looking for small business grants can frustrate even the most patient business owner.

2. Grants are often hyper-specific. While some are wide-ranging enough to apply to plenty of small businesses, especially among the corporate programs, many target a very narrow selection of categories only. (For example, how many businesses can actually qualify for theMinnesota Emerald Ash Borer Community Preparedness Forest Protection Reserve Appropriation grant program? Odds are, probably not yours.) And whether it’s specific to certain industries, locations, demographics, or all of the above, you can bet that grant is also limiting in how you can use its funds. Unlike with a loan, with a grant you’ll have a set of guidelines to follow—or you risk having to pay it back.

Click the link below to see some of the most popular grants and programs (the folks over at Forbes.com) have found—hopefully your business will qualify for one, and you can be on your way to financing your business.”

Forbes.com web article: 3 Types of Grants for your Small Business to Consider

(image courtesy: WBTW.com)

From WBTW News13:

Francis Marion University has named three students as recipients of the prestigious McNair Scholarship for the 2016-2017 school year.

The McNair Scholarship is FMU’s highest academic scholarship award. It’s based not only on scholarship, but on community involvement. It seeks students who desire to serve their community, and who have already exhibited a willingness and ability to do so.

McNair scholars are selected by a special committee made up of FMU faculty and administrators.

To read the full story on the winners, click on the link below:

WBTW web article: FMU Names McNair Scholarship Recipients

(images courtesy: FDTC Facebook)

Florence-Darlington Technical College graduated its biggest class yet on Thursday evening, with more than 500 students attending the ceremony.

FDTC President Ben Dillard said the majority of students included those who were either the first person in their family to graduate, an employee or a parent who pursued a degree.

According to the college’s website, 79% of full-time, first-time students at FDTC were awarded some sort of financial assistance to help them pay for college.

In addition, there are 22 FDTC programs that have at least a 75 percent student job placement rate upon graduation in a field related to their major.

The Chamber would like to congratulate all of those who worked so hard to earn their degrees and wish them continued success as they make our community an even better place to work and live.

You can read the full Morning News coverage of the graduation ceremony by clicking the link below:

SCnow.com web article- FDTC Graduates Biggest Class

A big congratulations goes out to the inaugural class of Junior Leadership Florence County, who will graduate this evening!

The project is a joint partnership between the Clemson Extension Agency, the Florence Chamber and Francis Marion University and has been supported by many sponsors throughout the year.

We are very proud of the work that these young leaders have done and all that they will undoubtedly accomplish as the years go on. Congrats grads!!

For more information on Junior Leadership Florence County visit:

Junior Leadership Florence County website