Tom Kindred, right, regional director for Florida SBDC at IRSC, interviews Melissa Roberts, managing director of operations, Jim Moran Institute, and Michael Myhre, CEO for the Florida SBDC Network, during the 2019 Small Business Leadership Conference in Orlando. IRSC PHOTOS
Want to be in the know about Treasure Coast business? Then tune in to WPSL and WSTU for Startup Talk, a weekly business talk show entering its fifth year of broadcasting.
Startup Talk has broadcast more than 175 live episodes of the program. The show was designed and created to promote and create awareness regarding the business assistance and resource programs available at Indian River State College under the Dan K. Richardson Entrepreneurship Development Institute.
Through the EDI, IRSC has built an innovative business support program that provides real value to the research coast marketplace. The EDI consists of the Florida Small Business Development Center, the Business Incubation Program, and the Corporate and Community Training Institute, which collaborates with and leverages the assets of the IRSC School of Business.
Whether it is providing entrepreneurial education, corporate training or offering business assistance to early stage or mature firms, the EDI is a powerful, one-stop shop for business resources, assistance and training that is truly engaged at every stage of enterprise.
“Having owned and operated a Treasure Coast business for over 20 years, I quickly recognized the value and powerful business assistance the Florida SBDC and the other EDI programs could bring to the marketplace,” says Tom Kindred, regional director of Florida SBDC at IRSC. “I wanted to ensure that every business owner was aware of the business assistance programs and resources available here at IRSC, so I immediately began to develop a plan to promote the programs.”
The recently launched statewide Small Biz Florida podcast promotes business assistance programs. Here, Tom Kindred, left, interviews a presenter during the 2019 Small Business Leadership Conference.
PROGRAM GUESTS
With initial funding from the Coleman Foundation, a partnership was formed with WPSL and WSTU, and Startup Talk hit the airwaves. Over the years the show has featured hundreds of guests, including business and political leaders, entrepreneurs, business professors and students, business authors, economic development professionals, and small business owners and operators. The show features many guests who have received corporate training and earned professional certifications or degrees from IRSC.
Throughout the show’s history, many of the episodes were produced live from business events held across the Treasure Coast and as far away as Pensacola, Florida SBDC network headquarters. The show has traveled to and been broadcast from all five of IRSC’s Treasure Coast campuses, featuring interviews with each campus provost.
Dr. Edwin Massey, president of Indian River State College, makes an appearance on the Startup Talk radio show.
Following a natural disaster in Florida, the Florida SBDC at IRSC serves as the business community’s primary contact for the Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program, a state disaster loan program. After Hurricane Irma passed through the Treasure Coast, 36 regional businesses received $2.7 million in assistance from the Emergency Bridge Loan that was promoted and broadcast on WPSL and WSTU on Startup Talk.
“The show has given the Florida SBDC at IRSC a platform to cover and promote Treasure Coast business events and issues,” says Kindred. “Most importantly, the show has allowed us to highlight Treasure Coast Business success, share best practices and promote the valuable business assistance programs here at Indian River State College.”
STATEWIDE PODCAST
Startup Talk on WPSL and WSTU is in its fifth year of broadcasting. From left, Mike Wetzel, Mary Jo Tierney, both of Sunrise Ford and Sunrise Volkswagen, chat with Tom Kindred and Greg Wyatt, the co-hosts of the radio show.
Entering the fifth year of broadcasting and leveraging worldwide streaming technology, Startup Talk has a broader reach and worldwide coverage. So now the world can receive news on the Treasure Coast business community, Florida’s small business marketplace and Aspen Award winner IRSC. In collaboration with its ongoing WPSL and WSTU radio program, the Florida SBDC at IRSC recently launched the statewide podcast Small Biz Florida, a program designed to highlight issues and promote business assistance resources available throughout Florida.
The program also partners with Indian River Magazine to produce Treasure Coast Business, a quarterly business publication dedicated to covering the regional marketplace. Stay tuned to Indian River State College and the Florida SBDC at IRSC to remain informed about all things business along the Treasure Coast.
Treasure Coast Business is a news service and magazine published in print, via e-newsletter and online at tcbusiness.com by Indian River Magazine Inc. For more information or to report news email staff@tcbusiness.com