Brahams to head Business and Community Services

Teri Brahams, formerly director of the Knoxville area office of the Tennessee Small Business Development Center, is the new executive director of Business and Community Services.

Brahams will continue to oversee TSBDC operations, but now she also will administer the College’s non-credit course offerings and customized business and industrial training programs.

Larry Rossini has been named senior director of the TSBDC.

The changes were effective January 1.

The Tennessee Small Business Development Center is operated in the Knoxville area by Pellissippi State in cooperation with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Brahams, an Alcoa resident, was director of TSBDC for 10 years after an extensive career in banking. She serves on the boards of the Fairview Technology Center, Leadership Blount, the Areawide Development Corp. and the Blount County Chamber of Commerce.

An honors graduate of the University of Tennessee’s Master of Business Administration program, she is a founding member of the Small Business Committee of the Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership.

Rossini, a Powell resident, has been at the College since 1992 and most recently served as senior business specialist at TSBDC. He earlier worked at Walters State Community College. Rossini earned a bachelor’s degree from Southern Arkansas University.

The Small Business Development Center, a partner of the Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership, the Blount County Chamber and Roane State Community College, provides assistance to small-business owners and to people who want to start their own business. For existing businesses, the assistance is provided by one-on-one counseling or consulting, while start-up assistance is given in seminars.

Counseling services are available at no charge, and some seminars and training have a small fee. Other assistance includes access to resources helpful to business owners.

In 2004, TSBDC assisted more than 600 clients, who created at least 177 new jobs and made capital investments in the area in excess of $12 million.

For more information on TSBDC and its services, call 246-2663 or visit the Web site at www.tsbdc.org.

"Inside Pellissippi" is a bi-monthly electronic publication produced by the Community Relations Office for the faculty and staff of Pellissippi State Technical Community College, 10915 Hardin Valley Road, P.O. Box 22990, Knoxville, Tennessee 37933-0990. All suggestions and comments should be sent to Julia Wood (jwood@pstcc.edu).

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