Starting and Growing a Business in Today’s Economic Environment

How do you grow the sales of your business when consumers are reluctant to open their wallets and corporations, small businesses, and government agencies are often cutting their expenditures?  Learn some of the keys of business success today at the seminar “Starting and Growing a Business in Today’s Economic Environment” on Saturday, August 22, 10 a.m. – 10:55 a.m., at the Monarch Event Center in the Lincoln Village Shopping Center, 6406 N. I-35, Austin, Texas.  Sponsored by KAZI and the Austin Cen-Tex chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), the seminar will feature presentations by a full-time and part-time entrepreneur on their challenges and successes starting or growing their businesses during the recession.  It will also include an overview by a CPA on setting up an accounting and bookkeeping system.  The cost to attend the seminar, which is part of KAZI SummerFest 2009, is to donate school supplies.  The featured speakers are:

• Marlon Green, owner of MSG Accounting Services
• Tommy Griffin, owner of Speedpro Imaging North Austin
• Betty Works, CPA

Hopeton Hay, host of Economic Perspectives, will serve as moderator of the workshop.

Green, who has a full-time job while running his business on a part-time basis, says that time mangement is critical to success as an entrepreneur.

“Whether you are starting a full time or part time business it will be imperative that you know how to manage your time effectively on a day to day basis, especially when there is a family involved,” advises Green.

Griffin recently left a position at Applied Materials to launch SpeedPro Imaging North Austin.  He encourages fledgling entrepreneurs to ignore the nay-sayers.

“There will always be nay-sayers and people that don’t understand what you are doing or think that what you are doing is crazy.  Ignore them.  Not everyone is an expert that you should except advice from, but there will be plenty of people out there with free advice to discourage you,” says Griffin.

Works, who has a doctorate in business administration in addition to being a certified public accountant (CPA), advises entrepreneurs to set up a separate bank account for the business to handle income and expenses.  She also says its important to treat employees as partners.

“Employees are valuable assets,” says Works.  For more information and to rsvp to attend the seminar contact Hopeton Hay at hopeton@econpers.com.

About the Speakers

Marlon Green

Marlon Green is an Accountant for a consulting company in downtown Austin, Texas. He is a graduate of Houston Baptist University where he doubled major in Business Administration and Accounting.

Mr. Green has spent the majority of his accounting career in the Oil & Gas industry in Houston, Texas where he was employed by Lyondell Petrochemical Company and Shell Lubricants. In 2009 Marlon Green also started a part time tax preparation business which is called MSG Accounting Services. In addition to the experience that he has obtained in the Accounting field, Mr. Green has been a member of the National Association of Black Accountants where he is currently working with the Community Affairs Committee and the Chair of the Technical Sessions Committee for the 2009 Southwest Western Region Student Conference. Mr. Green has also worked as a liaison for the students at Texas State University.  is the new proud owner of Speedpro Imaging North Austin, a small business enterprise that specializes in wide-format printing. 

Tommy Griffin is the new proud owner of Speedpro Imaging North Austin, a small business enterprise that specializes in wide-format printing. 

Tommy Griffin

Prior to going into business for himself, Tommy spent nearly 12 years at Applied Materials in both Santa Clara, California and Austin, Texas.  At Applied Materials, Tommy held various roles in Finance including Internal Auditor and Financial Analyst and was promoted multiple times.  His final role was Gross Margin Finance Manager, responsible for reporting gross margin components for the Silicon Business Segment, and Global Process Owner for Installation and Warranty Reserve Accounting.  Prior to joining Applied Materials, Tommy spent three years at public accounting firm Deloitte & Touche LLP in San Jose, California and worked with clients such as Network Equipment Technologies, Granite Rock Construction and The County of Santa Clara.  A native Californian, Tommy was awarded a track scholarship while attending California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, concentration in Accounting.  Tommy is a Certified Public Accountant and married with three school aged children.

Hopeton Hay

Hopeton Hay is the host of Economic Perspectives, a weekly business talk show on KAZI 88.7 FM in Austin, Texas and is founder and editor of the Economic Perspectives Blog. 

He has over 20 years experiences assisting small, minority, and women-owned businesses with access to capital, contracts, and surety bonds.  Currently he manages a technical assistance and training program for minority and women-owned businesses for a major university system.  His past experience includes serving as Project Director of the Dallas/Fort Worth Minority Business Development Center and Director of Texas Center Operations of the NAACP Community Development Resource Center.  He is a board member of the Austin Cen-Tex chapter of NABA, the Surety Association of South Texas, and the Texas NAACP.

Dr. Betty Works is an Audit Manager for U.S. Army Audit Agency, Acquisition and Logistics Directorate.  She was also the Field Office Manager. In this capacity, she is responsible for providing leadership and management for the audit technical staff and the field office administrative staff.  She works with Agency headquarters to ensure continuity of field office operations.  Dr. Works also coordinates with the Deputy Auditor General for Acquisition and Logistics and the Program Director for Installation Operations to facilitate audit coverage and technical oversight for audits of Army programs–with budgets in excess of $30 million–required to effectively operate installations. 

Dr. Betty Works

Dr. Works began her career with Army Audit Agency in 1987. Her first assignment was with the former Southwest Region located in San Antonio, Texas. Before assuming her current position, she was assigned to the former European Region (Kaiserslautern Field Office) and the New Jersey Field Office.

Dr. Works educational accolades include a Doctorate in Business Administration, a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. She is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Texas and a Certified Government Financial Manager. She is a member of the National Association of Black Accountants where she holds the position of treasurer. She is also a member of the Texas Society of CPAs.

 Dr. Works is single and resides in Harker Heights, Texas. She has three grown children and a 3 year old grandson.