ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Claflin University was awarded a nearly $75,000 grant to conduct research and develop training to enhance women’s entrepreneurship in family-owned businesses.
The grant will create a partnership between Claflin and a public research institution in West Bengal, India, where the program originated in 2015.
"The goal of the program is to train our local small businesses to get better established, to expand and to develop better marketing strategies, perhaps have some collaboration and grow," says Dr. Mingtali Wong, Claflin University professor.
Graduate students and community members will be able to participate in the program, which will consist of a series of courses and programs tailored to the needs of the participants.
Wong says her intention is to expand and keep the project going through the lives of students.
"It would benefit Orangeburg and the surrounding communities because graduate students, who will be involved with project, will become trainers. They will be able to sustain the project, and they can also start their own businesses in the community," says Wong.
The professor says the program will be virtual for the foreseeable future and hopes to begin in the spring of 2021.