Minority business owners meet at HCC

Jack McLaughlin
HBL Editor
2/26/10

Outstanding customer service and giving back to the community are keys to success, Bruce Lewis, owner of Total Urgent Care in Edgewood, told minority business owners and would be entrepreneurs at the annual Minority Leadership Reception at Harford Community College. (photo gallery)

The event, sponsored by the Minority Business Assistance Program of the Small Business Development Center at Harford Community College (HCC), was held Feb. 23 in the college’s Chesapeake Center.

Sarah Ortiz-Brown, owner of Bliss Coffee & Wine Bar near Belcamp, was presented the Minority Leadership Award, a scholarship to the Harford Leadership Academy. Brown, a veteran of ten years in the U.S. Marine Corps and wife of a career Marine, said her experiences taught her that she must solve her problems, something she has instilled in her children. She said attending the leadership academy would help her follow her goal of becoming more involved in the community.

Sarah Ortiz-Brown won the 2010 Minority Leadership Award.

More than 600 people have gone through the academy during the past 20 years. The annual training and networking program for local leaders in business, industry, education, government and non-profit organizations is sponsored by the college and the Harford County Chamber of Commerce.

Lewis, a member of the Harford County Human Relations Commission, said that to earn customers’ loyalty, business owners must give them service “second to none.” He noted business people have to be the best at what they do and train staff to be professional, efficient and to treat customers with dignity and respect.

He further noted business owners always should keep their promises, remember that first impressions are lasting impressions and never rest on their laurels. “

You gotta keep doin’ what you did to get them,” said Lewis of retaining clients and customers. “Listen to you customers’ needs, ” he advised, “Be creative, be problem solvers.”

The physician assistant said business people should engage in community advocacy, which he defined as giving of one’s self to help both neighbors and strangers for the betterment of the community. Doing so is a good way to establish relationships that foster business, he said.

“People like to do business with people they know, ” Lewis pointed out. He cautioned, however, not to expect that those relationships to immediately result in business leads and new customers. He urged business people to serve on committees and boards, not for personal gain but for the betterment of their communities.

Lewis also urged the 58 people attending the reception to take advantage of courses offered through HCC and the programs provided through the Small Business Development Center. (see HBL training round-up)

The Small Business Development Center, in HCC’s Edgewood Hall, provides counseling and assistance for those wishing to start or expand businesses. For more information, call 443-412-2237 or email sbdc@harford.edu.