CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE — Christopher Stenger, the director of the Cape May County bizHub, was set to talk about the project to help local businesses begin and thrive.
Instead, one of its clients cut in and did the job for him.
Stenger had been meeting with Stephanie Coffey, a student at Atlantic Cape Community College and entrepreneur, about her new business Free Spirit, which creates alcohol-free cocktails for events and serves them out of a 1979 Volkswagen van.
“It’s been a great experience,” Coffey said. “I wish I had known about it years ago.”
She said she has been able to research the process of launching a business, but it is not the same as having someone offer specific advice.
“Being able to come here and have his guidance has been insanely helpful,” she said before heading out. “I’ve got to get to my marketing class.”
The stop at the business hub was part of a tour for the 20th anniversary of the Cape May County campus of Atlantic Cape Community College in advance of a Saturday event.
The grant-funded bizHub on the campus started far more recently. Stenger started in 2022.
After 20 years, Cape May County’s community college campus is seeing an uptick in enrollment but still struggles for visibility.
“It’s been going great,” he said. The hub takes up a portion of the Atlantic Cape building in Middle Township, to the right of the main entrance, and officers a variety of support for free for local businesses.
That includes courses in topics like developing a marketing plan, specific programs like Microsoft Excel or QuickBooks, or cybersecurity.
Stenger said he sees a split between start-ups like Coffey’s and other businesses that may have been open for a few years already.
Krista McConnell, the director of the Cape May County campus for the community college, said the hub can also help build connections between small businesses, which in Cape May County are most of the businesses in operation.
There are other benefits, she said, such as use of an embroidery machinery to put logos on hats, shirts or other materials. The use is free, although the businesses have to supply the items to be embroidered.
“Anyone is welcome to use the free services offered by Cape May County bizHub,” reads a notice on the organization’s website. “We provide support to established business owners as well as people interested in growing their skillset or starting businesses in Cape May County, with special outreach to women, minority, and veteran-owned businesses.”
Atlantic Cape and Cape May County are working together on the hub, with grants from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the Rural Business Development Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and support from Crest Savings Bank and other businesses.
Contact Bill Barlow:
609-272-7290
bbarlow@pressofac.com
X @jerseynews_bill
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