Those who are interested in starting a business or need help in their existing business should use caution in these times. If a company contacts you and claims they can help get you a grant for a fee, this is a real red flag. First, seek advice from your accountant, attorney, or banker or a local business service organization such as your local chamber of commerce, economic development organization (Hickman County Economic & Community Development Assn. in Hickman County) that provide their service for no charge. If you are tempted to contract with one of these people who solicit to help you, ‘Google’ them or otherwise check out their capability to give you value for your money.
Remember, use caution when seeking small business funding, if it sounds too good to be true…
About Daryl Phillips, CEcD
I am a professional economic developer. I presently work for communities and companies in developing and implementing workforce and economic development solutions as CEO of Phillips Economic Development Solutions (Phi EDS).
Prior to September 2017, I was the economic development professional who served a community team of elected officials, business people, community leaders and dedicated stakeholders for economic development in Cheatham County, Tennessee (pop. 39,880) and its four towns. During my five-year tenure, I served the team as Cheatham County grew over 1,700 jobs, turned around population declines at the start of this decade into healthy population growth, increased tourism expenditures 20.3% and local tax revenue from tourism 25.4%, grew sales tax revenue 36%, focused on developing the local workforce and was recognized by SmartAsset as having the 9th highest Incoming Investment Index of all the 95 counties in Tennessee.
I am a member of International Economic Development Council, Southern Economic Development Council, Tennessee Economic Development Council and International Council of Shopping Centers.
I have earned the designation of Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) from International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) certification from National Development Council and hold a Master of Business Administration from Tennessee Technological University.
