By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Cup of Joe is celebrating 10 years of bringing together area entrepreneurs to discuss their businesses and receive ideas of how to enhance them.
Annette Weeks of Aspire Business Consulting says the program began in 2015, the idea borrowing inspiration from the One Million Cups program out of Kansas City.
Weeks says the program works in St. Joseph because it's a weekly gathering of business owners and entrepreneurs. . .
"We have two entrepreneurs present about their business, so they have 10 minutes to tell us about their business, and then the audience has 20 minutes to ask them questions, give them suggestions, and it's all about connecting with them then," Weeks tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr. "Because the audience then will follow up with leads, they have or suggestions, so it's a very nurturing, cultivating situation for our business owners."
During the month of February, Cup of Joe will bring back speakers that presented about their businesses in the very first year of the program.
"They're coming back and they're going to tell us their entrepreneur journey," Weeks explains. "So, we've got three each week, usually we do two but we're going to do three each week, they're coming in from all over the region for this so it's so exciting."
The first session tomorrow will feature Susan Campbell, Kaitlyn Paxton, and Ben Kittrell.
Weeks says each Wednesday will also feature another special event, starting tomorrow with a business showcase
"So, there's going to be business owners there that set up promoting their businesses," Weeks says. "Next week is a really good one, and it's a hot topic panel, so we've got four experts that's going to be talking about the really relevant things that are going on in businesses right now."
Cup of Joe is held every Wednesday at the East Hills Library, beginning at 8:30am. Everyone is welcome to attend the free events.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.