PBN: Why was We Mean Business created?

CARRERA: It’s very time consuming for a business owner to find out how many rules and regulations there are, to find the right contact person, so we decided to put everyone in one room [for the first We Mean Business Expo last month]. And it was really successful. We had over 400 business owners walk through the doors... 

...PBN: What is the next step for We Mean Business?

CARRERA: There’s a group called The Sassy Ladies and we’re going to be highlighting a different woman entrepreneur every month… We have the brown-bag lunch series that we’re going to continue with cities and towns. We’re going to Foster in January… We’re going to go up there and do a little seminar and listen to the business owners but also interact with the local city and town employees and the town council.

PBN: Are these cities and towns interested in economic development?

CARRERA: Especially in Foster, that’s why Foster wants us to go up. They want to create a business community. There are very few businesses up there. They want to see … how we can help them. It may be as simple as letting a client know that there’s space available in Foster or there could be a special loan program or sidewalk improvements.