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Veteran Owned Small Businesses

September 22, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Veteran Owned Small Businesses

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Veteran Owned Small Businesses

This week I was joined in studio by friend of the show, Lara Hodgson, CEO of NOWaccount. We focused this episode on veteran owned small businesses. Lara introduced us to Kit Walker, a combat-disabled veteran who started his own small business, EBS-4U, after spending several years in the corporate world.

His company provides professional cleaning services for businesses and has begun to expand into construction clean-up. After completing certification as a minority business enterprise and combat-disabled veteran, Kit began to expand his business through fulfilling federal contract opportunities.

We also met Melinda Coker, of Small Business Access Partners, of Gainesville, GA. This non-profit organization works with small business owners, helping them get access to available small business loans for their particular needs.

In our discussion on veteran owned businesses, Melinda explained there are numerous options for business owners today, and shared some information about veteran owned businesses.

Coker explained a resource available through the Veterans Administration. If you go to the VA’s website which is va.gov and click on the resources link and then select businesses, there are several helpful links for veteran small business owners who are seeking financing for their businesses.

VA’s website also allows business owners to customize their search criteria by zip code to find financing options applicable to their area of operation. SBA’s website also has a special tool now for small business owners known as SBA Linc that allows small business owners to fill out a survey for the financing they are looking for and then SBA distributes that information to a network of lenders who can then

respond based on the financing need requested. The applicant is also provided the contact information for the lenders interested in their request.

Special Guests:

Lara O’Connor-Hodgson, CEO of Nowaccount Network Corporation

MBA Harvard Business School
Former Adjunct Professor of Finance, Georgia Institute of Technology
Board of Directors, Georgia Regional Transportation Authority
Owner, Insomnia Group
Chairman of the Board, Atlanta Heights Charter School
Second Language–Japanese

Kit Walker, CEO/Founder of EBS-4U

MBA, Management & Organizational Behavior, Woodbury University
Combat-wounded veteran
Previous VP Relationship Manager, Bank of America
Former Consultant, Migration Project Partner, Wells Fargo Bank

Melinda Coker, of Small Business Access Partners

Engineering Integrity and Secret Shoppers

August 1, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Engineering Integrity and Secret Shoppers

00:00 / 01:05:10

Morgan Consultants — Lara Hodgson and Traci Morgan talk Engineering Integrity

Lisa van Kesteren of Mystery Researchers

Engineering Integrity and Secret Shoppers

This week I was joined by guest co-host, Lara Hodgson, CEO of NOWaccount. She introduced us to Traci Morgan, founder of Morgan Consulting, Inc., and Lisa van Kesteren, CEO/founder of Mystery Researchers. Morgan Consulting focuses their expertise on the food and beverage processing and manufacturing industries.

Traci Morgan is a senior process engineer who has been in consulting engineering for over 30 years, with 25 years being focused on Food, Beverage, and related Consumer Products industries. Ms. Morgan’s industry experience includes beverage, dairy, brewery, biscuit, bread, and snack baking, meat and poultry, sauces and dressings, fresh cut produce, consumer household products, personal care products, tobacco, and injectable pharmaceuticals. She holds a BS of Chemical Engineering from Ohio University.

In addition to experience as a design engineer, Ms Morgan has expertise in the plant operations environment, as well as in product and process development. She has a high level of experience in operations management, production, maintenance, sanitation, quality assurance, and regulatory requirements, and a working knowledge of the Product Development process. Ms Morgan has the ability to bring people together from a wide variety of roles and backgrounds and develop proactive and synergistic teams.

Traci spent the early part of her career working for large consulting engineering firms. As a field engineer in large food manufacturing operations, she developed an appreciation for the importance of digging into more than just the engineering aspects of an operation. Through her comprehensive approach to projects, Ms Morgan has demonstrated the ability to fully integrate all aspects of manufacturing from concept development through the delivery of consumer products to the shelf.

She saw an opportunity to develop a more hands-on, practical, and relationship-based approach to consulting. And Ms Morgan recognized a niche for bringing together experts with the ability to address every facet of product manufacturing. Most importantly, she emphasizes the importance of understanding the client’s culture and fully developing the customer/supplier relationship.

Traci’s aspirations of finding a more effective way to serve manufacturing clients were realized with the inception of Morgan Consultants, Inc in 1997. Morgan Consultants, Inc provides specialized engineering, management, and consulting services to manufacturing companies. Morgan Consultants, Inc has the ability to assist clients and help shape their business direction by 1. Working upstream in the areas of product, process, and equipment development, 2. Executing traditional design, build, and startup projects, and 3. Analyzing and recommending improvements to current operations.

Morgan Consultants, Inc leverages their impressive group of industry experts to drive operational excellence and bring innovation to their clients in a cost-effective manner. Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 clients include PepsiCo and Frito-Lay, Famous Brands and Mrs Fields, Kraft Foods, Kellogg’s, Clorox, Sara Lee, Pinnacle Foods, Chiquita Brands and Fresh Express, Anheuser-Busch, Beam Global Spirits, RJ Reynolds, Coca-Cola, General Mills, McCormick, ConAgra, Kroger, Energizer, Unilever, Monsanto, Eli Lilly, Procter & Gamble, and HJ Heinz.

Owner and operator of Mystery Researchers, Lisa van Kesteren, has more than 25 years of experience in the mystery shopping industry. She began her career in the early 90’s and over the course of the next 15 years established mystery shopping divisions for two large global corporations. During this time, Lisa was one of the founding members of the industry association, Mystery Shopping Providers Association, which was created in 1997. She served as the Chairperson of the Professionalism and Ethics Committee, and in this role she was responsible for the creation of the original Code of Ethics for the industry. In addition, she earned an MBA from Kennesaw State University.

In 2008, Lisa decided to go out on her own and so established her own mystery shopping company, Mystery Researchers. Since that time Mystery Researchers has grown rapidly, nearly doubling in revenues each year. In 2014, Lisa was able to raise the capital necessary to make two acquisitions, both also in the mystery shopping industry. Her company is now one of the largest privately held companies in the industry.

Special Guests:

Lara O’Connor-Hodgson, CEO of Nowaccount Network Corporation

MBA Harvard Business School
Former Adjunct Professor of Finance, Georgia Institute of Technology
Board of Directors, Georgia Regional Transportation Authority
Owner, Insomnia Group
Chairman of the Board, Atlanta Heights Charter School
Second Language–Japanese

Traci Morgan, Principal, Morgan Consultants, Inc.

BS, Chemical Engineering, Ohio University
Former Lead Engineer, Lockwood Greene
Previous Senior Project Leader, Cadence Technologies

Lisa van Kesteren, CEO/Founder, Mystery Researchers

MBA, Business, Kennesaw State University, Michael J. Coles College of Business
Previous Vice President, Field Research Division, Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations
Former SVP, Mystery Shopping Division, TNS US Custom

Transition Planning

June 23, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Transition Planning

00:00 / 00:59:37

Transition Planning

I sat down with NOWaccount CFO, Archie Jones and his colleague, NOWaccount Chairman, John Hayes. They stopped by to share some thoughts on how business owners need to start planning for how they intend to transition their business when it comes time, whether that’s selling it to a buyer or passing it to family members.

John and Archie talked about some of the common missteps business owners make that can complicate or delay sale of a business, or even cause the sale to fail. We talked about how important it is to choose capital sources carefully, taking a few minutes to discuss factoring, business loans, and NOWaccount’s innovative merchant services option that gives the business access to their accounts receivable cash and preventing the need to acquire debt.

We discussed how important it is for business owners to insure they are on the same page with all partners with regard to what the plan is for the “end game”—sell or transition the business to family. Archie and John shared the pros and cons of various business structures such as LLC’s versus C Corp, for example. Three topics of conversation that owners need to have: How will the company be operated? Will all members/partners have roles or equal votes in decisions? How much revenue will be taken for salaries for partners? What is the “horizon” for deciding if/when to sell if that’s the goal?

John and Archie shared a number of critical points that make a business very attractive for a seller (or unattractive). Archie talked about how important it is for business owners to educate themselves on the potential market for buyers of their business when they go to sell.

Special Guests:

Archie Jones, VP of Finance/CFO of NOWaccount

MBA General Management, Harvard Business School
Previous Principal and Charter Member, Parthenon Capital
Member, Board of Directors, AIT Worldwide Logistics
Founder, Tubman Ventures

John Hayes, Chairman of NOWaccount

JD, Law, Emory University School of Law
Previous CEO/Chairman, FTRANS Corp.
Founder and Former CEO, OneCoast Network
Founded Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) at Georgia Tech

Logistics

April 29, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Logistics

00:00 / 00:51:42

Logistics

This week I sat down with Jannine Miller, Director, Center of Innovation for Logistics at the Georgia Department of Economic Development. We talked about how the state of Georgia places a great deal of priority on maintaining and expanding our transportation infrastructure. Jannine shared how effective logistics management can foster significant economic development.

She also discussed how the entities that comprise our logistics capabilities across the various modes gives rise to growth opportunities for small businesses around the area. This comes from the need for “last mile” carriers who can move the freight to its final destination from larger distribution centers, as well as countless other ways to provide vendor/supplier services to larger companies that need to extend their capacity.

We also were pleased to have VP of Business Development for NOWaccount, Kim Humphreys on the show. We talked about how their merchant services solution provides B2B companies experiencing some delayed payment of invoices access to aging AR funds in 3-5 days for only a 2.5% fee.

With this already-earned capital can fund new growth and/or allow a company to be able to afford to take on larger orders that could otherwise not be possible.

Special Guests:

Jannine Miller, Director, Center of Innovation for Logistics, Georgia Department of Economic Development

Former Transportation Policy Advisor the the Georgia Governor’s Office
Previous Executive Director of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority
Former Supply Chain Finance Senior Manager, The Home Depot
MBA, Georgia Technical Institute

Kim Humphreys, VP, Business Development/Co-founder, NOWaccount

Published author
Founding member, TAG FinTech
Previous Chief of Staff, Harbor Payments
Over 20 years professional/leadership experience in marketing/leadership roles

MARTA and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises

April 1, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

MARTA and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises

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MARTA and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises

This week, Lara Hodgson, CEO and Founder of NOWaccount came by and brought experts from Atlanta’s mass transit authority and a WBE who’s worked with them to talk about MARTA and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises. Ferdinand Risco is the Executive Director for Marta’s Diversity and Equal Opportunity platform. This arm of MARTA focuses on engaging Atlanta’s disadvantaged business enterprises to provide them with opportunities to vie for contracts and sub-contracts to work with federally-funded projects around the community.

Ferdinand shared that their goal for DBE participation is 30% of contracts awarded to this demographic of Atlanta’s business community. He talked about the fact that there are business opportunities on a broad spectrum of needs from basic office supplies to construction, planning, and other services. We talked about the online resources MARTA makes available to allow local business owners to easily review current and upcoming projects they could potentially participate in.

We also talked about the fact that business owners need to go through the effort to establish credit and corporate structuring to position themselves to be able to meet certification requirements for DBE status. Through partnerships with GMSDC and SBA, MARTA helps business owners have access to these often-free education and mentoring resources, as well as access to necessary resources such as working capital.

Lara shared information about NOWaccount’s recent partnering with MARTA to make their innovative capital solution available to the B2B community. This solution gives business owners access to their AR capital within 5 days or less for 2.5% of the total AR sold. In this way, NOWaccount gives B2B’s quick access to the capital they’ve already earned so they can add new staff, take larger orders, or purchase in bulk on discounts they wouldn’t be able to get otherwise.

Lara also introduced us to Heather Alhadeff, President of Center Forward, a transportation and land use planning firm based in Atlanta. Heather is so committed to the value of mass transit, she hasn’t owned a car in years. In addition to avoiding headaches associated with driving with Atlanta traffic, she also has gained first-hand experience of what users of our mass transit system experience. This affords her with insight to be able to recommend options that would improve on the experience and/or allows her to effectively engage community residents when discussing developments (growth or retraction) of mass transit, road systems, or urban land development.

We talked about why transportation is such a key element of urban or city planning, discussing examples of how mass transit availability can have unexpected impacts on such facets of our lives as healthcare delivery and other important functions.

Special Guests:

Ferdinand Risco, Executive Director of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, MARTA

MBA, University of New Haven
Recipient, 2014 GMSDC The Ambassador Award
Former Bradley Platoon Leader, US Army
Previous Inclusion and Diversity Manager, MTA Metro-North Railroad

Heather Alhadeff, President, Center Forward

BS Planning & Economic Development, Georgia State University
MBA, City Planning, Georgia Institute of Technology
Published Author
Part-time instructor, Georgia Institute of Technology

Lara O’Connor-Hodgson, CEO of Nowaccount Network Corporation

MBA Harvard Business School
Former Adjunct Professor of Finance, Georgia Institute of Technology
Board of Directors, Georgia Regional Transportation Authority
Owner, Insomnia Group
Chairman of the Board, Atlanta Heights Charter School
Second Language–Japanese

Some backing music provided by: www.pacdv.com/sounds/

Pay Per Click Advertising

March 7, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Pay Per Click Advertising

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Pay Per Click Advertising

This week I caught up with Eric Jones from Jellyfish, the digital strategy experts. We talked about Pay Per Click Advertising, mistakes that can be made, things to think about when planning your campaign, and why it makes sense to work with experts such as those at Jellyfish to engage in a digital marketing campaign that employs pay per click advertising.

Having tried our hand at DIY Google AdWords campaigns that quickly cost us $$$ while getting us no conversions, our business can surely say there is value to working with experts who can guide you and help you spend wisely. Eric talked about the value of analytics to track the effects of a given campaign, as well as why it’s important to consider the page on your website the ads direct your prospective customers to.

Eric shed some light on how the bidding process works in determining where your ads will rank, ultimately controlling where your ads will be displayed (1st page?, top of 1st page? etc). We talked about how when there is much competition for a given set of keywords the cost per click can rise significantly, so advertisers must be prepared for that.

I also discussed some guests who have been on the show before that our listeners could benefit from getting to know. I’m planning to incorporate some occasional shout-outs to be sure the companies who need their solutions can link up with them. We hope you enjoy our show and subscribe to the podcast. Let us hear from you with feedback, guest recommendations, and where you’re listening from. If you tweet us questions or put them up on Facebook we’ll try to get them on the air and/or follow up with the guests after the fact to get you answers. Thank you for listening to us! Looking forward to 5000 downloads!

Special Guest

Eric Jones VP, Client Strategy with Jellyfish

CEO, Avenue J Development LLC
Previous Board of Directors member, Toolbank Baltimore
>10 years in leadership roles in digital strategy/marketing companies

Lara O’Connor-Hodgson, CEO of Nowaccount Network Corporation

HEAR LARA’S FULL INTERVIEW HERE

MBA Harvard Business School
Former Adjunct Professor of Finance, Georgia Institute of Technology
Board of Directors, Georgia Regional Transportation Authority
Owner, Insomnia Group
Chairman of the Board, Atlanta Heights Charter School
Second Language–Japanese

LeeAnn Maxwell, CEO/Co-Founder of Vixen Vodka

HEAR LEEANN’S FULL INTERVIEW HERE

28 years experience in finance sector
former Director, Client Services of AccousTech Music Productions
Crossfit fan
50% Firecracker
50% Do-It-Yourself Woman

Jesus Ricardo (Rick) Tapia, Founder of La Bodega International, LLC and Creator of J.R. Revelry

17 years of experience in alcohol beverage industry
Successful entrepreneur
Actively involved in the community, supporting Hispanic and Latin American Chambers of Commerce
BA, Boston University
Speaks Fluent Spanish

Ron Herman, CEO of SionicMobile

HEAR RON’S FULL INTERVIEW HERE

Founder and Former CEO, Urban Informatics Corporation
>19 years of Executive Leadership roles in Technology Start-up to Fortune 500 Companies
Former CEO, Intellione Technologies

Mario Montag, CEO, Co-founder of Predikto Analytics

HEAR MARIO’S FULL INTERVIEW HERE

> 15 years of experience developing transformational technology solutions for Fortune 500 companies
Former Director, North America Oracle Master Data Management practice
MBA, IT, and International Business, Georgia State University J. Mack Robinson College of Business
Fluent in Spanish

Bill and Diedre Plunk of CimCo Commercial Collections

BS in Education, Minor in Business, Northeastern State University
Former Teacher and Coach, Oklahoma Public Schools
Board Member, River of Praise Ministries

Three Fantastic Female Entrepreneurs

December 16, 2014 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Three Fantastic Female Entrepreneurs

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Three Fantastic Female Entrepreneurs

This week I got to sit down with Three Fantastic Entrepreneurs from the Atlanta area. Diana Keough, CEO and founder of ShareWIK Media Group (Share What I Know), LeeAnn Maxwell, Co-Founder of Vixen Vodka, and Lara Hodgson, multiple-time successful entrepreneur and CEO/Founder of NOWaccount. We talked about some of the challenges they faced as women launching their own businesses, hear what they believe helped them succeed as entrepreneurs, and advice they offer for women contemplating starting a business of their own. For the longest time most of us would envision a man when thinking “CEO” or “Doctor”, or even “Entrepreneur”. And, as our guests shared, many times they’re the only female CEO/Entrepreneur in a room full of men. Times are slowly but surely changing. And today many women are launching successful brands and businesses, some of which are now global brands.

ShareWIK Media Group is a licensed content-generating group, producing high quality, interesting content across all media types for use in population health management efforts, inbound marketing/branding, testimonial content, and pertinent health optimization content. Diana talked about her transition from a journalist for the Plains Dealer newspaper to a Chief Executive Officer in a leadership role. She says, “If you are not surrounding yourself with people who are better than you and open to the fact that you might be wrong; or they might have a better idea on how to do things, then you’re not going to grow.” Over the weeks since I met Diana I’ve had the opportunity to meet several of the folks who make up the team at ShareWIK and seen some of their work. I can tell you: if your organization or agency needs to move an initiative or your business forward and you rely heavily on engaging your target audience to drive awareness you MUST include ShareWIK Media Group on your shortlist of content providers. At their core, the people at ShareWIK Media Group are journalists with expertise across all media types. On top of journalistic skills they bring knowledge and expertise within the healthcare journalism space as well.

Vixen Vodka is an EXCELLENT vodka that was born out of a trip to St. Simons Island, GA where two friends, drinking cocktails by the pool, decided they should launch their own vodka, branded and tailored for women. As LeeAnn says, “We came home, sobered up, and remembered it was a great idea.” “A dream without action is merely a fantasy.” It took them 2 years from beach to shelf. She shared how she and her good friend (also a woman) broke into the spirits business, starting with ZERO knowledge of how to make vodka much less how to bring one to market. After being told her idea was fantastic by a business consultant he turned around and told them, “I’ll never work. The spirits industry is a Good Ol’ Boys network. Those men will chew you up and spit you out!” That was several years ago and now the brand is adding more states to the seven states where they’re currently sold.

NOWaccount got started as a solution to a problem Lara Hodgson encountered as an entrepreneur with an earlier business, the impact of not having access to cash that is tied up holding unpaid invoices, particularly when they aged for several weeks (or more). She firmly believes that a successful business needs to have people behind them who are providing the product/service to solve a particular problem for their customer more so than “to sell lots of ‘X’ and make lots of money because it’s a great product”. She said, “So many people come up with a great idea and they fall in love with the ‘What’. They fall in love with the widget or the product. And if your ego and your passion is in the product then they are going to woefully un-deliver. But if your ego and your passion are in the “So What?” and the impact and the problem you’re solving then the sky’s the limit.” NOWaccount is a merchant services company that provides the B2B company with access to capital by selling slower-paying invoice accounts within 2-5 days for basically the same cost as accepting a credit card. Their solution is invisible to their client’s customers, has no minimum time commitment, and includes only those accounts selected by the B2B they’re helping. The NOWaccount option gives businesses the capital they need to accept larger orders, add staff, often enabling them grow larger and faster than was possible before.

Special Guests:

Lara O’Connor-Hodgson, CEO of Nowaccount Network Corporation

MBA Harvard Business School
Former Adjunct Professor of Finance, Georgia Institute of Technology
Board of Directors, Georgia Regional Transportation Authority
Owner, Insomnia Group
Chairman of the Board, Atlanta Heights Charter School
Second Language–Japanese

Diana Keough, CEO/Founder of ShareWIK.com

Journalism Instructor/Guest Lecturer, Emory University
Member, Koles College of Business Advisory Board, Kennsaw State University
Former Front Page Series Writer, The Plain Dealer
Former Reporter/Commentator, WKSU
Co-author, “Building a Business, Building a Life: The Incredible Life of a Woman Business Owner”

LeeAnn Maxwell, CEO/Co-Founder of Vixen Vodka

28 years experience in finance sector
former Director, Client Services of AccousTech Music Productions
Crossfit fan
50% Firecracker
50% Do-It-Yourself Woman

NowAccount Network Corporation

September 2, 2014 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

NowAccount Network Corporation

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Nowaccounts Network Corproation — Kim Humphreys and Lara Hodgson of NowAccount Network Corporation

Nowaccount Network Corporation Eliminates DSO Aging for Small to Medium-sized B2B Companies

Today on Midtown Business Radio we were joined by Lara Hodgson and Kim Humphreys of Nowaccount Network Corporation. In the business world, companies can encounter significant risk related to prolonged aging of their Accounts Receivable. It’s not uncommon for some businesses to have a Day Sales Outstanding of nearly 60 days. With so much capital unavailable to cover costs such as payroll, necessary production materials, and capital equipment, many companies are forced to avoid taking on larger contracts/client orders or even close their doors due to capital short-fall. Until now, B2B companies were forced to try to secure capital through onerous loans (if they could obtain one), factoring agreements (which require disclosure to all clients), and other less-than-optimal sources of funds. Service companies that provide a service versus selling goods/products can have a particularly difficult time gaining access to loans or other options due to a lack of inventory/capital equipment that could be used as collateral.

Nowaccount serves the B2B space and provides access to AR pending capital within 2-5 days for a 2.5% fee. In essence the service is akin to being able to accept a credit card for invoices. Their clients can select which of their customers’ accounts they wish to include in their program rather than requiring them to enroll ALL AR. Additionally, Nowaccount Network Corporation doesn’t force a long-term contract on their clients, giving them even greater flexibility. Nowaccount does not require disclosure to their clients’ customers of their relationship so engaging in Nowaccount’s services is completely invisible to the B2B’s customers. With access to their capital in such a timely fashion, many of the company’s clients have been able to leverage their quick access to pending AR capital into securing large contracts that would have been previously-inaccessible. Some Nowaccount customers have been able to use their newly-acquired AR Cash in hand to gain bulk buying discounts on supplies/production materials and even improved company valuation prior to selling their company. If your company is a B2B company that doesn’t have access to capital sources the Big Boys have there is no good reason to not be taking advantage of Nowaccount Network Corporation’s elegant solution to aging DSO!

Special guest:

Lara O’Connor-Hodgson, CEO of Nowaccount Network Corporation

MBA Harvard Business School
Former Adjunct Professor of Finance, Georgia Institute of Technology
Board of Directors, Georgia Regional Transportation Authority
Owner, Insomnia Group
Chairman of the Board, Atlanta Heights Charter School
Second Language–Japanese

Lara O’Connor Hodgson with NOWaccount and Dwayne Cheatom with Skyline Engineering

August 19, 2014 by angishields

Let's Talk Small Business

Lara O'Connor Hodgson with NOWaccount and Dwayne Cheatom with Skyline Engineering

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If you are like most small businesses, 90 percent of your B2B sales require you to manage and fund a transaction. Meanwhile, with your working capital tied up in outstanding invoices, funding new sales for business growth can be a challenge. Addressing this problem is GMSDC strategic partner Lara O’Connor Hodgson, GMSDC strategic partner and president & CEO of Nowaccount Network Corporation. Her goals are to help small businesses “grow fearlessly,” and by aiding with small business cash flow challenges, to “save the U.S. economy.” Listen to this important interview, as it is the first of an ongoing Access to Capital Interview Series on GMSDC Radio.

Lara O’Connor Hodgson / NOWaccount Network Corporation

Dwayne Cheatom / Skyline Engineering & Construction