Entrepreneurial Training Institute Program

NJAWBO Mercer County chapter has announced that three of its members have been accepted into the New Jersey Economic Development Agency's highly acclaimed Entrepreneurial Training Institute (ETI) program. Chapter members Gloria K. Dawkins, Kim Rowe, and Josephine M. Giaimo are slated to begin the three-month program in early March of 2003.

ETI is a practical business training program that has graduated nearly 700 New Jersey entrepreneurs since 1992. It helps new and existing entrepreneurs in New Jersey prepare a business plan, learn how to manage the day-to-day operations of a business, and understand the ins and outs of getting financing. Specially designated program sites support the goals of non-profit organizations and high-tech businesses. This spring's ETI programs are offered in ten different locations including Hackensack, North Brunswick, Trenton, and Vineland. Participants attending at least 6 of the 8 weekly sessions submit their business plans by mid-May for review by a panel of experts and to participate in a lender's roundtable program. In the following 18 months, ETI graduates are assigned and work with a business mentor who coaches them in implementing their business plans. ETI graduates learn about funding programs available to small businesses through NJDA and NJEDA, and the advantages of lower rates and participation with traditional lenders.

Gloria K. Dawkins of Dawkins Consultants, Inc., provides construction management consulting and Clerk of the Works services, primarily to the New Jersey school community. Dawkins is President/CEO and primarily responsible for the management and day-to-day operations of the company. For the past 24 years, she has worked exclusively in construction-related industries. Dawkins Consultants is SBE/MBE/WBE certified, and Ms. Dawkins is a member of the NJAWBO Mercer chapter and resides in Cream Ridge.

Kim Rowe is one of the founding partners of Agentive, a performance development company that helps pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies enhance the performance of their sales and marketing organizations. Rowe has been an independent marketing and sales consultant to the medical and pharmaceutical industries since 1993. Agentive provides clients with marketing, sales, and sales training management on a project basis. Prior to starting Agentive, Rowe held a variety of sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibility at Fortune 500 healthcare companies, including CR Bard and Bristol-Myers Squibb. A resident of Belle Mead, Rowe is an active member of NJAWBO Mercer County, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Montgomery Friends of Open Space, where she is co-chairing an effort to an establish an organic farm and farmers' market.

Josephine M. Giaimo is founder and CEO of New Cognitive Systems, Inc., a productivity and engineering consulting services company that assists businesses seeking to leverage their existing knowledge resources and technology investments. Her company takes on project assignments for organizations looking to increase their profits and levels of customer satisfaction. The Highland Park-based firm helps organizations to examine and transform their Web sites, applications, processes and workflows to meet their current goals and today's economic challenges. New Cognitive Systems, Inc. provides usability consulting, project management, information architecture, curriculum design, knowledge management, and emerging technologies consulting services. Since 1986, Giaimo has provided solutions to such Fortune 500 companies and R&D institutions as AT&T Bell Laboratories, Exxon, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute, Prudential Securities, Lucent, and Telcordia Technologies. Giaimo serves on the Executive Board of the Mercer County NJAWBO chapter as its VP of Marketing, and as Community Liaison for the George Street Co-op, Inc, a community-owned natural foods store located in New Brunswick.

Both Dawkins and Rowe are attending ETI program Trenton-based program for businesses; Giaimo is attending ETI's high-tech business program based in North Brunswick at DeVry College of Technology. ETI is administered by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA). For more information about ETI programs, visit www.njeda.com, email eti@njeda.com, or call (609) 292-9279.