IACCGH Small Business Outreach at HCC NW Campus

From left: Dr Ritu Raju (HCC), Pankaj Dhume, Dr. Zachary Hodges (HCC NW President), Sandra A Louvier (HCC) and Jagdip Ahluwalia (IACCGH).               Photo: Bijay Dixit

From left: Dr Ritu Raju (HCC), Pankaj Dhume, Dr. Zachary Hodges (HCC NW President), Sandra A Louvier (HCC) and Jagdip Ahluwalia (IACCGH).
Photo: Bijay Dixit

HOUSTON: One June 12, IACCGH President Pankaj Dhume welcomed over  40 attendees at the third in the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston small business outreach series sponsored by Houston Community College. Resource partners at the event included representatives from the  U.S. Small Business Administration and SCORE Houston. Dhume emphasized the Chamber’s focus on helping empower small business owners and professionals grow their business by helping them connect through IACCGH resource partners at these outreach events.

HCC Professor Dr. Ritu Raju introduced Houston Community College Northwest President, Dr. Zachary Hodges who delivered the keynote address.  A strong supporter of small business development and entrepreneurial growth in Houston, Dr Hodges has been President of the college for approximately 20 years, and as a committed partner with diverse stakeholders has leveraged the college as a catalyst for economic and community development in West Houston.
In addition to his passion for economic and community growth in Houston, Dr. Hodges also admires the wealth of diversity, business knowledge and capital that the Indo-American community has brought to the Bayou City. In his talk on how HCC is preparing students for the 21st Century workforce at the Spring Branch campus, he charged the chamber to get involved in with the college’s efforts of entrepreneurship and engineering. “At HCC, we are creating a learning environment for students to pursue their dreams, not just their majors. This helps our students develop independent and entrepreneurial thinking,” said Dr. Hodges.

IACCGH Executive Director introduced Sandra A Louvier, Director, Center for Entrepreneurship(c4E), HCC  who talked about the Center and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses are two vibrant programs that HCC has for individuals seeking to stake their claim in Houston’s economic growth. Each program has dedicated professionals that provide education and training for entrepreneurs and small business owners to develop the skills they need to grow their companies.

Additional programs that HCC has developed to lead students into the 21st Century workforce are the college’s engineering partnership with University of Texas at Tyler. Students can obtain a four-year Civil, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering degree for less than $20,000 at the HCC Alief campus in West Houston. While beneficial for the student, the program is also designed to support Houston’s demand for engineers.

For further information on C4E, visit hccbizconnect.org and to learn more about HCC’s partnership with UT Tyler visit hccs.edu/engineering. To learn more about the Chamber visit www.iaccgh.com

The 14th annual IACCGH Gala and awards banquet is on Saturday, August 17, 2013 at the Hilton Americas. For sponsorship opportunities and to buy your Gala tickets contact jagdip@iaccgh.com