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Advisory: Eastern to launch small business resource center with community welcome on Monday

Willimantic, CT (09/19/2025) — Eastern Connecticut State University will hold a community welcome and networking event on Sept. 22 to launch its new Small Business Resource Center (SBRC). The event will be held at 5 p.m. in the Paul E. Johnson Community Conference Room of the J. Eugene Smith Library and will welcome members of the local business community.

Formalized this past August through a partnership with Liberty Bank and the Town of Windham, the SBRC will support aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs in the Greater Willimantic community. A $25,000 investment from Liberty Bank will help establish and develop the center on Eastern's campus - the location is still under consideration.

According to the agreement between Eastern and Liberty Bank, "The center will focus on small business development services, with a special emphasis on supporting women entrepreneurs, veterans, and those historically disenfranchised from the local business community."

To that end, the agreement between Eastern and the Town states that the SBRC will "provide resources, educational programming, and networking and mentoring opportunities aimed at fostering small business growth and promoting economic development in the community."

Eastern business students will be involved in the center as well, with Liberty Bank providing educational resources for students to assist community members in developing business and financial plans.

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Eastern Connecticut State University is the state of Connecticut's public liberal arts university, serving upwards of 4,000 students annually on its Willimantic campus. A residential campus offering 41 majors and 68 minors, Eastern offers students a strong liberal arts foundation grounded in a variety of applied learning opportunities. Ranked among the top 25 public institutions in the North by U.S. News & World Report in its 2024-25 Best Colleges ratings, Eastern has also been awarded 'Green Campus' status by the Princeton Review 15 years in a row. For more information, visit www.easternct.edu.

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