MINORITY BUSINESS FOCUS OF SEMINAR

Former professional baseball player Glenn Franklin of Franklin Graphics and Lettering will be keynote speaker at a "Keys to Minority Small-Business Success" seminar to be held Thursday at Southeast Missouri State University.

Franklin purchased the 25-year-old Scheiber's Lettering, changed the name, added graphic services, and is presently projecting sales of $1.5 million.

The session, to be held at the University Center, will get under way at 8 a.m. with a "Wake Up to Missouri" continental breakfast sponsored by the Missouri Division of Tourism.

Franklin will speak during the seminar luncheon, sponsored by Mercantile Bank of Cape Girardeau and Pemiscot-Dunklin and Scott-New Madrid-Mississippi Electric Cooperatives. Other sponsors include the Governor's Commission on Minority Business Development and the Missouri Lottery.

Minority business professionals from such agencies as the Small Business Association, the St. Louis Minority Business Development Center, city of St. Louis, and state of Missouri will address such topics as "Planning and Financing the Small Business," "The Certification Process" and "Considering Tourism as a Small-Business Alternative."

Additional information is available by contacting the Small Business Development Center in Cape Girardeau, (314)-290-5965, or the Missouri Business Assistance Center in Jefferson City, 1-800-523-1434.