MOULTRIE, Ga. — Moultrie will be having its first small Business Expo on Thursday, Feb. 7, from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. at the Ryce Center.

The expo is put on by the City of Moultrie and, the idea came from the Rev Cornelius Ponder, a city councilman, who wanted to help people in the community understand the steps it would take to open a business.

Amy Johnson, the city’s director of downtown economic development and public relations, thinks this is a great opportunity for the community.

“I think this has great potential to be the start of something really great,”  said Johnson. “ I think we could do two of these a year if not two at least once a year. I see this as being something that will continue to happen and grow, and as it grows we will continue to incorporate more organizations that will help, but this first one will help us know and understand the interest the community has in wanting to open up a business.”

Multiple groups will provide presentations during the expo. One is the  E.D.G.E group (Encouraging Growth and Development Efficiently) from the city government. It sits a potential business owner down in a room with every city department head that has anything to do with them opening a business to discuss what that city will need from the business owner and how the city can help him or her to get the business started.

Another group coming to the expo will be SCORE Mentors, a group that offers advice, mentoring and resources to potential small business owners, and local banks will be there to talk about the financial side of things.

The expo is free to the public. For more information, you can contact Amy Johnson at 229-890-5455.