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Saint Louis University Receives Grant for Entrepreneur Workshops in North St. Louis

Saint Louis University School of Law's Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic (ECD) and the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business and its Habitat for Neighborhood Business program have been awarded grant funding to support a pilot project known as the E Workshop Project.

The project will focus legal and business support to neighborhood entrepreneurs in north St. Louis city and county.

"Many areas of St. Louis have experienced patterns of community disinvestment and segregation," said associate professor Dana Malkus, J.D., a supervisor of the ECD Clinic. "The destructive results of this and other policies have isolated individuals from job opportunities and robbed neighborhoods of economic opportunity. Individuals with entrepreneurial ventures in these areas lack access to traditional sources of capital and market-rate legal services. They face a daunting gauntlet of regulations and legal risks. Our goal is to bridge that gap for these entrepreneurs."

The E Workshop Project will provide individuals who live or operate their ventures in north St. Louis city or county an opportunity to attend a series of community-based workshops on business-related legal topics. The workshops are intended to empower participants to start or expand an entrepreneurial venture, recognize and mitigate potential legal risks and incorporate operational best practices. All workshop participants will also have the opportunity to receive individualized pro bono assistance through the ECD Clinic and business mentoring through the Chaifetz School and its Habitat for Neighborhood Business program.

"Since the business and legal issues entrepreneurs face are often intertwined, coupling a business mentoring program such as Habitat for Neighborhood Business with legal services through the ECD Clinic provides a platform for more effective entrepreneurship support than what either program can accomplish alone," said Doug Brown, founder of the Habitat for Neighborhood Business.

Since the business and legal issues entrepreneurs face are often intertwined, coupling a business mentoring program such as Habitat for Neighborhood Business with legal services through the ECD Clinic provides a platform for more effective entrepreneurship support than what either program can accomplish alone," said Doug Brown, founder of the Habitat for Neighborhood Business.

There will be four workshops starting this spring. This interdisciplinary effort brings together students from across campus with a common goal of fostering community businesses. Law students will participate in the workshop presentation, as well as any follow-up work throughout the semester.

The School of Law's ECD Clinic provides transactional representation to entrepreneurs, nonprofits, community groups and small businesses. ECD clinic clients seek to positively impact the St. Louis community in a variety of ways, including neighborhood revitalization, job creation, producing and preserving affordable housing, offering needed goods and services, and working to generate solutions to common community problems.

Organized in 2006 in partnership with the Chaifetz School, Habitat for Neighborhood Business is a volunteer 501(c)3 organization that develops retail and service business centers in economically distressed neighborhoods. The initial focus has been the underserved communities of North St. Louis City. Habitat for Neighborhood Business extends opportunities to residents to be trained and mentored for their own businesses. It provides economic incentives to start a business in their own community with the belief that residents will support their neighbor's business and begin to create wealth within the community.

For more information about the clinic, visit law.slu.edu/entrepreneurship-and-community-development-clinic.

About Saint Louis University School of Law
Saint Louis University School of Law was founded in 1843 and is the oldest law school west of the Mississippi River. The strength of the faculty, breadth of course offerings and extensive clinical and professional skills experience provide students with a well-rounded legal education. The School of Law's rich history consists of strong connections to the community and a long tradition of public service. SLU LAW's location in the heart of downtown St. Louis, offers students unparalleled access to leading law firms, courthouses, corporations, government agencies and non-profit organizations - and a unique opportunity to see the law in action. For more information, visit https://www.slu.edu/law/.