Maryland Smith to Offer Free Business Education Program for Maryland Residents, Businesses

“Maryland Business: Rebooted” Starts Online July 13

To help Marylanders get back into the workforce and prepare for the new economic and business environment, The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business has developed an online business program — free to all residents of the state of Maryland.

Maryland Business: Rebooted, starts July 13, 2020, and is designed especially for individuals who have been managing or working in small and medium-sized companies.

Maryland Smith faculty experts will lead a series of webinars that cover entrepreneurial and business leadership skills in terms of teamwork, developing a company strategy, financial decision making, mitigating financial and cybersecurity risks, making decisions based on data, improving a website and marketing businesses on social media.

“The program is the brainchild of Michel Wedel (Distinguished University Professor), Judy Frels (Clinical Professor and MicroMasters Program Director), and Christine Thompson (Executive Director of Executive Education), who have worked tirelessly to design the program, recruit faculty and seek support from the broader community,” says Michael Ball, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research.

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, says Thompson, “has unimaginable health, psychological and economic impact on the lives of Maryland residents, especially those managing or working in small and medium-sized businesses.”

“The program may help them pick up their job more effectively, launch a new career, restart or revitalize an existing business, start a new enterprise, or prepare for further education,” she adds.

Each of the following modules will consist of three one-hour webinars:

• Strategy for Businesses of all sizes: Webinars: “Strategy Health Check,” “Rethinking your Strategy” and “Future Robust Planning” (Oliver Schlake, July 13-Sept. 7)
• Financial Accounting: Key Metrics for Performance Management: Webinars: “The Nature of Accounting and its Relevance for Business,” “Income and Cash Flow Statements” and “Managerial Accounting” (Eugene Cantor, Aug. 10-Oct. 12)
• Digital Marketing: Targeting the Right Customers, through Social Media and Search: Webinars: “Creating your company’s website for the best customer experience,” “B2B Websites” and “Social Media” (Mary Harms, Sept. 22-Nov. 30)

The topics in the three modules also are sequenced with free “MicroMasters” courses that Maryland Smith already offers on the edX platform. This provides for participants to choose to engage only in the webinars or in both the webinars and corresponding MicroMasters courses.

The sessions will further accommodate and promote participant interaction -- to share experiences and exchange ideas. And, Maryland Smith will partner with the Maryland Small Business Development Center to provide business coaching to participating small business owners.

While the MicroMasters courses are delivered via the edX platform, all webinars will be delivered via Zoom. All webinars and approximately 85% of the content of each MicroMasters course is available at no charge to the participants.

Panel Discussion with Maryland Black Business Owners

As part of the Maryland Business: Rebooted series, Maryland Smith will host an online panel discussion with Black entrepreneurs who will shed light on unique challenges facing their companies and share experiences of successes and failures in meeting those challenges. This webinar takes place 3-4 p.m. Tuesday, July 21, and is free with advance registration.

Victor Mullins, associate dean of undergraduate programs, and diversity officer for Maryland Smith, will lead the discussion with Monique Rose Simms, co-owner and managing partner of Milk & Honey; Kibwe Hughes, founder and managing partner of Relentless Management Group; and Ashton Clark and Ryan Clark, founders of TicketFalcon.

"I am truly excited about the panel discussion that Dean Mullins will host with four Black entrepreneurs and business owners, and alumni of the Robert H. Smith School of Business, as part of our program,” says Wedel. “It is a unique opportunity to hear about the challenges that small and medium-sized companies and their employees are facing during this pandemic, and how the panel members have navigated them.”

Get more information and to register via the Maryland Business: Rebooted homepage.