Simple Steps Starting Your Business (1) – Starting Your Business 

This workshop is part of the five-part Simple Steps for Starting Your Business series. It will introduce you to key business factors such as the realities of entrepreneurship, different business options to pursue, key resources needed, the components of business ownership, legal and financial considerations, the importance of planning, and more.

Keith Joy is a native of Memphis who graduated from Hamilton High School and Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis).  Keith spent his entire 32 year career at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the largest U.S. Department of Energy Science and Research and Development Laboratory.  He spent his first 20 years in the Quality Assurance profession as a Specialist and later a Quality Manager.  Keith then switched his profession by being the Small Business Program Manager and later the Director of Small Business Programs.  Keith and the Laboratory won several significant national awards for his support and assistance to the small business community. Awards such as the SBA Eisenhower Award (for a corporation's support of small business), the SBA Francis Perkins Vanguard Award (for support of Women Owned Small Businesses), the DOE Small Business Program Manager of the Year Award, the DOE Mentor of the Year Award, and several other national and regional awards and recognition.  Keith is currently retired and has relocated back to Memphis with his family.