The United States Department of Agriculture signed a contract with the University to fund the Louisiana Business and Technology Center’s Mobile Classroom for an additional year, according to a University news release.
The $148,730 USDA grant will benefit the LBTC’s Incubator on Wheels program, an initiative to build economic development in Louisiana’s rual areas as well as areas affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Charles D’Agostino, executive director of the LBTC, said the grant will be used to educate small business owners about how to start and operate successful businesses.
“The Mobile Classroom has really enhanced our capability to reach small business owners and entrepreneurs that we otherwise would never have seen,” D’Agostino said. “We appreciate that the USDA sees fit to provide us with additional funding, and we look forward to providing services for even more of our state’s citizens.”
 
—-Contact Mary Walker Baus at [email protected]