Join the DeKalb Chamber Small Business Advisory Council for a Biscuits and Business event with Sharon Macaluso, Area Director, The University of Georgia SBDC, as the guest speaker.

Nine Strategies for Authentic Networking
The number one way businesses, especially small businesses, get business is through networking. But to be truly effective, your approach to networking needs to be strategic and genuine. How many times have you attended numerous after-hour business events or breakfast networking meetings only to walk away with a handful of business cards, but no real results or benefits? This interactive workshop will provide you with specific approaches and tips to get a higher ROI from your networking time and dollars.
 
There will be plenty of time to practice tips and ideas you learn from the session, so come prepared with business cards and let’s get connected!

About the Speaker
Sharon Macaluso, MBA is an Area Director and a Business Consultant with The University of Georgia Small Business Development Center (UGA SBDC) in metro-Atlanta.  Sharon has been with the (UGA SBDC) since 1995, and has consulted with more than 2000 small to medium sized business owners.
 
Sharon’s areas of expertise include strategic planning, marketing and market research, business planning, brand development, management, employee relations & retention, recruitment, facilitation, training, leadership development, customer service and real estate.  She has written several publications and articles on marketing, market research, strategic planning, women-owned business issues and customer service.
 
Sharon has been recognized for superior service, winning several awards including The Georgia SBDC Network’s “Outstanding Project of Year” for two years, and a “Good Works” award, bestowed on her by one of her clients at their 20^th Anniversary Celebration.  Having more than 25 years of corporate and small business experience, she has held management and marketing positions with Eastern Airlines and IBM and has worked with her father in running their family-owned enterprise, a hosiery manufacturing facility in North Carolina.  While at Eastern Sharon won the “Striving For Excellence” Award and received an “Outstanding Achievement Award” while with IBM. In 2016, under Sharon’s leadership, the DeKalb office of the UGA SBDC, won DeKalb Chamber’s Apex Award for Business Advocacy.
 
Sharon holds a Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Marketing from Kennesaw State University and a Bachelors of Arts Degree from the University of North Carolina.  She is also a graduate of the University of Georgia’s Business Management Practicum, with concentrated courses of study in entrepreneurial finance, management and marketing.