What does a college student strapped with thousands of dollars in loans, rising tuition costs, and high interest credit cards do to keep themselves from being neck-high in debt after graduation? They get a part-time job, make monthly tuition payments, move out of their expensive dorm and hope that the $8.75 they make an hour will be enough to keep them from taking out another loan next semester. Or they do what Sherrell Dorsey and KD Davis did. They start a business.
Dorsey, a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and Davis, a student at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, followed the country’s rising trend in entrepreneurship and in August teamed together and launched their company, AccessionPR.
Influenced by the growing number of small businesses being created each year, Dorsey and Davis decided to create a company that offers affordable public relations services to non-profits and small business owners. The pay off: they don’t have to rely on a part time job to get them through school or maintain their livelihood.
Like many college students, Dorsey juggled school and an internship in addition to her part-time job. “Those 25 hours I worked each week helped me pay the bills. And that was great, but I wasn’t using what I was learning in school. I felt unproductive,”
Clients choose from an array of services to help their business gain the media recognition they need to grow. Media kits, news releases, e-marketing, event management and other service packages make up the various campaign programs AccessionPR offers. Small business owners with limited marketing budgets can focus on growing their business through these services, not on the cost.
“My plan is not to wait until I’m finished with school to start my career,” said Dorsey. “Just like the Facebook and MySpace guys, I’m creating my career now.”
