Small business owners are invited to bounce ideas off each otherin a roundtable session Friday sponsored by the Brookhaven-LincolnCounty Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber Executive Vice President Cliff Brumfield said the SmallBusiness Roundtable, which will take place Friday at 7:30 a.m. atCracker Barrel Country Store in the back dining hall, is a chancefor area business people to get together and discuss issues theyshare and would like to know more about.

“What we’re piloting this Friday is a networking opportunity forsmall business owners to get together over coffee and discussgeneral ideas,” he said. “Then we will follow up with presentationsby speakers that can give us answers to focus areas all businessowners share.”

Brumfield said the speaker for Friday is certified publicaccountant Pat Lowery, who will discuss imperative governmentforms.

“Many business owners, particularly new business owners, canhave trouble from time to time with submitting forms,” Brumfieldsaid. “Those can cause fines and other issues from state andfederal entities if they are not submitted.”

The roundtable is a project of the Small Business DevelopmentCommittee. Brumfield said the idea was the brainchild of talks tobring in new members at the beginning of the year.

“We were focusing on our member projects and were consideringadding new events that would give more value to our participatingbusinesses,” he said.

Brumfield said future speakers will be based upon feedback fromchamber members and small business owners in attendance so they canbe tailored to the needs of roundtable attendees.

“In coming months, we will cover other topics such asemployee-related issues, marketing, available training and soforth,” said Brumfield. “We’ll choose our topics based on commentsmade by those in attendance.”

The forum is open for all chamber members and other interestedbusiness owners, Brumfield said.

“We’d certainly encourage any small business owner to attend,”he said. “It’s a great networking opportunity for business ownersto meet others in the Brookhaven area, and share common intereststhat small business owners have.”