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Miller entrepreneurship center asks Carroll County for continued support, seeks transition plan if funding ends
Summary
Tom Mazurski, director of Miller Resources for Entrepreneurs, and several local small-business owners told commissioners the Miller program supports hundreds of clients and startups and asked the county to either continue funding or provide a transition plan for about 40 in-progress clients.
Tom Mazurski, director of Miller Resources for Entrepreneurs, told Carroll County commissioners the program has started more than 300 businesses and served over 1,000 clients since he began work with the center and urged continued county support at the FY26 budget hearing.
"Last season, when we had the budget debate, we were asked to do monthly reports and economic analysis. I need you to review them," Mazurski said, urging commissioners to consider the monthly data he said demonstrates the program's success. He said Miller currently has about 40 clients in process and requested either continued funding or a transition plan "if it's a no and you're not gonna fund it, we need to transition."
Multiple entrepreneurs and community members described Miller's role in helping startups and small businesses. James Darryl Jones, president of NetPay 2 ks International Corporation, said he volunteers with Miller and praised its basic business training for new entrepreneurs. Brian Cox, a local resident and small-business customer of Miller, said the center's professionalism and guidance had been "invaluable" in his attempts to secure funding to purchase a business. BJ Phelps, a registered nurse and Carroll Community College alum who founded a senior-care business, said she could not have launched her company without Miller's business training and support.
Mazurski also told the commissioners the program contributes net positive value to clients, saying "the study shows that if you shut the program down, your clients will actually lose money because Miller pays more money into the fund than it takes out." He asked that, at minimum, the county provide time and a transition plan to avoid harming clients if funding changes.
No formal county action was taken at the hearing; the comments were submitted as public testimony to inform commissioners' upcoming budget deliberations.
