Alabama’s First Lady to Attend UA-Hosted Candle-Signing Monday

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama’s First Lady, Diane Bentley, will be at The University of Alabama’s University Club Monday to help kick off a project that promises to provide additional relief for victims of last April’s tornado while boosting a Black Belt entrepreneur.

Vesta Taylor, of Vesta Taylor Interiors in Greenville, has helped Bentley decorate the Governor’s Mansion and has designed a candle line and signature candle scents for her. The candles are marketed through the Governor’s Mansion Gift Shop and will be introduced to the Tuscaloosa area through a signing at the University Club March 26 from 1 – 3 p.m. hosted by The University of Alabama’s Alabama Entrepreneurial Resource Network, or AERN, which provides support to entrepreneurs in 17 rural Alabama counties.

The support includes business reference materials, business planning software and computer technology and on-site training. AERN’s partner in Greenville is the Greenville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Any entrepreneur in Butler County is welcome to visit the chamber of commerce office suite, where The University of Alabama’s AERN program provides special resources and business support services not available anywhere else in the county.

Taylor is the most recent client in Greenville. With the help of The University of Alabama and AERN, she is expanding her business and bringing additional prosperity to her area.

Annette Watters, director of AERN, said the program has assisted the candle designer with her business growth and expansion. For example, Taylor’s accounting and inventory systems needed to expand as her business did.

“This is a wonderful example of how entrepreneurship can flourish in a rural area such as Greenville,” Watters said. “It also is a wonderful example of inter-agency cooperation. For example, the invitation to Monday’s event was designed by the Alabama Tourism Office, and the manager of the governor’s mansion gift shop has been involved by making the candles available there.

“And the Tuscaloosa community is appreciative that a portion of the proceeds from candle sales at Monday’s event will benefit victims of Tuscaloosa’s 2011 tornado.”

The public is invited to attend the 1-3 event.