VCE Prince William Financial Ed & Housing Counseling

02/05/2026

The "Date Night" Aesthetic
Making "staying in" feel like a 5-star reservation. 🥂 Our order from J.DelVacchio Prints just arrived and these patterns are everything!

Huge shoutout to the talented Jaclyn DelVacchio (a Start SMART Pitch Competition standout!) for helping me level up our weekend date night.

Check out her work here: www.jdelvacchioprints.com

01/12/2026

Capturing the Spirit of the West!
We are bursting with pride for one of our own! This past weekend, Start SMART Pitch Competition participant and talented wildlife photographer Evelyn Parks reached a major milestone.

Evelyn hosted her very first expedition gallery, "The Spirit of the West – Photography Reception," at the wonderful Jirani Coffee House. Her breathtaking images of nature and wildlife truly brought the soul of the wilderness to our community.

✨ A Community of Support
Success is even sweeter when shared! It was incredible to see the Start SMART family show up in full force. Several classmates and our lead instructor, Enica Russell, were there to cheer Evelyn on and celebrate her hard work and artistic vision.

Check out some highlights from the event below! 👇

Join us in the comments! Let’s give Evelyn a huge "Congratulations" on her first successful exhibition! We can’t wait to see where your lens takes you next, Evelyn! 🦅🌲

12/19/2025

12/18/2025

Huge congratulations to the 14 incredible entrepreneurs who took the stage this past Tuesday at the George Mason University Manassas Campus for the Start SMART Series Pitch Competition!

After weeks of hard work, our winners proved they have the "SMARTs" to take their businesses to the next level:

🏆 1st Place: Noel Cherowbrier, ExCaliber Intake Forensic Capture (Sponsored by The SkillSource Group) 🥈 2nd Place: Courtney Gaskins, Spin Art Joy (Sponsored by PWC Dept. of Economic Development & Tourism) 🥉 3rd Place: Tigist Awoke, SmartDeal (Sponsored by John Marshall Bank)

A massive shoutout to our dedicated instructors from Mason SBDC (Timm Johnson, Coach Siragusa, Bernard Feret) and Virginia Cooperative Extension (Enica Russell, Chuck Botwright) for coaching these stars to greatness.

And of course, thank you to our expert judges—David Hunn, Brendan Baldwin, and Subodh Nayar—for making the tough calls!

12/10/2025

After 11 weeks of hard work, we've finally reached the point where we ask the only two questions that truly matter: "What's my business worth?" and "Where do I get the money?" 🤑 Thanks to Timm Johnson for breaking down the complex world of valuation and the eight paths to financing!

Instruction is over. The hustle begins.

Next Tuesday, December 16th, these small business leaders will be fighting for the gold at the Pitch Competition Grand Finale at the Life Sciences and Engineering Building at GMU Manassas.

Massive gratitude to our sponsors who have pledged the prize money:

🥇 The SkillSource Group

🥈 Prince William Economic Development

🥉 John Marshall Bank

Good luck, pitchers! May your slides be sleek and your answers be sharp! 📊

12/03/2025

🎤 Week 10: From Mumbles to Money Makers

Ten down, almost done! 🎉 We hit the infamous Week 10 of the Start SMART Small Business Series, focusing on the Pitch!

Coach Siragusa from SBDC helped our students iron out the crinkles, eliminate the "uhms," and turn their 5-minute rambles into compelling, concise pitches. By the end of the night, every student was ready to face a room full of venture capitalists.

Great job, team! Next stop: Funding! 🚀

12/01/2025

Apply today to become a Master Financial Education Volunteer. Learn how you can help others to make smart money decisions and understand how to empower themselves to reach their financial goals.

Applications are currently being accepted now and through February 4, 2026.

12/01/2025

Join us to learn more on understanding credit reports and scores. This session will be presented virtually on 12/11/2025 at 7:00pm. To sign up for this session, click on this link to be sent registration info and the Zoom link: https://bit.ly/UnderstandImproveCreditReportScore

11/21/2025

From the classroom to the spotlight! 💡

We loved seeing our 2024 and 2025 Start SMART participants trading notes for networking at the Prince William Department of Economic and Tourism’s 3rd Annual Make Your Mark awards.

The backdrop was the stunning National Museum of the Marine Corps, but we think these entrepreneurs were the real view. Thanks for making us look good, everyone! 😉

Check out the photos below! 👇

11/19/2025

Who needs a crystal ball when you have a solid Cash Flow Forecast? 🔮💸

Week 9 of Start SMART is in the books! Today we tackled the part of business that keeps the lights on: Forecasting and Cash Flow Management.

We moved past the "dreaming" phase and into the "measuring" phase. We geeked out on industry-specific KPIs and learned exactly what numbers we need to hit to succeed.

A huge shoutout to SBDC Director Timm Johnson for arming our entrepreneurs with a host of financial templates. No reinventing the wheel here—just plugging in the numbers for success! 🚀

** The Countdown:** Only 4 weeks left until the Pitch Competition on Dec 16th! The pressure is on, but so is the preparation.

11/06/2025

🚀 Week 7 of Start SMART: Acquiring Customers Like a Pro! 🎯
This week, we dove deep into the strategic side of growth with SBDC Director Timm Johnson and the legendary George "Coach" Siragusa. The whiteboard practically glowed under the intense discussion on Customer Acquisition!

If you were there, you know the concepts of CAC and the difference between Markup vs. Margin really hit home. It’s like discovering the secret handshake to making actual profit—no more guessing games! Some serious "Aha!" moments were had.

Huge thanks to Timm and Coach for giving us the playbook on how to find, win, and keep customers without accidentally spending a fortune. Now, go forth and calculate those margins! 📈

What was your biggest takeaway from this week's session? Share your "Aha!" moment below! 👇