September 16, 2008
For Immediate Release

RCCC Small Business Center
Receives Book Collection

          CONCORD, N.C. — The Small Business Center (SBC) at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College has received the extensive entrepreneurship book collection of former instructor John "Chris" Murphy.

           Murphy died Sept. 14 at his home in Charlotte. When his health began to fail earlier this year, Murphy contacted SBC director Barbara Hall and offered his collection of nearly 100 books to the SBC.

           "We are very saddened by the loss of Chris Murphy. He was a long-time friend and one of the most experienced and knowledgeable entrepreneurship educators in the region," said Hall. "His book collection is a bitter-sweet gift. It enhances our SBC Resource Center in a most significant way, but it comes at a loss that will be far more reaching."

           Murphy's son, Tom, delivered the books to the SBC in late August. After receiving the books, Hall presented Tom Murphy with an "Entrepreneurship Champion" plaque to give to his father.

           "The RCCC Small Business Center and its staff were near and dear to my father's heart. He wanted to make a lasting contribution," Tom Murphy said.

           Of the dozens of donated books, some of the titles include "Mastering Entrepreneurship," "Creativity in Business," "Starting Your Own Business: No Money Down," "Blogging for Dummies," "Financing the New Venture," and Murphy's own book, "Starting a New Business? Think Big but Start Small."

           The books are now part of the SBC's Resource Center lending library at RCCC's Cabarrus Business and Technology Center in Concord.

           Throughout his career, Murphy started and ran 16 businesses, including manufacturing, wholesale, retail and banking. In addition to teaching SBC classes and seminars for the past two years, Murphy was a professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he helped establish the Institute for Women as Entrepreneurs. He also taught entrepreneurship courses in the UNC Charlotte Belk College of Business for six years.

           Murphy's funeral will be Thursday, Sept. 18, at 2:00 p.m., at the Raymer Funeral Home, in Huntersville.

           The Small Business Center at RCCC is a community-based provider of education, training, counseling, information and referral, assisting entrepreneurs with business ideas and existing small business ventures.

           The SBC also offers free seminars with support from the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce, Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce, the City of Kannapolis, the Rowan Business Alliance, the Small Business & Technology Development Center, and Historic Downtown Salisbury.

           The seminars cover a broad range of small business topics, including business start ups, business financing, marketing, internet business, business growth and development, taxes, recordkeeping and customer service.

          For more information about the SBC and its many programs, call RCCC at 704-216-3512, send e-mail to sbc@rowancabarrus.edu, or see the SBC website at www.rowancabarrus.edu/sbc.

           Rowan-Cabarrus Community College is a comprehensive, community-based institution of higher learning, serving the citizens of Rowan and Cabarrus Counties. RCCC offers approximately 40 programs of study in business, health and human services and engineering technologies at multiple campus locations. RCCC annually provides more than 2,000 course offerings, serving an enrollment of approximately 20,000 adult students. RCCC programs include an associate degree in arts and sciences, an associate degree in applied science, and diploma and certificate programs focusing on workforce training, continuing education and basic skills education.

           In addition, RCCC provides the education and job-training programs needed to meet many of the workforce demands of the North Carolina Research Campus, under construction in Kannapolis, N.C.

           For complete details, see the RCCC website at www.rowancabarrus.edu.