Business incubator coming to The Grove
The Pasco Economic Development Council (Pasco EDC) has announced it will open a new SMARTstart Entrepreneur Center, with a business incubator, this fall at The Grove in Wesley Chapel.
Plans for the center include 10 private offices, 32 dedicated desks, a coworking lounge, huddle rooms, an executive board room, a digital media studio, and classroom and meeting space. SMARTstart members also will have access to additional entrepreneur support organizations that help small businesses start and grow. Pasco County food entrepreneurs will be able to participate in a pop-up shop at KRATE, a unique shipping container development on site at The Grove. This will be Pasco EDC’s third entrepreneur center in Pasco County.
For more information, visit PascoEDC.com.
Beware of employment scams
A new study by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) states that nearly three-quarters of those who lose money to employment scams are already in financial crisis, and do not have enough income to cover their monthly bills, according to a news release from the BBB.
Also, more than half of people targeted by employment scams (53%) reported being unemployed at the time of the encounter, the release says.
More than half of the scam targets were seeking work-from-home opportunities, according to Melisa Lanning Trumpower, executive director of the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust, which produced the report.
“As more people search for flexible employment opportunities following the coronavirus outbreak, they need to know that scammers are out there in force and targeting those most in need,” she said, in the release.
The Employment Scams Report examines findings from an April 2020 survey of 10,670 U.S. and Canadian consumers reporting employment scams to the BBB Scam Tracker. One surprising finding is that 65% of consumers reported that their “job offer” was related to becoming a “warehouse redistribution coordinator” or some similar titles involving the reshipment of packages (which often involves stolen goods).
In many cases, these scammers impersonated well-known retailers like Amazon and Walmart to seem legitimate, posting jobs on major online employment platforms with few prerequisites or requirements, the BBB reports.
Those most at risk for employment scams are students and individuals ages 25 to 34, who were more susceptible and likely to be victimized, and those ages 45 to 54 and 65-plus, who reported higher median dollar losses, the BBB says.
Military spouses and veterans also were more likely to fall victim than non-military consumers, and reported losing significantly more money to employment scams.
“Employment scams don’t just affect those who lose money. For every victim who lost money, at least one other worked without pay, and yet another lost personal information that could lead to identity theft,” Trumpower said.
For tips on how to avoid employment scams, visit BBB.org/EmploymentScams.
