TAZEWELL, VA — AUGUST 18, 2020 — Providing for the accounting, bookkeeping and other financial record keeping needs of area businesses and individuals is the primary goal Pansy Harman, of Tazewell, had when she formed Professional Bookkeeping & Accounting Inc. The business is a recent recipient of a $10,000 Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA) Seed Capital Matching grant.
Harman, who has worked in the accounting field for more than 38 years, noted it’s been her life’s work to take care of the bookkeeping and record keeping needs of many in the business community in Tazewell and the surrounding area. She was a long-time employee of H&R Block and at one time, owned the Tazewell franchise until she sold it to go into business for herself.
“Assisting Professional Bookkeeping & Accounting Inc. with a seed capital matching grant was something VCEDA was pleased to do,” said VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher. “The business projects four full-time and six part-time jobs will be created within five years.”
Currently, Harman noted there are two full-time employees, including her and Pam Dial, an accountant with the business.
“We offer personal and business bookkeeping and we do tax work too,” Harman said, adding a broad range of services are provided for start-ups as well as for established and non-profit businesses including accounting, bookkeeping, payroll services, billing services, business planning and consultation, auditing and representative services and tax-related services.
“The VCEDA grant has helped tremendously,” Harman said. “When I came up here, this was just one room and for privacy reasons, we needed to add partitions. We also added more computers and a new phone system and the grant has come in handy toward those projects.”
Harman worked with Margie Douglass, director of the Small Business Development Center at Southwest Virginia Community College. The Tazewell County Industrial Development Authority provided a letter of support for the project as well.
Located at 902 C Main Street in Tazewell, Professional Bookkeeping & Accounting Inc. is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday and on Saturdays, by appointment. The business may be reached at 276-971-7822.
About Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority and Southwest Virginia’s e-Region: The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1988 to enhance and diversify the region’s economy and help create jobs, markets Southwest Virginia’s e-Region and its focus on electronic information technology, energy, education, emerging technologies, and entrepreneurship. VCEDA is a unique economic development organization that manages funds for economic development projects from a percentage of the coal and natural gas severance taxes paid by coal and natural gas companies that operate in the region. Located in southwestern Virginia, the region includes Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, and Wise counties and the City of Norton. www.vceda.us or www.e-Region.org.
About the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority Seed Capital Matching Grant Fund: VCEDA region for-profit businesses one year and under with less than 10 full-time employees are eligible to apply for dollar-for-dollar matching grants up to $10,000 from the VCEDA Seed Capital Matching Fund. Applicants work with the Small Business Development Centers at Mountain Empire and Southwest Virginia community colleges to prepare the applications to VCEDA that include detailed business and financial plans. Businesses must be located in or plan to operate in the VCEDA region in southwestern Virginia that includes Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, and Wise counties and the City of Norton.