WKU Innovation Campus News

This month’s member spotlight is on Mr. Miller Slaughter who is currently working as a business development specialist for Community Ventures in connection with the Small Business Development Center with his office at WKU Innovation Campus’s Collaborative Smart Space. His position is to counsel and mentor small businesses in leadership and financial management and to provide micro loans to entrepreneurs for start-up cash micro loans from 500.00 up to 50,000.00.  For all of his life experiences, one thing ties them together–Miller Slaughter’s passion for watching an entrepreneur’s dream blossom into the reality of a profiting business. And according to Mr. Slaughter, a business never has enoughtime, information, and money which is why he envisions himself as a “risk reducer” who “evens the scales” for new entrepreneurs who want to compete with established businesses.

In fact, evening the scales may have been the origin of his drive to help small businesses.  Coming from a corporate world with vast amounts of capital, and then working as Bowling Green Director of Economic Development with a rural ten-county area was an eye-opener for Mr. Slaughter.  Seeing the passion the owners had for their businesses was something he hadn’t seen on a personal level in corporate America.  Their dedication and pride to their businesses regardless of scarce resources, created an excitement that he had not experienced. Connecting, coaching, and mentoring these hometown people became his passion. His success in attracting new small businesses for the area was rooted in his determination to provide these entrepreneurs essential resources in financial management and to create avenues for saving them time and money, thus reducing their risk in moving their businesses to these areas. 

This exposure to small businesses would be his first step in finding his niche.  His classic business education with 30 years of experience made for the perfect candidate to attract businesses to our area.  After his successful tenure for the City of Bowling Green, Mr. Slaughter joined with the WKU Small Business Accelerator to counsel the businesses related to the WKU Innovation Center and WKU Collaborative Smart Space where he would be required to transition from attracting small businesses to building them, and for him, the magic was this: he could mentor an entrepreneur throughout all the stages of a developing business from an idea on paper to a brick and mortar building. 

Mr. Miller has had grand success in his small-business mentorships-–so much so that he was awarded the 2022 Community Ventures Heavy Hitter Award for closing the most microloans.  It seems that the key to his success is his uncanny ability to ask the right questions. Interestingly enough, Miller coached Kentucky Brandbuilders while we interviewed him for this article. He gave much-needed guidance, and he coached us concerning some questions we had as our business is growing.  It was obvious that this gift emanates from his empathy for entrepreneurs and their visions of success. Simply put,  Mr. Slaughter will make your dream his dream, and he knows how to make it your reality.