FAIRFIELD COUNTY — The Fairfield County Chamber Members have an exciting opportunity to work with the Retailing Management Students at USC on their group project.

This is a partnership with the SC Small Business CoC and the USC Business School Marketing Students who will meet with shop/business owners, students will look at the following.

They will analyze a brief history of the store; the company format; the method of ownership; the company website and demographics. Other areas the students will examine are how the store stimulates consumer behavior, a brief competitive analysis, the establishment’s target market, its positioning, competitive advantage, margin/turnover strategy/financial performance (based on information from company) and the company location.

Other issues they will consider are the trade area, barriers, parking, visibility, and how that relates to other tenants.

The interns will work with businesses for the semester beginning Feb – May 1, 2013.

The will be a student bus tour in Fairfield on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013.

The fee to participate is $50 each which is being covered by a benefactor.

The fee will include each business becoming a member of SC Small Business Chamber as well.

The first 20 Chamber Member businesses to respond will be the target group for the project. Please respond by calling 635-4242 by Wed., Jan 30 so the students can plan tour stops. If this event goes well, the Fairfield Chamber hopes to offer it on an ongoing basis.