SCL Biz: Everything Business in Sonoma County

The U.S. Green Building Council, Redwood Empire Chapter, will present ‘Leed for New Construction Technical Review Workshop’ to help you gain the knowledge needed to maximize commercial building performance, achieve LEED certification and take the LEED Professional Accreditation Exam. Owners and developers are demanding green buildings that save money while protecting the environment and occupant health. The USGBC’s LEED Rating System™ is the nationally recognized rating system for green buildings. LEED is already being used by green building projects in all 50 states, and the market continues to grow.

June 13th, 2008 • 8:30 am – 5:00 pm
Sonoma Mountain Village Event Center, 1400 Valley House Drive, Rohnert Park

Information & Registration

The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing, & Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly, by David Meerman Scott [John Wiley 2007]. “Scott provides the technical novice a thoughtful and accessible guide to cutting-edge media arenas and formats such as RSS, vodcasts and viral marketing, without neglecting the fact that technological wizardry can’t substitute for a well thought-out marketing program. Besides emphasizing fundamentals like defining one’s audience, Scott also drills home the ethos and etiquette of the Web, encouraging content that’s both useful and unobtrusive. This excellent look at the basics of new millennial marketing should find use.” [Publishers Weekly, December 2007]

More on marketing, PR, and advertising in the SCL Biz Guide to Growing A Business.

This is a Santa Rosa Junior College Community Education short course, co-sponsored by the Redwood Empire Small Business Development Center:

“If you can type, then you can make money at home using your typewriter, word processor, or computer. Discover the secrets to making profits in the typing/word processing business, including: how and where to find clients; 50+ ways to advertise/market your services; effective home office equipment choices; FREE national networking information; and FREE future individual Q&A opportunities. There really is a need for your services, so why not have the freedom to be your own boss, set your own hours, and have the opportunity to make more money than you ever did before by attending this workshop? Additional reference material will be offered in class.”

June 12, 2008 • 6:30 – 9:00pm
1820 Baker Hall, SRJC, Santa Rosa Campus

Online Registration

“The Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce unveiled an ambitious plan to help promote awareness and the economic vitality of more than one-hundred specialty manufacturers located in the Northbay’s Santa Rosa Corridor. Designed to promote mid-sized manufacturers who produce industrial goods, specialty metal products, medical components, electronics products, aircraft components, plastics, green technologies, etc., the website will offer them the chance to expand their list of potential customers, to keep better informed and to get their share of new business, whether it’s here in northern California or halfway around the world.”

SantaRosaMFG.com: The gateway to the $350 Billion Northern California economy and the ‘power portal’ to world markets.

A Redwood Empire Small Business Development Center Workshop:

“This workshop is designed for small business owners, entrepreneurs and international business professionals who are seeking strategies to tap into the $12 trillion global on-line market. Topics include: how to earn profits by tapping international on-line markets, how to identify the most lucrative international markets on the internet, cost effective strategies to build global web site, promoting your web site globally and resources that can help you take your web site global.” Presented by Nitish Singh from the Bay Area Center for International Trade Development Small Business Development Center.

June 6 • 9am – 1pm
SBDC Conference Room, 606 Healdsburg Avenue, Santa Rosa

Information & Reservations

It is hard to believe that one book has so much information in it. The Entrepreneur’s Almanac 2008-2009: Fascinating Figures, Fundamentals and Facts You Need to Run and Grow Your Business , by Jacquelyn Lynn [Entrepreneur Press, 2007], is 413 pages of information that you can put to work for your business. There are 39 chapters: business etiquette, funding your business, human resources, marketing, choosing and pricing products, insurance, online sales, legal issues, data and cyber security, and many more. There are topic areas that are hard to find elsewhere: what to do if your the target of an anti-employer website, cost-cutting in your mailroom, what to do when tragedy strikes an employee, using public space as your work space, how to set policies on facial jewelry and body art, and much, much more.

The City of Santa Rosa’s Downtown Program, the Santa Rosa Chamber of
Commerce, and the Redwood Empire Small Business Development Center invite you to the Retail Academy – a series of workshops designed for owners of small retail
businesses. This series is presented especially for Downtown Santa Rosa business
owners, managers, and employees. In these workshops you’ll learn how to choose and
price your product, and market, advertise and promote your store for business success!

All workshops are 8 – 11am at the City Hall Annex, 90 Santa Rosa Avenue, in the Economic Development and Housing Department. You may attend the entire Retail Academy series, or choose the workshops that interest you most. If you are outside of the Downtown District and interested in any of the workshops, please email Autumn Buss or call her at 543-4338.

June 4 • Merchandising & Store Setup
July 16 • Product Mix & Pricing
August 6 • Marketing & Advertising
September 17 • Do-It-Yourself Public Relations

Information or Reservations

If you don’t have your copy yet, be sure to stop at a news stand and get the June issue of NorthBay Biz [or you can read it at the Library]. From the Best Business Breakfast (Omlette Express) to the Best Business Community Leader (Bill Carle), you’ll find our local best in Business Entertaining, Business & Pleasure, Business & Financial Services, Business Style, and the Best of the Best.

The Sonoma County Economic Development Board, with appreciation to the North Bay World Trade Association for its support, is presenting this workshop by Dr. Tekle Sebhatu. Dr. Sebhatu holds a Ph.D. in International Trade and an MBA in Industrial and Business Management. He is the president of STC International and has nearly 20 years of domestic and international business experience.

You will leave the four-hour session with the following knowledge:
• How to get your company ready to export goods and handle overseas sales
• Find additional sources for financing and choose the right payment method
• Marketing abroad – what to do and what not to do
• Learn relevant regulations and how to manage shipping abroad
• Understand risks and deal with them appropriately

June 5, 2008 • 7:30-11am (Registration 7am)
Doubletree Hotel, 1 Doubletree Drive, Rohnert Park

Information & Reservations

“Top three signs you’ve got the home office from hell:

• Sign #3: “No, the baby doesn’t go in the playpen. Important papers go in there so the baby can’t get at them.” If you find yourself picking Cheerios out of your laptop, chasing the kids around the kitchen while conference-calling Stuttgart, and wiping peanut butter off your client’s work, then you have a Home Office From Hell.
• Sign #2: I feel like I live at the office… wait! I do! If your workday ends two minutes before you drop into bed or you are taking 4 a.m. phone calls from sleepless clients, then you have a Home Office From Hell.
• Sign #1: “Since you’re home all day anyway, I need a favor…” If you are picking up your wife’s laundry, driving your friend to the airport, or running errands for your neighbors in the middle of your workday, then you have a Home Office From Hell.”

For the other seven signs and help in curing your home office, read The Home Office from Hell Cure: Transform Your Underperforming, Time-sucking Homebased Business into a Runaway Success, by Jeffrey A. Landers [Entrpreneur Press 2008].

For more help managing your home-based business.

Hosted by the Business Environmental Alliance and sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric Company and the Sonoma County Water Agency:

“Green” Your Rental Housing: A Workshop for Multifamily Apartment Complex Owners, Property Managers, and Developers” – learn about options for energy-efficient appliances and lighting, cost-saving practices for water management in landscape and common-area fixtures, and recycling and waste disposal. This seminar also covers marketing your establishment in an eco-friendly way. Everyone is welcome regardless of experience, size or location, though information will be specifically geared towards Sonoma County.”

May 29, 2008 • 1:00-4:00 pm
The Hyatt Vineyard Creek, 170 Railroad Street, Santa Rosa

Information & Reservations

“Whirlpool knows moms are identifying challenges and coming up with creative solutions every day. To recognize this motherly ingenuity, the 2008 Whirlpool® Brand Mother of Invention Grant will provide winning moms with the necessary business resources to help bring their ideas to life.”

First prize winners in the Traditional and Green categories will each win $7,000, and some new appliances – the Overall Grand Prize is $20,000!

All winners will attend a two-day business boot camp led by Whirlpool experts covering areas such as product development, business strategy, innovation and technology, legal, accounting and marketing. Online entries must be received by 11:59:59 p.m. on July 31, 2008 EST. All entries must be postmarked by July 31, 2008 and received by sponsor by August 5, 2008.

Information & Contest Rules

The North Bay Business Journal is hosting this discussion, moderated By Keith Woods, CEO North Coast Builders Exchange, to answer the question: “What’s On the Horizon? A panel of experts focuses on big projects and issues facing the North Bay construction industry and provides a forecast of what’s to come over the next couple of years.” The keynote speaker will be Eugene Dvorak, Director of Project Development, Dry Creek Rancheria, “River Rock Casino Expansion Overview.”

May 20, 2008 • 8-11:30am
Hyatt Vineyard Creek, 170 Railroad Street, Santa Rosa

Information & Reservations

In 1992 Hispanic businesses represented a $77 billion market. In 2007, it is projected to be $300 billion—and growing. If you would like your business to have a share in this remarkable business opportunity, read The Power of Business: 7 Fundamental Keys to Unlocking the Potential of the Spanish-language Hispanic Market, by Jose Cancela [Rayo 2007]. “Cancela’s book is aimed at non-Hispanics and makes the assumption that they have no idea that this is a market worth studying. He offers ample statistical evidence to demonstrate that the opportunity is real. The author walks us through factors such as geographic dispersion, love of country, voting patterns, family values, language, culture, and buying power. He also provides information on the nuances of dialects; on this subject, although he is easy to understand, one comes away sensing that marketing to Hispanic populations is complex enough to make working with a specialist advisable.” From a Library Journal review, April 2007.

“In 2008, National Small Business Week honored the estimated 25.8 million small businesses in America. Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, and their impact is huge. They represent 50 percent of the non-farm GDP. They also create 60-80 percent of new jobs in the country. Through the work of entrepreneurs, jobs are created, families are given hope for a better life, and indeed, whole communities are transformed. National Small Business Week is an important moment to showcase and recognize some of the most successful and inspiring of these entrepreneurs.” National Small Business Week was April 21-25, 2008.

Webcasts of events will be available in May, but you can view highlights, a transcript of President Bush’s address, and profiles of all of the 2008 award winners.

Since 1963, every President has declared National Small Business Week to formally recognize the important role of America’s small business community. The U.S. Small Business Administration is pleased to announce the next National Small Business Week: May 18-22, 2009.