Coffee Break Chat

New free, online course: Starting a Business in New Hampshire

Last week we here at the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center officially launched Starting a Business in New Hampshire,  an addition to our e-Learning for Entrepreneurs courses.  This course addresses such topics as how to register a business name, the forms of business organization, taxes and licensing, insurance, and business plans, and it provides website links and other resources. Taking the course--it's free and online, available 24/7---would make a great first step for anyone considering starting a business in New Hampshire.  It takes about one and a half hours to go through the 65 slides that are part of the course and you can stop and start again at any time.  For questions about the course, please call 603-227-0417.

E-Learning for Entrepreneurs is sponsored by Public Service of New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Division of Economic Development, and the University of New Hampshire. Its creation was funded by a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration and overseen by the board and staff of the NH-SBDC.

NH Small Business Day at the State House January 27

The New Hampshire Small Business Development Center and the New Hampshire Business and Industry Association, along with local and regional chambers of commerce,  will host the 5th Annual Small Business Day at the State House on January 27, 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the Holiday Inn in Concord. The purpose of the event is to bring small business owners face to face with state leaders for public policy discussion and debate.

Cost is $15 per person. To register, call 603-224-5388 x116 or visit www.nhbia.org and click on January 27 on the events calendar. 

Three panel discussions will be held in the morning:

1.  A panel discussion with the state's elected leaders Sylvia Larsen, House Speaker Terie Norelli, Senate Republican Leader Peter Bragdon and House Republican Leader Sherm Packard will focus specifically on top small business issues of 2010 and how state elected leaders seek to resolve them.

2. Taxing Distributions from LLCs will focus on New Hampshire’s extension of the 5 percent interest and dividends tax to distributions from LLC’s and partnerships. 

3. Recovery to Growth:  Where are the Opportunities? Discover new strategies and opportunities in three areas:  Improving Your Bottom Line, Doing Business with the Government, and Effective Marketing on a Small Business Budget.  Participants include Rudy Bazelmans, Expense Reduction Analysts; Rachael Roderick, US Small Business Administration; David Pease, NH Procurement Technical Assistance Program; and Sara Adams, ska works.  Moderated by Mary Collins, State Director, NH-SBDC.

This event is sponsored by Public Service of New Hampshire, NH Division of Economic Development, and media sponsor NH Business Review.

Speed Venture Summit coming to Nashua October 28

Speed Venture Summit is coming to the Crowne Plaza in Nashua October 28, featuring some 300 entrepreneurs and investors.  The event is designed to link capital and businesses easily, in a "speed dating" type of format.  Companies are given a chance to pitch investors and the investors, by the end of the afternoon, choose the top five who will get to pitch again. The pitching session is already closed--companies had to register very early for that opportunity--but  anyone who registers to attend the evening reception can meet the companies and investors who particpated.

Register by October 26 to get in for $40 rather than $50 at the door.

Visit the Speed Venture website to register or for more information.  

Governor's tech summit Oct. 13

A reminder that the governor's Advanced Manufacturing and High Technology Summit is coming Oct. 13. It will be held from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord.

After registration and continental breakfast, the conference opens at 8 a.m. with an address by Gov. John Lynch followed by the keynote from Beth Goldstein, president of Marketing Edge Consulting Group, who will talk about rebranding your business to maximize growth.

There will be three concurrent workshops once at 9:30 and again at 11 that participants may choose from:

• Workshop A - Case Studies on Lean Green and Energy;
• Workshop B - Growing Your International Business: Successful Export Growth Strategies;
• Workshop C - Introducing a System for Reliable Growth.

The conference finishes with lunch at 12:30 p.m. and the keynote remarks of Michael Reopel, principal of Deloitte Consulting. His talk is entitled: "Reexamining Advanced Manufacturing in a Networked World -- Prospects for Resurgence in New England."

The fee is $85 per person. To register online, click here.

For more information contact Zenagui Brahim at:
603-226-3200

zenaguib@nhmep.org

UNH doing survey on alumni-owned businesses

The University of New Hampshire's Whittemore School of Business and Economics wants to measure the economic impact of alumni business ownership in the Granite State.

UNH President Mark Huddleston has emailed an invitation to alumni to participate in the study.  

The survey seeks information about the respondent's days at UNH including major and activities, and it asks about the business the respondent started -- year started, type of business, number of employees and whether the workforce includes UNH graduates.

The survey is also curious as to whether activities that a business owner participated in while at UNH had an impact on the start of their business. The survey, which takes about 10 minutes to fill out, should be completed online by Sept. 25, 2009.

It is available here.

Manufacturing, technology summit on tap Oct. 13 in Concord

An expansive conference on manufacturing and technology is scheduled for Oct. 13 at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord.

The seventh annual Governor's Advanced Manufacturing and High Technology Summit will feature engaging workshops on green energy, international business growth, and a how-to on creating additional sales.

The summit will open at 8 a.m. with remarks from Gov. John Lynch. The morning program will start at 8:15 with remarks by Beth Goldstein, president of Marketing Edge Consulting Group.

The workshops will be held concurrently, once at 9:30 a.m. then again at 11 a.m.:

• Workshop A - Case Studies on Lean Green and Energy;
• Workshop B - Growing Your International Business: Successful Export Growth Strategies;
• Workshop C - Introducing a System for Reliable Growth.

The workshops will be followed by lunch at 12:30 p.m. and the keynote remarks of Michael Reopel, principal of Deloitte Consulting.

The summit is scheduled to wrap-up at about 2 p.m.

The fee is $85 per person. For more information contact Zenagui Brahim at:
603-226-3200
zenaguib@nhmep.org

It is a joint venture of the Business and Industry Association of the New Hampshire State Chamber of Commerce, the New Hampshire High Technology Council, the New Hampshire Division of Economic Development and the New Hampshire Manufacturing Extension Partnership. It is sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the Association for Operations Management, Citizens Bank and the New Hampshire Business Review.

How can you say "No" to "free" and "easy" in this economy?

Not too many educational programs offer valuable information for free! Did you know the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center offers a series of business classes right here, online, 24/7? And, they cover a variety of business topics. Since the e-courses launched last year through the end of June 2009, 1085 classes have been taken by almost 800 people. The classes are grouped into three major catagories: Finance, Business Management and Marketing. The most popular classes are “Finding Money to Start Your Business” and “Crafting a Business Plan.” Among those business owners who have taken the classes, 92 percent had 5 or fewer employees. The majority of students, however, were not yet in business. Why not check out our list of classes and then set aside some time (perhaps during this rainy New Hampshire summer?) to expand your knowledge and learn a thing or two?A tutorial accompanies the classes to help walk you through the process. You need only set up an account by registering and then you're good to go!

A look at some NH Small Business Administration award winners

Back on June 3, the Small Business Administration held an awards luncheon honoring outstanding small business owners and their champions in the state of New Hampshire. A total of 14 awards were presented. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be highlighting a few of the recipients here in Coffee Break Chat and we wanted to start with one of our own here at the Small Business Development Center—Heidi Edwards Dunn.  Heidi, who is in our Office of Statewide Educational Programs, led the effort to create “E-Learning for Entrepreneurs,”a series of online courses for New Hampshire small business owners to take for free, at their leisure, 24 hours a day.  Launched in the fall of 2008, the courses have been taken by more than 612 people. Additional components include Business Plan OnLine,which is a software tool for writing the very necessary business plan, and online counseling with SBDC-certified business advisors.  Dunn is responsible for developing and implementing all components of e-Learning.    The awards luncheon was sponsored by Centrix Bank, Citizens Bank, NH Community Development Finance Authority, First Colebrook Bank, Laconia Savings Bank, Pentucket Bank, and Public Service of New Hampshire.

Lending options will be focus of Small Business Fair June 29 at Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester

The New Hampshire Small Business Development Center is co-sponsoring a Small Business Fair from 8:30 to 11 a.m., June 29 at Southern New Hampshire University. The fair will give small business owners a chance to network with potential financing partners and learn about state, federal and private resources. The fair is hosted by New Hampshire’s U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who will be joined by representatives from our offices, plus the U.S. Small Business Administration, the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, the New Hampshire Bankers Association and others.  Various lending options available to New Hampshire small businesses will be discussed, along with recent legislation that has been enacted to help small businesses in this down economy.

 

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., with a program beginning at 9 a.m. To attend, register at http://shaheen.senate.gov/services/rsvp/. For questions, please call Senator Shaheen’s office at 603-647-7500.

Next business basics workshop is July 21 in Manchester

The next “Business Start-up Basics” workshop by the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center will be 5:30 to 9 p.m., July 21 at the Amoskeag Business Incubator in Manchester. The program is $49 and is geared to anyone interested in learning the fundamentals of running a small business. Subjects covered include registering a business, the basics of accounting and record-keeping, understanding your market and cash flow planning, among others. An outline for writing a business plan—one of the essential tools for most businesses starting out—will be provided, along with a packet of other valuable materials. Register here.