The new Health Exchange for Rhode Island, HealthSource RI, is putting on presentations in each city/town across the state between now and September 30th. These presentations are offered to the public at no cost, and discuss the implications of the Affordable Care Act to Rhode Island businesses and individuals. For a complete list of presentations, visit www.HealthSourceRI.com
The SBA is co-sponsoring the following five presentations with HealthSource RI:
September 11th, 8:30-10:30am – Hampton Inn & Suites, 2100 Post Road in Warwick
September 25th, 6:00-8:00pm – Narragansett Community Center, 53 Mumford Road in Narragansett
September 26th, 6:00-8:00pm – East Providence Public Library, 475 Bullocks Point Avenue in East Providence
All presentations are offered free of charge. For more information, please call 401-528-4561.
Thursday, September 5
HOW TO: Explore Entrepreneurship (Center for Women and Enterprise – 132 George M. Cohan Boulevard in Providence from 1:00 – 2:30pm and is free of charge. To register, visit www.cweonline.org or call 401-277-0800):
Attend this workshop and decide whether starting your own business is right for you. As part of this workshop, you will:
* Explore the process and learn about the risks and rewards of starting up your own business
* Discuss your specific business ideas and needs with a program manager
* Get an overview of various resources at CWE and elsewhere to help you succeed
* Hear success stories of women who have worked with CWE and are now thriving in the business world
HOW TO: Choose Your Legal Entity (Center for Women and Enterprise – 132 George M. Cohan Boulevard in Providence from 4:00 – 5:00pm and is free of charge. To register, visit www.cweonline.org or call 401-277-0800):
Make it legal! A legal designation can significantly impact the future of your business, so come to:
* Learn the advantages and disadvantages of various business structures (sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporate, non-profit)
* Better understand your business in the legal sense
* Be able to ask questions to our legal advisors in order to make this important business decision regarding legal entity
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Tuesday September 10
Complying With US Export Controls – 2 Day BIS Seminar (Chafee Center for International Business and U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry & Security – Bryant University, 1150 Douglas Pike in Smithfield from 7:30am – 4:30pm both days. Fee for seminar is $350, which covers all materials as well as continental breakfast and lunch both days. To register, visit www.regonline.com/exportcontrols2013 or call 401-232-6407):
This two day seminar is led by BIS professional counselors and provides an in-depth understanding of the EAR (Export Administration Regulations). Every exporter, freight forwarder, or researcher working with foreign nationals, needs an understanding of these regulations to safely conduct their international activities and protect their company or institution from noncompliance issues. Come learn from the experts how U.S. export control regulations covering goods and technologies affect you. Presenters will conduct a number of exercises for practical hands-on application to prepare participants to apply their knowledge to their own export activities. This program is geared to export compliance personnel as well as others that need a comprehensive understanding of exporter’s obligations and responsibilities under the EAR.
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Thursday, September 12
It’s Who You Know That Counts: 6 Keys To Power Networking For Your Small Business (U.S. Small Business Administration, City of Providence, RI Small Business Development Center and the Center for Women & Enterprise – Johnson & Wales University, TACO Center, 10 Abbott Park Place in Providence from 10:00am – 12:00pmand is free of charge. To register, please email providence.ri@sba.gov or call 401-528-4561):
Networking has been recognized in recent years as a key to overall business success, but does it work really? Don’t some people just show up at events and hand out business cards and then get no business for their time spent? The answer to both questions is YES. It really does work and some people do show up and just hand out business cards (the wrong approach, by the way). Bob Salvas, a local director in BNI (Business Networking International) has been successfully networking for years. Come to this seminar and learn the real benefits of networking, how to go about it and where you should look to invest your networking time.
Export Assistance Program (U.S. Small Business Administration – Center for Women & Enterprise, 132 George M. Cohan Boulevard in Providence from 1:30 – 4:00pm and is free of charge. To register, email matthew.spoehr@sba.gov or call 401-528-4561):
Haven’t considered exporting? Did you know that 95% of the world’s consumers are OUTSIDE of the United States? Did you know that 87% of world economic growth over the next 5 years will take place OUTSIDE of the United States?
Want to give exporting a second thought? Please join us to learn about no-cost state and federal resources available to assist you plan and implement your exporting plan.
BYB: Pitfalls Of Intellectual Property – How To Reduce Liability For Trademark And Copyright Infringement (Center for Women and Enterprise – 132 George M. Cohan Boulevard in Providence from 2:00 – 4:00pm. Fee for workshop is $40. To register, visit www.cweonline.org or call 401-277-0800):
This workshop reviews common intellectual property protection issues involving trademarks and copyrights and how a small business can utilize these rights and reduce liability in the marketplace most effectively.
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Friday, September 13
Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Planning 101 (SCORE and the Association of Contingency Planners – Centerville Seminar Center, 875 Centerville Road, Building 2, Suite 5 in Warwick from 10:00am – 12:00pm and is free of charge. To register, email matthew.spoehr@sba.gov or call 401-528-4561):
This presentation will provide important practical information to help small and mid-size businesses understand the importance of developing business continuity and disaster recovery plans that ensure that the business can survive a natural disaster, such as, natural weather events, fire, flood, etc. Consider this fact – 9 out of 10 companies (90%) that are unable to resume business operations within 5 days of a disaster are out of business within 1 year. Do you have a Plan??
All workshop participants will receive planning templates with checklists to help in the development of your own Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Plans.
Community Entrepreneurs Program Phase One: Visioning Boot Camp (Center for Women and Enterprise – 132 George M. Cohan Boulevard in Providence from 9:00am – 3:00pm. Fee for workshop is $195. Partial scholarships may be available. To register, visit www.cweonline.org or call 401-277-0800):
If you’re considering entrepreneurship, this is the first step in turning your dreams of owning your own business into a reality! Register for this intensive, one-day program to:
* Explore the challenges and rewards of self-employment
* Build definition around your business concept
* Consider your short- and long-term goals
* Discover the inner-workings of starting your own business through course topics such as “Clarifying your Business Idea,” “Developing a Mission Statement,” “Analyzing the Strengths and Weaknesses of your Business Idea,” “Creating Long and Short-Term Business Goals,” and “Developing a Business Start-up Action Plan”
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