Tuesday, September 8, 2009

So you want to run a small business, part 2 - Franchising 101

Join Cindy Rayfield from FranNet and learn about the intricacies of starting a franchise business. Session will be Tuesday, September 15 at 6pm at Pueblo West Library. For more information or to sign up call Cindy Shimizu 719-562-5667.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

SBA Launches New Online Training Course: ‘How to Win Federal Contracts’

WASHINGTON ─ The U.S. Small Business Administration today launched a new online training course to help strengthen access to contracting opportunities for small businesses, including those owned by women, minorities, disadvantaged individuals and veterans.

The training course, “Recovery Act Opportunities: How to Win Federal Contracts,” is part of a federal government-wide initiative announced last month by President Obama and being led by SBA and the Department of Commerce.

“The SBA online training course can help businesses access the federal purchasing system and position themselves to compete for the commercial opportunities offered by government contracting,” SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills said.

In announcing the government-wide initiative, President Obama reiterated his Administration’s commitment to providing “our Nation’s small businesses with maximum practicable opportunity to participate in federal government contracting.” As part of the initiative, federal agency procurement officers are participating in more than 200 events over the next several weeks to help connect small businesses with contracting opportunities. Additionally, SBA and Commerce are expanding their outreach to contracting officials across the federal government to ensure they have the tools to meet their annual contracting goals and increase opportunities to small businesses, including those owned by veterans, women and minorities, as well as those in designated HUBZones.

As part of the outreach to small businesses, the comprehensive online course uses both audio and script to provide information about the federal marketplace, contract rules and, most importantly, how to sell to the government and where to find contract and Recovery Act opportunities. The new training portal is a free online training course designed to assist entrepreneurs during this period of economic recovery. This self-paced, instructional guide provides an overview of the federal procurement process.

The Recovery Act Opportunities course is available on SBA’s Web site at www.sba.gov or directly at www.sba.gov/fedcontractingtraining. The course is indexed by subject matter to allow ease of use, and it includes multiple direct links to additional contracting resources.

The Recovery Act Opportunities course includes direct links that highlight the best contracting resources and engages small business owners in the contracting process. The course also includes practical and fundamental steps to engage business owners in the federal contracting arena.

It is one of more than 24 online tutorials offered by the SBA, and is available 24/7.

For more information please visit www.sba.gov.