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Small Biz Bulletin - April 2022
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Message from Special Secretary Rhee
The recent string of cold temperatures can't dampen our enthusiasm and anticipation for Spring. The flowers and trees are already showing signs of the warmer weather just on the horizon. This is the time of year when many people undertake their spring cleaning mission. A time to purge their home of all the dust and debris that has accumulated over the winter months, and in some cases, over many years. Business owners should take this time to do some spring cleaning of their own. Now is a good time to get organized and proactively make improvements. A great place to start is with your business plan. Your business plan is the foundation of your company, Don't allow it to sit on a shelf and gather dust. This document, like your company, is ever-changing and should reflect where you are trying to go. It doesn't have to be a complicated novel. It needs to be realistic and specific. Be sure to clearly define goals and responsibilities, and get commitment from the key members of your team. Many of you have heard me say this many times, you need strong core competencies, access to capital, and an insightful understanding of your competitive space. Remember these factors when writing or updating your business plan.
Jimmy Rhee
Special Secretary
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For Your Information
Public Data Mining Tools
Most small, minority, women, and veteran entrepreneurs have limited resources when it comes to business development. Data mining helps you make informed decisions by uncovering patterns and correlations that apply specifically to your business. This can lead to identifying new opportunities, predicting trends, and targeting potential new customers. Maryland's procurement processes are open and transparent, and so are our pipelines. Regardless of how you want to perform, prime contractor, subcontractor, or both, there is a lot of valuable data out there if you know where to look. The Governor's Office of Small, Minority & Women Business Affairs has prepared three videos with accompanying slide decks to walk you through our three pipelines: eMaryland Marketplace Advantage (eMMA), the Procurement Forecast, and Board of Public Works Documents. All three can be found on the Ready, Set, GROW! page of our website. Check them out today!
Mining Public Data Techniques
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Get Your Business into the Offshore Wind Industry
What is your entry point into the Offshore wind industry? This is is the fastest growing renewable energy sector in the United States and many opportunities exist. Learn how your business can enter this rapidly growing industry. The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) is sponsoring an offshore wind training program that is open to all Maryland businesses and organizations. Delivered by the Business Network for Offshore Wind, Foundation 2 Blade is the industry's leading offshore wind training program offering a comprehensive overview of the industry, including the latest on technology, policy, supply chain and workforce needs, and most importantly, how to find your entry into the offshore wind market. The 3-day training program runs from May 25-27, 2022 and will be held in Prince George’s County. Thanks to support from MEA the program is being offered at the deeply discounted rate of $150 (discounted from the standard registration cost of $2,500) for Maryland businesses.
Foundation 2 Blades Industry Training
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TEDCO Launches Women Leadership Programs
TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, recently announced the launch of its new Women Entrepreneur Leadership Programs. The new programs are designed to build an alliance of diverse founders and CEOs to strategically navigate Maryland’s entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. In collaboration with Maryland’s four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), TEDCO’s new programs will focus on creating a diversified community of women entrepreneurs and help them grow their companies. Input from TEDCO’s Task Force for Women Entrepreneurs was used to develop the course foundation and create a one-of-a-kind program focusing on mitigating challenges Black women entrepreneurs face. To be eligible, applicants must be a founder, co-founder, or CEO whose company is at a minimum of pre-seed to growth stage and a maximum of pre-series A. Details are available online.
Women Leadership Programs
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Technical Training Classroom
Webinar
We are offering two great sessions for our Technical Training Classroom webinars in April. The sessions are free, you just need to register in advance.
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We Want You
We continually share information curated specifically for small, minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses on our social media platforms. We'll inspire you with our #MotivationMonday series and connect you to a broad range of small business resource organizations. We also share information about loan programs and funding opportunities as well as small business events and training programs. Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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