January Events Bulletin | Washington MBDA Business Center

City of Tacoma Washington sent this bulletin at 01/04/2022 09:00 AM PST
MBDA-Happenings3

Hello,
Please see below for webinars and online workshops:

For business resources, updates, and available grant/loan programs related to the Coronavirus pandemic visit Washington MBDA COVID-19 Business Information & Resources.

Recurring Webinars and Training Series

[NEW] ScaleUp Training Series: The Rebuild Edition 
Starting January 12th & 13th thru March
These flexible class times spanning a 9-week period are focused on teaching proven strategies to small businesses that will increase resiliency and spur growth in the wake of a global pandemic. This nine-week program provides tangible tools to examine strategic alignment, optimize market strategy, and master finances. Participants will also learn how to drive performance using metrics, build organizational systems that increase capacity and develop strategies for automating important parts of their business.
Sessions:
Wednesdays, 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM PST
Thursdays, 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM PST
Thursdays, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM PST

[NEW] Sound Transit Vendor Drop In
First Tuesday of Every Month, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: 401 S Jackson St. Seattle, WA 98104
Vendor Drop In allows businesses the opportunity to meet with Sound Transit’s Materials, Technology and Services Section (aka Goods and Services). Vendors can drop in and meet with a Contracts Specialist to learn about how to do business with Sound Transit, how to respond to solicitations, and other questions about working with Sound Transit.

[NEW] Working as a Subcontractor (2 Parts) [PTAC]
January 25 & 27, 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM PST

January 25, Part 1: Hear from a prime contractor, who is also a Navy retired contracting officer, on what is expected and what the small business should expect when working for a prime contractor on a government contract. Learn why they need you and what you can offer.
Register for Part 1

January 27, Part 2: What contracts are used? How do they find subcontractors? How can you be remembered? Register for Part 2

Virtual Launch & Grow: Seattle [Business Impact NW]
January 11 - February 22, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM PST
Launch & Grow Your Business is a Washington State SEAP approved course designed to train participants on starting and running their business. Through seven, 3-hour sessions participants will learn how to manage, market and finance their business while creating a solid business plan. This opportunity is designed to be an immersive, seven-week program and is a paid course

[UPDATED] University of Washington Supplier Orientation [UW]
Monthly - see dates below, 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM PST
The orientations will provide a learning opportunity to assist in navigating potential business prospects at the University and with other state agencies, as well as educational and other resources to assist businesses. Orientation sessions are virtual and will include representatives from the University and other regional business development agencies.

[UPDATED] King County Supplier Orientations
You're invited to the orientation meetings to learn how you can start doing business with King County. Select appropriate topic below.
   - Goods & Services Suppliers:  January 20, April 21
   - Construction Contractors:  March 17
   - Architecture & Engineering Consultants:  December 9, February 17

[UPDATED] Grow with a Pro [Business Impact NW]
Tuesdays, 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM PT
Whether you are in the idea phase or a growth phase in your business, we invite you to attend our weekly Grow with a Pro coffee chats. You will hear from Business Professionals from Umpqua Bank, Tax-u-Sign, and an Attorney from the Rational Unicorn.
Every Tuesday from 9 to 9:45 am Pacific Time, you will get to hear from one of these professionals as they chat about their area of expertise as it relates to current times and we will have an opportunity for a few of your non-confidential questions to get some answers. We’ll even be offering you opportunities to connect with other business owners through these morning coffee chats.

  • First Tuesday of Every Month:
    Neura Conejo – Banking Professional – Umpqua Bank
  • Second Tuesday of Every Month:
    Lily Tran – Tax Professional – Tax-u-Sign
  • Third Tuesday of Every Month:
    Andrew Peoples – Insurance Professional – Parker, Smith & Feek
  • Fourth Tuesday of Every Month:
    Michael Jonas – Legal Professional – Rational Unicorn Legal Services PC

Doing Business with the City of Seattle - Online
First Fridays of each month, 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM PT
Join City of Seattle for “First Fridays” online to meet Purchasing and Contracting staff who are part of purchasing, consultant contracting and construction/public works teams. Three sessions are offered at at once so choose the one you’re interested in!
Separate online workshops are available same day in Spanish, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM. Primer Viernes del mes 

PTAC & SBDC First Friday Follow-Up
Every first Friday of each month
EASC/PTAC Friday Follow-up is an open forum, round table for businesses to get answers from your local PTAC counselor. Bring your questions regarding government contracting and learn from knowledgeable Small Business Experts. Janet Toth with the Small Business Development Center will be with us to share her knowledge about growing your business.

How to Sell on Amazon: Amazon Small Business Academy
Amazon is hosting a series of webinars designed for small business owners and their employees to hear best practices for successful selling in Amazon stores. Each webinar will include an interactive Q&A session. Click here to see all webinars.

Webinars and Training for January 2021

Business Growth and Development Webinar [SBDC] 
January 4, 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM PST
This webinar is designed to give business owners hope and options to survive and thrive in challenging and normal times. Topics include: Cashflow management, forecasting, breakeven, and contribution margin; Funding & Capital Infusion including what you can do to prepare for a loan; Managing Debt; Turnaround strategies; Financial discipline; Survival tips; Exit strategies including closing down, selling the business and bankruptcy.

Follow Up Strategies That Will Get More Clients and Close More Sales [PTAC]
January 6, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM PST
If follow up is a hard heavy "to do" then the Follow Up Sales Strategies Presentation is for you. You'll learn that follow up is merely a matter of having effective habits and good systems in place. If you struggle getting your follow up work done, it's not because you don't have time, you're not organized or you're not good at sales...it's because you haven't learned the right systems and skill set. Understanding this will help put you in the flow of ease of getting this all important work done on a daily basis.

2022 CEO Summit: Demystifying Credit [University of Washington]
January 11, 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM PST
Walk away with tips on how you can implement best practices and mitigate potential credit risks to better your business’s financial standing. Discover the complexity of how credit can be grown, repaired, and maintained! Learn from other business owners their strategy to get to the next level. Through the generous financial support of Harborstone Credit Union, this CEO Seminar is provided for CEOs and other leading executives at no cost!

Post Award: Contract Compliance [PTAC]
January 12, 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM PST
You have the contract, now what? Learn how to ensure that all departments are on the same page and how to provide products and services as expected. Zoom meeting.

City of Tacoma Tax & License Workshop [City of Tacoma]
January 12, 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PST
Are you a Tacoma business owner or tax preparer? Are you thinking of opening a business in Tacoma? The City of Tacoma Tax & License team offers free workshops focusing on Tacoma tax and licensing requirements. Topics include how different tax classifications apply to your business, minimum thresholds that apply before filing is required, online filing and more.

Strategic Planning & Adaptive Strategy [PTAC]
January 14, 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM PST
Please join PTAC and guest speakers from ABCD Consulting - Dan Mahoney and Alex Barrouk - to learn about: The role of vision, mission, values in an organization; The role of strategy in an organization; Strategic planning tools (SWOT, Design Thinking); Properly assessing opportunities and threats – technical or adaptive?; Linking strategy to execution in an organization; A corporate strategy case study  with participant engagement; Q&A

Fast Track MBE & DBE Certification IN-PERSON Training [MBDA, EDB, OMWBE]
Two sessions available: January 19, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM  &  2:00 PM - 5:00 PM PST,
Location: Bates Technical College
The Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County (EDB), in partnership with the Washington MBDA Business Center and the Office of Minority and Women's Business Enterprise (OMWBE), is hosting a "Fast Track Certification" Training to help businesses recover and rebound from the effects of the pandemic. Businesses will receive: In-person training and overview about the certification process; Tips on how to successfully complete an application; Access to a computer lab during the training session; 1-on-1 support and ongoing follow-up from staff.

Instagram for Business [SBDC]
January 20, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM PST
This class will take you through all of the basics of Instagram, and help you understand what the Instagram algorithm values, so that you can best optimize your content for this platform. We’ll talk through the apps and resources that can help you get masterful with IG, and help you understand how to select your hashtags. We’ll go through all of the ways to use IG for your business and show you how to gain traction and build your IG tribe and presence. This is a live, instructor-led class on Zoom with Q&A, and it’s FREE.

Small Business Flex Fund Info Webinar [SBDC]
January 25, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM PST
The Washington State Small Business Flex Fund is a new loan program for the smallest Washington businesses and nonprofits affected by COVID-19. To be eligible to apply, small businesses and nonprofits must employ 50 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, have annual revenues of less than $3 million per year, and experience a direct economic disruption as a result of COVID-19. This webinar will provide information about the loan program and application process and help you prepare to apply.

BIPOC Job Fair [Tabor 100]
January 26, 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM PST
Some of Washington’s most successful contractors have come together to create a job and career fair that provides opportunities on local government and private sector capital improvement projects for members of communities of color to pursue. We encourage MBEs to attend this event to learn about contract opportunities over 2022.

IRS Employee Retention Tax Credit & Filing Season Readiness for Business [SBDC]
January 27, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM PST
The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) has been extended and/or amended three times since it was originally enacted as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) in March of 2020. Topics and questions covered: Changes to amounts of qualified wages; Who is an eligible employer and when?; Which employment taxes are offset-and what happens to any remaining eligible credit?;  That decline in gross receipts- a moving target over time and business type;  What happened to the last quarter of 2021-did the credit just disappear?

Business Expert Session: New Year New Profit: Find $10K in Your Business [BINW]
January 27, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM PST
Did you know that every business is a treasure trove of unrealized sales and profit? Doing what you are already doing, you can increase your cash flow with a few simple shifts. Attend this event if you want to learn strategies that can put $10k+ in your bank account.

Upcoming Events in February 2022

Third Annual Black-Owned Business Excellence [BOBE]
February 1, 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM PST
This is a full day, virtual conference to celebrate, educate, and inspire Black business owners and kick off Black History Month in the state of Washington. The symposium will include keynote panels on Recovery and Thriving Together. There will also be breakout sessions on a variety of topics including Financing, Business Credit, Marketing, Sustainability, the Creative Economy, and more. Black-Owned Business Excellence (BOBE) is a collaboration of different organizations and individuals coming together to support, educate, inspire and elevate businesses that are owned by underserved business owners in Washington State.

Virtual Grow & Thrive: Improving Performance and Charting Your Path for Growth [BINW]
February 2 - April 20, 10:30 AM - 1:00 PM PST
Grow & Thrive is a structured mentor program with expert guidance & advice, perfect for any business owner who wants to take their business to the next level. Participants create a strategy for growth by charting a path to future success with 3–5-year objectives working with their current financial statements, operating manuals, marketing materials, etc. You will also identify issues and improve your business model and evaluate current operations to determine your path for growth. The course will conclude with pitch presentations, presented before a panel of business professionals, followed by a networking reception.

  • Orientation (Feb 2)
  • Session One (Feb 9): Know Your Business: Strategic Assessment and Setting Goals
  • Session Two (Feb 23): Marketing & Sales
  • Session Three (Mar 9): Financial Management
  • Session Four (Mar 23): Resource Management: Operations
  • Session Five (Apr 6): Resource Management: Human Resources
  • Session Six (Apr 20): Pitch & Networking Reception

Business Growth and Development Webinar [SBDC] 
February 8, 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM PST
This webinar is designed to give business owners hope and options to survive and thrive in challenging and normal times. Topics include: Cashflow management, forecasting, breakeven, and contribution margin; Funding & Capital Infusion including what you can do to prepare for a loan; Managing Debt; Turnaround strategies; Financial discipline; Survival tips; Exit strategies including closing down, selling the business and bankruptcy.

Food Biz Week, Live - Virtual [Business Impact NW]
February 21 - 25, see schedule below
Food Biz Week is a free opportunity for food and farm businesses at all levels of food production and food retail in the Pacific Northwest to learn from industry experts and fellow experienced colleagues through a curated week of virtual panels, presentations, and networking activities. The event will be all virtual and free so food and farm entrepreneurs are invited to attend from anywhere in the region (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska).

Food Biz Week Schedule:
Monday, February 21st – Food & Beverage B2B Pitch & Networking Event
Tuesday, February 22nd – Farm-to-Table Trade Meeting
Wednesday, February 23rd – Virtual Panels - Day 1: Farm Businesses
Thursday, February 24th – Virtual Panels – Day 2: Packaged Food/Value-Add Businesses
Friday, February 25th – Virtual Panels – Day 3: Foodservice Businesses

Small Business Flex Fund Info Webinar [SBDC]
February 22, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM PST
The Washington State Small Business Flex Fund is a new loan program for the smallest Washington businesses and nonprofits affected by COVID-19. To be eligible to apply, small businesses and nonprofits must employ 50 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, have annual revenues of less than $3 million per year, and experience a direct economic disruption as a result of COVID-19. This webinar will provide information about the loan program and application process and help you prepare to apply.