What's New This Week

Marketing

The director of the Pace University SBDC represented the SBDC at a Steering Committee meeting of the New York Business XPO.

A business advisor at the Stony Brook SBDC is a member of the Ward Melville High School Education and Business Advisory Alliance. The Alliance is a group of students, faculty, and business and community leaders that meet to plan and implement programs designed to assist high school students with career planning and business education. The projects include a Power Brunch, Sophomore Job Shadow Day, Career Awareness Day, Community Service Team, and the Tri-School Business Planning Challenge. Ward Melville High School is a part of the Three Village Central School District, geographically surrounding Stony Brook University.

Farmingdale SBDC business advisors participated in the production of a media commercial to promote the Center. The Center also provided written articles to NEWSDAY about the Veterans Business Outreach Program.

Program Development: Products and Services

The Farmingdale SBDC routinely guides service-disabled small business owners through the procurement process to help them obtain federal contracts through the General Services Administration.

The Pace University SBDC offers numerous seminars such as “Small Business Cash Flow Analysis & Forecasting” and QuickBooks Basics for small business owners in lower Manhattan.

A business advisor at the Stony Brook SBDC regularly presents a program co-sponsored by the CDC of LI. The Core Four Business Planning Program held at the Middle Country Library in Centereach is a four-session, 12-hour course for entrepreneurs with practical training to help ensure the success of their business. The course covers planning in the areas of succession, marketing, cash flow, and operations.

Sponsors, Host Institutions, Partners and Alliances

The director of the North Country SBDC was invited to participate in the SUNY Plattsburgh’s School of Business “Welcome” Day for new business students. Two Center objectives were met: developing a source of intern recruitment and providing outreach efforts to students. As a result of SBDC’s participation, one non-traditional student has requested SBDC assistance with business start-up.

The Watertown SBDC partners with the following organizations to conduct workshops on
a recurring basis: the Jefferson County IDA, local banks, CITEC, the Jefferson-Lewis
Board of Realtors and Fort Drum.

The Pace SBDC director is a regular participant on a financing panel held at The Lower Manhattan Business Solutions Center, an outreach office established by the NYC Small Business Services department.

The director of the Mid-Hudson SBDC participated in a launching ceremony for SUNY New Paltz’s School of Business “Business Plan Competition,” an event held at the college. The MHSBDC will conduct seminars on “How to Write a Business Plan” for the participants of the competition.

Technology

The Farmingdale SBDC participates in numerous activities to help clients with technology-focused businesses, for example, advisors function as a liaison between clients and SATOP, obtaining engineering assistance for clients; advisors help clients obtain technical design assistance from experts at the Institute of Research and Technology; advisors work with LIFT (Long Island Forum for Technology) to assist clients in product evaluation and marketing; and advisors attend monthly meetings of the New York Society of Professional Inventors.

The Binghamton SBDC sponsored and assisted with the local Invention Convention held at the Binghamton University Events Center in May. Hosted by two prominent high tech entrepreneurs, the Invention Convention, now in its 18th year in the Southern Tier, is designed to foster inventive product ideas in young people. This year, several hundred middle school students demonstrated their ideas for new products designed to fill a consumer need. Twenty-five entrants were selected to continue to the next round of competition in Rochester in June.

Special Projects

The Farmingdale Veterans business advisor participates in numerous activities focusing on veterans, for example, the New York Department of Labor monthly workshop for veterans; annual Memorial Day ceremonies on USS Intrepid sponsored by the NYC Department of Veterans Services; and meetings of the Nassau County Advisory Board for Homeless Veterans (he is a member of the Board).

The director of the Mid-Hudson SBDC met with Jasmine Miranda of the City of Newburgh Department of Planning and Development to explore SBDC assistance in delivering business training in Spanish for Latino entrepreneurs, including a seminar tentatively scheduled for November.

The SPD Gazette is a brief newsletter distributed via email and posted on the Internal Web Site. It will feature a column to be titled, What’s New This Week, in which the network will share best practices in strategic objectives. A series of articles in the Gazette will explain the program’s statewide approach to strategic objectives in six key areas:

• Marketing
• Professional Development and Certification
• Program Development: Products and Services
• Special Objectives (statewide implications)
• Strategic Partners and Alliances
• Technology, Information and Communication

For more information or answers to your questions, call Tom Morley at 914-375-2107or email him at SPD@Mercy.edu

Send your report forms to SPD@mercy.edu