Free workshops available for business owners

  Tuesday, September 18, 2018 8:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

Russ Hall

 

Several free workshops designed for business owners and entrepreneurs seeking information on growing their business and increasing brand awareness are planned this month through the Kansas Small Business Development Center, located at PSU, starting Tuesday, Sept. 18. 

Sept. 18 

Start-up workshops by Brian Mauden, SCORE advisor, will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 18. 

Veterans or their spouses interested in starting a small business may attend “Veterans Starting Small Businesses” from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. The workshop will provide a feasibility study to apply to business idea/concept, the essentials of a sound business plan, information on resources available to veterans and their spouses, and methods of evaluation.  

From 1 to 2 p.m., Mauden will present “Business Legal Structure and Tax Implications.” One of the important decisions that a business owner must make is choosing the legal structure of their enterprise. This workshop will help business owners understand the differences between a sole proprietorship, a partnership or corporation, as well as cover the advantages, disadvantages, and the tax implications of each type. 

Both will be held in the PSU Small Business Development Center. To register, contact Dacia Clark at dclark@pittstate.edu or call 620-235-4933. 

Sept. 20 

“Social Media” will be held Thursday, Sept. 20, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the PSU Small Business Development Center, 1501 S. Joplin, on the first floor of Shirk Annex. It will be presented by Mindy Lee, a certified Wix Web Designer. She'll highlight four major social media platforms, with a Q&A to follow. 

Lee will present "Online Marketing” from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 20, including a discussion of online marketing tactics such as search engine optimization (SEO), Google for Your Business, and the importance of a website. Both sessions will be held in the PSU Small Business Development Center. 

To register, contact Lee at mindy.lee@pittstate.edu or call 620-235-4961. 

Sept. 25-26 

"Encountering Innovation: The Hunt for Opportunity Tour,” will be led by Ralph Lagergren, a serial entrepreneur and businessman representing the SBDC Tech Innovation Center, on Sept. 25-26, for entrepreneurs and business owners who feel their product has the potential for tech commercialization. 

He’ll lead the charge to find rural Kansas inventors, patent holders, and business owners who have an idea with potential for commercialization. Topics include how to sell, manufacture, license, develop, prototype, and patent.  

There will be a Q&A session following the presentation, then one-on-one sessions will be made available and provided at no cost to the innovators interested in confidential business advising. The projects will then move through SBDC and target the commercial market or move through Encountering Innovation - a Kansas event in which the Department of Defense sends out Tech Scouts to look for products that may be of use to the DoD.  

The first session will be held on Sept. 25 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at Neosho County Community College Student Union Room 209, at 800 W. 14th Street, Chanute, Kansas. It is free. The second will be held from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at PSU’s Kansas Polymer Research Center, 1204 Research RoadPittsburg. Both are free. 

To register please contact Lee at mindy.lee@pittstate.edu or call 620-235-4961. 

Also on Sept. 25, two free tax workshops will be presented by Cal York, a tax specialist for the Kansas Department of Revenue.  

“Sales & Compensating Use Tax” will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at the PSU Small Business Development Center 

Learn the basics of sales tax for businesses making retail sales. Discover the differences between Kansas Retailers' Sales Tax and types of Compensating Use Tax, and gain a general understanding of the goods and services subject to sales tax and applicable exemptions.  

Sales Tax for Contractors” will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. at the PSU Small Business Development Center. 

This class is devoted exclusively to sales tax issues for contractors and subcontractors (i.e. those who provide plumbing, carpentry, electrical, roofing, heating/air conditioning, landscaping, etc.) Learn how sales tax applies to materials and labor, the use of Project Exemption Certificates, and how to invoice and bill customers. 

To register, contact Dacia Clark at dclark@pittstate.edu or call 620-235-4933.