Upcoming Western Dairyland Events

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The Western Dairyland Women's Business Center will host a Women's Business Network meeting on the use of Cloud computing with guest speaker Donna Van Dyke on Thursday, July 12th. The meeting is FREE to attend and will take place from noon to 1 p.m. at the Western Dairyland Community Action Agency, 418 Wisconsin Street, Eau Claire.

Break your business into the Cloud! The meeting will discuss what Cloud computing is and how you can use it in your business model. Van Dyke will show examples of cloud applications that will enhance your business operations to help plan for future upgrades. Many businesses are currently using Cloud computing and don't even know it. The meeting with Van Dyke will discuss those and give you what to look for in a Cloud computing vendor.

Donna Van Dyke is the Project Manager at Act Telecom Consultants and will provide her 15+ years of experience in the Telecom business and knowledge of the advantages for business to use Clouding. She has been project manager clouding for several companies and has seen the benefit of this Telecom product.

Using Social Media for Your Business 

SMALL BUSINESS TRAINING IN EAU CLAIRE July 26th        

Entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners are invited to attendour "Launch a Small Business" training on Thursday, July 26. The training will run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Western Dairyland Community Action Agency, 418 Wisconsin Street, Eau Claire. Tuition is $29 for individuals and class materials are included. Scholarships are available for income-eligible individuals.

This training will include the fundamentals of small business and building your business plan, covering topics such as business feasibility, market identification, customer and competitor analysis, advertising, developing a marketing plan, identifying your supply chain, and performing your own SWOT analysis. Participants will learn about the different types of business structures, creating financial forecasts, establishing an accounting process, and creating a business plan.

After the class, attendees may request free, one-on-one assistance from Western Dairyland's Business Development Specialists delving deeper into the individual small business needs including preparing a business plan with financial forecasting to present to lenders.

There are three easy ways to register and pay for the class: online at www.SuccessfulBusiness.org, by phone at 715-836-7511 ext. 171, or in person at the Western Dairyland office in Eau Claire. Because space is limited, pre-registration and payment is required by July 23.  

The Western Dairyland Business Center and Women's Business Center are providing Advanced Business QuickBooks classes. The two-part advanced QuickBooks class will be held July 12 & 19 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Western Dairyland Community Action Agency, 418 Wisconsin St., Eau Claire.

Advanced Business QuickBooks

• July 12: After completing Basic Business QuickBooks or for the person with previous QuickBooks experience, learn how to use the data in QuickBooks to run reports, create graphs, customize forms & budgets, track & pay sales tax and track work done by subcontractors.
• July 19: Learn how to create an estimate and an invoice, set up inventory, process payroll, make corrections and manage QuickBooks data files.

Tuition is $49 for the two-part class. Scholarships are available for income-eligible individuals. Laptops will be provided for use during the classes, therefore space is limited to 20 participants. Register online at www.SuccessfulBusiness.org or in person at the Western Dairyland office in downtown Eau Claire.

Classes will be taught by Robin Knuth, president/CEO of Knuth Expense Reduction Services (KERS). She consults with executives from a variety of fields to develop, implement and manage cost reduction solutions. She is an expert in QuickBooks and specializes in Financial Reporting, Employee Benefit Plans and Internal Control Systems. She also has experience in understanding and documenting a wide variety of accounting information systems and analyzing and designing internal control systems to include both preventative and detective controls.

The Western Dairyland Business Center and Women's Business Center are providing basic business QuickBooks classes. The two-part basic QuickBooks class will be held from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. on July 31st and August 1st. They will be held at the Western Dairyland Community Action Agency, 418 Wisconsin St., Eau Claire.

Basic Business QuickBooks No experience with QuickBooks is necessary for Basic Business QuickBooks, but attendees should have basic computer skills. Each session is hands-on using Premier QuickBooks 2012 and allows time for students to practice what they have learned.

• July 31: Getting started with QuickBooks, receive an overview of accounting terms and key financial reports as you learn how to set up QuickBooks specifically for your Business and work with a chart of accounts, registers and bank accounts.
• August 1: Begin entering sales in QuickBooks, Learn how to receive payments and make deposits, process payables and disbursements, and other useful features for the QuickBooks beginner.

Tuition is $79. Scholarships are available for income-eligible individuals. Laptops will be provided for use during the classes, therefore space is limited to 20 participants. Register online at www.SuccessfulBusiness.org or in person at the Western Dairyland office in downtown Eau Claire.

Classes will be taught by Robin Knuth, president/CEO of Knuth Expense Reduction Services (KERS). She consults with executives from a variety of fields to develop, implement and manage cost reduction solutions. She is an expert in QuickBooks and specializes in Financial Reporting, Employee Benefit Plans and Internal Control Systems. She also has experience in understanding and documenting a wide variety of accounting information systems and analyzing and designing internal control systems to include both preventative and detective controls.  

"Summer's here and for most communities that means the season of outdoor fairs, festivals and other events is underway. For a small business, community events like these can be a great opportunity to market your products and services to local residents and other event-goers. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has released an article featuring ways to market one's business at any and all summer events, to read the full article, visit the SBA website

http://www.sba.gov/community/blogs/how-market-your-business-summer-events-fairs-and-festivals 

Karman Briggs
Western Dairyland Business Center