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News of MERIT
Greetings!
If
you know people who are considering self- employment, please forward this
newsletter to them. For more information about MERIT, please visit http://merit.chemeketa.edu.
Thanks
for your support of MERIT!
Forrest
Peck
Program Director
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New MERIT Classes in April
MERIT will be offering a new series of business feasibility classes in April. Classes will be held in Salem in both English and Spanish. The English information session will be held Thursday, April 7th, and the Spanish information session will be held Wednesday, April 6th and 13th. To register, go to MERIT's website. |
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"Start Your Business" in five locations!  Thinking about a business idea? Not sure if self-employment is right for you? Want to know more about what you might be getting into? If this describes you or someone you know we have good news.
MERIT has a class where you can explore self-employment in an informal setting. We call this "Start Your Business", and we now offer it monthly in five locations. Best of all it's free!
- Salem (English)- April 14th from 9-10AM at Worksource Salem, 605 Cottage St NE
- Salem (Spanish)- April 14th from 10-11AM at Worksource Salem, 605 Cottage St NE
- Grand Ronde - April 14th from 10-11AM at Adult Education Center, 9615 Grand Ronde Road
- Dallas - April 14th from 12-1PM at WorkSource Center, 580 Main St. Suite B
- McMinnville - April 14th from 2-3PM at WorkSource Center, 370 NE Norton Lane
- Woodburn (English)- April 14th from 12-1PM WorkSource Center, 120 E Lincoln St, Suite 115
- Woodburn (Spanish)- April 14th from 1-2PM WorkSource Center, 120 E Lincoln St, Suite 115
To register for the next "Start Your Business" class, please call the Chemeketa Small Business Development Center at 503- 399-5088.
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MERIT Success Stories
Last year John Gimby and Desiree Rudder-Yepes received the Sparkle of Excellence Entrepreneurial Scholarship award from Job Growers, Inc to help kick start their respective businesses. They both have survived their first year of business and are looking forward to continuing to grow in their second year. Read their success stories on MERIT's success story page.
John Gimby - Omega Landscape Maintenance & Design
Desiree Rudder-Yepes - Happy Spirit Healing Arts |
MERIT Client Starts Business
Steve Johnston brings over fifteen years of experience in creating compelling image-driven environments and products for the retail, custom trade show and entertainment industries to his new business venture - Authentic Brand Concepts. Authentic Brand Concepts consults with brick and mortar businesses to align the business' brand with their customer's marketplace experience. To find out more, click here to read the article Salem Business Journal published in April's issue on page 25 or go to Steve's website. |
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MERIT Client Brings Gourmet to BBQ and Foodcarts
Don Charpilloz has received approval from the Health Department, and now Kar na Vor Gourment BBQ is open for business! Be sure to visit Don's website for more details or follow Kar na Vor on Facebook and Twitter. |
Small Business Management (SBM) Program
You are not alone! There is life after MERIT. Join other experienced business owners working every day to improve their business and lives by gaining the competitive edge of working smarter, not harder. This nine-month program at Chemeketa Center for Business & Industry features monthly interactive learning sessions plus monthly one-on-one business coaching tailored to your individual needs. Now accepting applications.
 "The help I am receiving in SBM is making a huge difference to the success of my business. Plus, it is very comforting to know I have access to endless resources and a team that has my back. SBM is an incredibly powerful tool!"
- Terri Ellen, Nature's Pet Market, Salem
 "I have to say that the time I have invested in SBM has been by far the best investment of time and money that I have made for my business, bar none. As a creative type, I really knew very little about how to run a business. From features and benefits, drawing up my mission and vision statements, understanding formulas and QuickBooks to track how my business is doing and the list goes on. The SBM program advisors have all been an enormous help and influence upon getting my business to look beyond the present into the future." - Jeffrey Haney, Lights in the Attic Creative Media, Salem
Special note for contractors: this qualifies for the 8 hour required electives for the CCB mandatory continuing education. Learn more click here and follow SBM activities and participants on Facebook.
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Art Grant Opportunity
The Oregon Arts Commission offers Arts Build Communities Grants to support the arts in local communities and to involve arts and artists in community development. The grants recognize the expanding role that arts organizations play in the broader, cultural, social, educational and economic areas of community life. Support is provided to artists and other community-based organizations to form alliances and partnerships to strengthen communities through projects that connect the arts with local issues and opportunities.
Projects from communities that are underserved by the arts services will receive priority for funding. Underserved communities include communities whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability.
For more information on this grant and for other grant opportunities, visit Oregon Art Commission's grant page. |
Get Business Resources at your Public Library
The Independence Public Library has a plethora of business books and resources. For a complete list, click here or visit their website. Our regional library system is an amazing resource for small business information. Ask a reference librarian to assist you, they are delightfully helpful. |
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Trading at the River
A Gathering of Native American Businesses & Tribal Enterprises
On April 20-21, 2011 at the Spirit Mountain Casino in Grand Ronde, there will be a gathering you will not want to miss.
Some highlights include:
- An intensive Business Development Conference with community discussions, workshops, symposiums, and celebrations.
- A Trading at the River marketplace of ideas, products, and services - the famous traditional gathering of Indianpreneurs.
- A gathering of emerging and established Native CDFI's convened by the newly established Pacific Northwest Native Capital Development Peer Group which will explore ways of generating new forms of capital to support Native entrepreneurship and tribal-individual joint ventures.
For more information, go to http://www.onaben.org/ .
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Safety Fest
Don't miss Chemeketa Center for Business & Insdustry and SEDCOR's Safety Fest April 6th and 7th in Salem. For a detailed scheduled go here. |
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Blogging for Business Success
Check out this article from She Takes on the World, an online community filled with articles and tips for women entrepreneurs, on why you should blog for your business. Click here for the full article. |
How to Open a Restaurant
Ever dream of opening your own restaurant? Read these 5 tips from a New York restaurant entrepreneur. Click here for the full article. |
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Consider investing in a Donation to MERIT
Your
donations to MERIT allow us to better serve our clients. MERIT is a 501c3
organization. Thank you for your support!
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