In This Issue
Upcoming Workshops

Gimp I- Photoshop Alternative

4/8 (9 am-12 pm)

 

Gimp II- Beyond the Basics

4/8 (1 pm-4 pm)

 

PowerPoint I- Basics of Creating Presentations

4/9 (9 am-12 pm)

 

PowerPoint II- Beyond the Basics

4/9 (1 pm-4 pm)

 

Business Insurance 101

4/9 (9:30 am-11:30 am)

 

Online Quickbooks

4/14 (9 am-12 pm)

 

Wordpress I- Basics of Webpage Design

4/15 (9 am-12 pm)

 

Wordpress II- Beyond the Basics of Webpage Design

4/15 (1 pm-4 pm)

 

 

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Business Insurance 101
Protect Yourself and Your Business

Thursday April 9, 2015
9:30 am-11:30 am
$25
Center for Economic Development

Speaker: Tucker Hanlon, Hanlon & Associates
16th Annual SADBOC Government Procurement Fair

Small businesses interested in doing business with government agencies and prime contractors are encouraged to attend this trade fair.

 

Coupling education with marketing strategies, this event provides small businesses with an opportunity to meet with representatives from federal, state and local departments, commercial/prime contractors and nonprofit organizations. Small businesses will have access to technical assistance and learn about upcoming contracts.

  

Thursday, April 30, 2015

9:00 am- 3:00 pm

Earle Brown Heritage Center

Brooklyn Center, MN

 

For more information or to register, click HERE.

Find a copy of the flyer also attached.


Business Tip of the Week: 


Explore energy saving tips and learn how you and your business can be more energy efficient.  The conservative use of energy is one of the easiest and most cost effective steps you can take to cut operating costs and increase profitability. Learn about tips and improvements that you can make.


Read more about this topic at www.sba.gov 

Quick Links
Contact Us

UMD Center for
Economic Development


The Small Business Development Center for Northeast MN

Helping Entrepreneurs
and Businesses

Grow and Succeed


218.726.7298

Regional Center:
 
  • Duluth
Satellite Offices:
  • Cook County
  • Ely 
  • Grand Rapids
  • Hermantown
  • International Falls
  • Lake County
  •  Quad Cities

Attend the 23rd Annual Joel Labovitz Entrepreneurial Success Awards Luncheon and Awards Ceremony


April 22, 2015
Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Harborside Ballroom
11:00 Check-in and Networking
11:30 - 1:30 Lunch and 
Awards Ceremony

Meda's Veteran Verification Clinic receives national recognition as outstanding PTAC project of the year

The Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (APTAC) presented the Minnesota Procurement Technical Assistance Center, a service of Meda with a national award in recognition of their Veteran Verification Clinic project. Recognized in the Outstanding Project of the Year category, the clinic was awarded for "delivering a standout project that can serve as a role model for other PTACs to emulate." This is the first time the Minnesota PTAC has been recognized in the Outstanding Project APTAC award category. 

"This clinic was a huge step forward for Minnesota's veteran business owners. And as there is always a need to get businesses verified and ready for government contracting, I am excited to see a successful blueprint that can be repeated in the future," said Gary Cunningham, Meda President and CEO.

As a service of Meda, an economic development non-profit that serves Minnesota entrepreneurs, MN PTAC sets out to find a unique way to make veteran verification a seamless process for business owners.

Many government contracts have set-asides available for Veteran Owned Small Businesses and Service Disabled Small Businesses; however, in order to qualify for a set-aside, an applicant must be verified. Veteran Verification is the process that evaluates and determines a business's eligibility to qualify as a Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB) or Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).  

The Veteran Verification Clinic was created to better accomplish this process from the perspectives of the veteran and PTAC Counselors. Veterans' primary goals were:
 
1) to be assisted in understanding the entire process from start to finish; 
2) to properly prepare the required documents before submission; and 
3) to reduce the number of requests for further review and examination. 
 
Ultimately, the desired result was shorter time to receive final CVE Verification status. The PTAC Counselors' primary goals were fewer repetitive individual trainings and more time freed up to train in quality group settings with on-site preparation and submission of applications. 

"I am honored to receive this award and work on a team that is committed to serving Minnesota's veteran entrepreneurs," said Mark Cooper, MN PTAC Metro Area Manager and co-creator of the Program.

Pat Dotter, MN PTAC Southwest Area Manager adds, "It is such an honor to have our clinics recognized as a model for other PTACS. I am proud of our entire PTAC team and the commitment of the Veteran entrepreneurs to this process, allowing us to better serve their needs".

As a result of the award-winning Pilot Clinic, more veterans are successfully getting approved in shorter time periods with minimal follow-up questions or additional document requests. 

"The Clinic was very hands-on and offered a customized approach for each participating business," said Sherri Komrosky, MN PTAC Director. "As we look toward future clinics, we are hoping to serve more VOSBs and SDVOSBs and assist them in getting verified."

Every clinic participant was hand-selected by PTAC Counselors to ensure full commitment. Each received a personal phone interview for assessment/readiness and was later provided information regarding expectations, 

study materials and necessary pre-class work. Participants were also sent an agenda in advance of each clinic session along with guidelines for documents to bring for review.

The Veteran Verification Clinic has become so popular that each session carries a wait list and all current sessions are fully booked.
 

To learn more visit www.mnptac.com 

Ten Tax Tips for Farmers

Farms include ranches, ranges and orchards. Some raise livestock, poultry or fish. Others grow fruits or vegetables. Individuals report their farm income on Schedule F, Profit or Loss From Farming. If you own a farm, here are 10 tax tips to help at tax time:

 

1.  Crop insurance.   Insurance payments from crop damage count as income. Generally, you should report these payments in the year you get them.

 

2. Sale of items purchased for resale.  If you sold livestock or items that you bought for resale, you must report the sale. Your profit or loss is the difference between your selling price and your basis in the item. Basis is usually the cost of the item. Your cost may also include other amounts you paid such as sales tax and freight.

 

3. Weather-related sales.  Bad weather such as a drought or flood may force you to sell more livestock than you normally would in a year. If so, you may be able to delay reporting a gain from the sale of the extra animals.

 

4. Farm expenses.  Farmers can deduct ordinary and necessary expenses they paid for their business. An ordinary expense is a common and accepted cost for that type of business. A necessary expense means a cost that is proper for that business.

 

5. Employee wages.  You can deduct reasonable wages you paid to your farm's full and part-time workers. You must withhold Social Security, Medicare and income taxes from their wages.

 

6. Loan repayment. You can only deduct the interest you paid on a loan if the loan is used for your farming business. You can't deduct interest you paid on a loan that you used for personal expenses.

 

7. Net operating losses.  If your expenses are more than income for the year, you may have a net operating loss. You can carry that loss over to other years and deduct it. You may get a refund of part or all of the income tax you paid in prior years. You may also be able to lower your tax in future years.


 

8. Farm income averaging.  You may be able to average some or all of the current year's farm income by spreading it out over the past three years. This may cut your taxes if your farm income is high in the current year and low in one or more of the past three years.

 

9. Tax credit or refund.  You may be able to claim a tax credit or refund of excise taxes you paid on  fuel used on your farm for farming purposes.

 

10. Farmers Tax Guide.  For more details on this topic see Publication 225, Farmer's Tax Guide. You can get it on IRS.gov/forms anytime. You can order it on IRS/orderforms to have it mailed to you.

 

For more tax tips, visit www.irs.gov

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Funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and regional support partners. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the program sponsors. Programs are open to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance.
Contact the UMD Center for Economic Development at 218-726-7298 to make arrangements.