SBA Loan Clinic 

1. BoostSuite: Tool designed specifically for small businesses.  BoostSuite takes data from your website and turns it into a list of easy SEO to-dos.   Cost: Starts at free

2. Scribe: Scribe lets you optimize your content, social, and search with one tool.  Tells you what topics are the most interesting and searched that are related to your industry, so you can create content that resonates.  Cost: Starts at $97/month

3. SEOMoz: Pro version helps you manage your SEO, analyzes your site regularly and provides recommendations.  You can also download a free toolbar that shows you SEO metrics of various sites as you surf online.  Cost: Pro version starts at $99/month.  

After much contention and negotiation, President Obama and Congress finally came to agreement on legislation to partially address the so-called fiscal cliff - a combination of higher taxes and forced spending cuts scheduled to go into effect in 2013. The American Tax Relief Act (ATRA) passed by Congress on January 1st retroactively reinstated and extended a variety of tax provisions which impact individuals as well as businesses, large and small.

Significant provisions of the new act affecting businesses include:

• Extension of 50 percent first-year bonus depreciation for certain assets acquired during 2013
• Increased first-year deprecation cap on new passenger automobiles by $8,000 to a total of $11,160 for qualified purchases in 2013
• Retroactive increase of the Section 179 expensing limit to $500,000 for assets acquired through 2012 and extension of the $500,000 expensing limit through 2013
• Extension of accelerated 15-year deprecation for qualified leasehold, retail, and restaurant improvements placed in service before January 1, 2014
• Retroactive extension of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) and expansion of eligible employees to include eligible non-veterans as well as eligible veterans who begin work before January 1, 2014
• Reinstatement and liberalization of   the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit through 2013

The numerous retroactive changes and extensions to taxpayer beneficial provisions in the ATRA provide opportunities to revisit your business and personal tax planning for 2012 and refocus your 2013 planning on a go-forward basis. Consult with your tax advisor to maximize the benefits of the ATRA changes for you and your business in 2013.

Contracting with the Government

Available until March 22
Small businesses face challenges when trying to win federal, state and local government contracts. The Small Business Development Center at MHCC can help small businesses work through these challenges. This class provides an in-depth approach to discovering and seeking contract opportunities as well as the marketing tools that may assist in selling your product or service to the government.    

Available until March 22

Attend this On-demand seminar and get the answers to these questions: 

• What is the current access to capital?
• What are some sources of capital?
• What banks are lending?
• What are lenders really looking for?
• What are the steps to getting a loan?
• Am I bankable? What do I need to know?
• What if I'm not bankable? How can I become bankable?
• What if I get denied?

Going Into Business: Start Smart 

Available until March 22  

Learn the basics of opening a small business in the State of Oregon. How to register your business name, open a business bank account and obtain a tax ID number for your business. 

Hiring New Employees 

Available until March 22

Look at how to attract and hire quality employees. How to begin the Employee/Employer relationship off on the right foot Including proper job postings, applications, job descriptions and hiring paperwork. Learn about the differences between an Employee and Independent Contractor.