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How to Help with Your Community's Workforce Recovery
February 5, 2013
and
February 19, 2013
2:00-3:00 p.m. EST
If you asked the people in your community what comes to mind when they think of your library, many might say "a resource for our community." What better resource could you be than for those who have recently (or not so recently) been laid off - or for those who fear they soon will be?
Linda Bruno, Instructor
Register here. |
Trends and Issues in E-Government Services
Tuesday, February 12
2:00-3:00 p.m. EST
Join Pam Thompson and the E-Government Workgroup to discuss delivery of E-Government Services in Florida Libraries.
Register for the workgroup. |
Webinar Recordings
Did you miss the Veterans' Resources Webinar? You can access the recording of this and other Division online meetings and webinars here. |
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Greetings!
Earlier this month during the E-Government online meeting, some really good questions were asked about resources available to your entrepreneur and small business patrons. This month's newsletter includes some of the resources available to Florida businesses.
Please let me know if I can help you with your efforts, and don't forget to share your ideas and resources on the Project Compass Florida website.
Pam Thompson
850.245.6633
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Florida Electronic Library Resources
Entrepreneurs need all the help they can get when starting a new business. Access to the Small Business Resource Center, from the Florida Electronic Library, is like having experts on call 24 hours a day.
The Small Business Resource Center covers all major areas of starting and operating a business including financing, management, marketing, human resources, franchising, accounting and taxes.
Libraries can add customizable widgets and logos to their websites to increase awareness, accessibility and increase usage of this valuable resource.
This resource features an interface that makes it simpler for your users to accomplish a number of tasks. The functionality is highlighted by an advanced mapping tool that allows users to create customizable, printable maps with thematic scales in a variety of formats. The many benefits to your library business patrons include:
- Market sizing
- Segmentation
- Contacts within a segment
- Competitor identification
- Authentic credit ratings
- Expanded minority-owned identification
- Legal business hierarchies (detailed business ownership classifications)
- Consumer and retail expenditures
- Lifestyle segmentation reporting capability
- Professional output, including charts and graphs
- Lists of businesses no longer in business (to enhance a business plan or market analysis with residential and location awareness/analysis)
The new DemographicsNow is the only e-resource of its kind to provide mapping, addresses, mailing lists and essential tools to support the analysis required to complete an entire business plan.
Training on these and other Florida Electronic Library resources is also available. For more information, contact Stephanie Race, Florida Electronic Library Program Manager, at stephanie.race@dos.myflorida.com.
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 Small Business Development Center Resources
The Florida Virtual Entrepreneur Center is a free Web portal designed to connect entrepreneurs with business support organizations, programs and service providers who can support their new or growing business. Navigation is easy and it is free. It is designed to help those starting a business, expanding an existing operation or considering relocating. Your patron chooses the topic area and is connected with local, state, regional and national resources, programs and service providers who can support all of their business needs.
Many owners of small businesses have specific legal, financial and insurance questions that go unanswered, and not just at start-up or time of expansion. Day-to-day operations of a small to medium-sized business encounter many challenges. This is why the Small Business Development Centers at universities around the state have joined together to sponsor the Small Business Resource Network (SBRN).
Designed especially for the small business person, the SBRN answers basic questions and is easy to use. The website provides links to frequently accessed regulatory agencies and relevant not-for-profit organizations as well as professionals who have expertise with small businesses. These participating, qualified professionals are experts in banking, law, accounting, insurance, commercial real estate, human resources, marketing, buying and selling a business, computers/technology, and a wide variety of other management issues relevant to small businesses.
For more information on providing training, workshops or programs at your library, contact your local Florida Small Business Development Center.
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Free Websites for Florida Small Businesses
Ninety-seven percent of consumers look online for products or services, yet 68 percent of Florida's small businesses do not have a website.
Google has partnered with Intuit and Governor Rick Scott to offer free website design, free domain name and free server hosting for a year to small businesses in Florida. Google is targeting businesses with 25 or fewer employees.
Florida businesses can go to Florida Get Your Business Online
to use simple templates to create their own websites, choose customized domain names, and sign up for free Web hosting for one year.
Libraries can sign up to be notified of future training events in their areas.
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Findlaw's Small Business Center
FindLaw's Small Business Center provides
free legal information and resources for small business owners, and help for entrepreneurs trying to get a business idea off the ground. The Center can provide your patrons with links to information on choosing and forming the right legal structure for their business, legal tips on day-to-day business operations as well as an overview of employment law issues.
FindLaw.com, part of Thomson Reuters, is one of the most popular Internet sites for free legal information with more than five million legal consumers visiting each month to find free information about a legal topic, to solve a legal problem or to search the largest legal directory available.
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Step Up for Students
Step Up For Students is a nonprofit organization that administers the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship for low-income students in grades K-12.
The scholarship program is funded by corporations that receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for their contributions. Many families still don't know this option exists, but Florida has the nation's largest scholarship program giving low-income families the ability to choose the school that best meets their children's needs.
The scholarships are targeted for three groups of children - those with household incomes that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, those in foster care, and those who are homeless.
Step Up For Students is providing scholarships to approximately 50,000 low-income students during the 2012-13 school year. Parents or guardians have the freedom to choose from more than 1,450 participating private schools statewide. Since 2002, more than 265,000 scholarships have been awarded to low-income Florida students in grades K-12.
Step Up for Students is preparing for the 2013-14 school year and is inviting families or guardians who are interested in being notified when they start accepting new applications to enter their information into the program's interest list.
Thanks to Alissa Ciaramello, Vice President of Marketing, PR and Special Events for Step Up for Students for providing information on this scholarship program.
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Can You Help?
How is your library supporting your small business patrons? Send your article to Pam Thompson at pam.thompson@dos.myflorida.com to be included in the next newsletter. |
This program is made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, administered by the Florida Department of State's Division of Library and Information Services. |
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