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THIS WEEK
August 25, 2014
BRIGHT SPOTS - Have you seen the new street banners installed by the City and the CVB and the beautiful flower planters created by the Muskingum Valley Garden Society in downtown Zanesville? Learn about this and other bright spots in our community by visiting our This is Zanesville & Muskingum County, Ohio webpage, and check back frequently to see new content.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES - Here are opportunities to learn about three strategies you can use to grow your business.
- On September 16, 2014 The SBA will be hosting Introduction to 8(a) and HUBZone Trainings in Columbus. This training will focus on government contracting and the SBA programs that help small and medium sized businesses. To register, please contact Jill Nagy-Reynolds jill.nagyreynolds@sba.gov at 614-469-6860 ext. 247.
- The SBDC at Washington State Community College will be hosting Exporting 101 in Marietta on September 17, 2014. This FREE workshop will feature speakers from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the U.S. Department of Commerce. To register, please email sbdc@wscc.edu or call 740-373-5150.
- The Ohio Development Services Agency provides numerous opportunities to companies interested in participating in international trade missions. To see a list of upcoming missions and how to register, please visit http://www.development.ohio.gov/bs/bs_trademissions.htm
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE - The U.S. Small Business Administration has informed us about two programs that may help you save money on financing.
- The USDA Rural Development Business and Industry Loan Guarantee Program allows lenders to greatly reduce their risk and improve their rate of return while providing better interest rates and loan terms to rural businesses. For more information about this program, please contact Randy Monhemius, randy.monhemius@oh.usda.gov, 614-255-2424
- The SBA has suspended the guaranty fee and on-going fee for loans under $150,000 in the SBA Export Express Program. This guaranty fee suspension will remain in place until September 30, 2014. This provides a savings for the small business of the 2% guaranty fee and a savings for the lender of the 52 basis points on-going fee. For more information, please contact Mr. Patrick Hayes, International Trade Finance Manager-Eastern U.S. at Patrick.hayes@sba.gov or 216-522-4731.
TOTAL WORKER HEALTH - The emphasis at this month's Safety Council meeting is on "Total Worker Health," which is a program of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a division of the Centers for Disease Control. Total Worker Health is a strategy employers can use to integrate occupational safety with health promotion to better prevent worker injury and illness. The presenter is Heidi Hudson from the NIOSH office in Cincinnati. The meeting will be held from 8 am to 9 am on August 27 at Zanesville Country Club. Admission is $10 and includes a buffet breakfast. Chamber members are welcome to attend - please make a reservation by emailing tpoorman@zmchamber.com.
SERVICE MATTERS - Every business person agrees great customer service is a priority. But, they typically do very little to make sure that emphasis is consistently implemented throughout the organization. So, take this one simple step to improve your customer servce: Attend the upcoming live seminar titled "How You Can Create A Customer-Focused Culture In Your Organization." It will be held on Friday, September 12 at the John McIntire Library in Zanesville from 9 am to 12 noon. The presenter will be Dave Hamilton, Senior Vice President of Signature Worldwide in Dublin, Ohio. Signature Worldwide delivers sales and customer service training, marketing, and mystery shopping services to both front line personnel and managers in service-based industries. For more information or to make a reservation visit the Chamber website.
GENERATING REVENUE - MCBI is holding the Generating Revenue Series of seminars, and the first installment will be on August 27 (this week!) from 5:30 to 7 pm. The topic will be "Successfully Presenting Your Business," and MCBI manager Wendy Edgar will be reviewing best practices in presentation skills and how you can enhance your business as you talk with clients, customers, suppliers and employees. The next two seminars will be "Creating a Sales Engine" in September and "Marketing Do's and Don'ts" in October. For more information contact Jo White at jwhite@mcbi.info or 453-3649.
SOCIAL MEDIA - If you want to learn more about how to use social media to benefit your business watch this live webinar called How to Grow Your Small Business With Social Media on Thursday, August 28 at 1 pm. Because you are a member of the chamber, you can participate for 50% off the $79 fee. Frank J. Kenny will be leading the webinar and he is an author, professional speaker, and business trainer. Use discount code "member" and claim your spot right now. Register at http://bit.ly/ChamberWebinar1.
TOURISM TEAM - Anyone interested in the local travel and tourism industry is invited to attend the monthly Tourism Team meeting on Tuesday, September 2 at 9:30 am at the Chamber offices. Come hear updates from other businesses, share your information, and learn about marketing strategies being used to promote the area.
BILLION BACK - With the announcement of Another Billion Back from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, it is crucial that your payroll and premium get reported and paid on-time by the end of this month. Employers must be in an active, reinstated, combined or debtor in possession status as of September 5 to qualify for the rebate. This date provides 3 days following the premium due date (September 2) to come into compliance.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS - Here are several national economic indicators courtesy of ycharts.com.
- US housing starts in July were up 15.66% compared to June.
- The US unemployment rate in July dropped 1.64% to 6.2%.
- US durable goods new orders were up in July by 0.74%
- US retails sales were up by 0.02% in July.
GOLF OUTING - Thanks to the following major sponsors of the annual Chamber-Jaycees Golf Outing held last Friday: Emeritus at North Hills, Century National Bank, WHIZ Media Group, and The Forker Company/Northwestern Mutual. Also, congratulations to the following teams: First Place - Ohio Pro Turf, Second - The Forker Company, Third - Eaglesticks and Longaberger Golf Clubs. Also, congratulations to John Stubbs at American Light on his hole in one on number 12.
ENERGY JOBS - An Energy Jobs and Career Fair is being hosted by Senator Rob Portman on September 26 in St. Clairsville at Belmont College from 10am to 2pm. The jobs fair will connect job seekers directly with employers from the energy sector and discover training and employment opportunities. The jobs fair is free to attend and free to exhibit. Energy related companies that would like to participate can sign up at http://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/energy-jobs-fair
    
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS
 
  
 
  
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