Every craft beverage producer in America, no matter its size, structure, or stage, will come into contact with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), the lead Federal agency overseeing the production and sale of alcohol. In this webinar, Virginia SBDC Craft Beverage Assistance Manager Chris Van Orden will ask TTB Investigator Len Lee about the key regulations governing the safe and responsible manufacturing of beer, wine, and spirits, from pre-launch licensing to label approvals and beyond.
Speaker: Len Lee, Investigator, Southeast District, Trade Investigations Division, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)
Len Lee is an investigator with TTB’s Trade Investigations Division in the Southeast District. He has a total of 32 years of Law Enforcement experience. Len works on a variety of alcohol – and tobacco-related cases, including tax, product integrity, and permit investigations. He began his career with TTB in 2008. He has a BS degree in Criminal Justice from Mountain State University and lives in Jacksonville, Florida.
Are you a small, women-owned, or minority-owned business who wants to do business with the Commonwealth of Virginia? Small business owners who are looking to participate in Virginia’s specialized procurement and contracting opportunities are encouraged to become SWaM certified. The SWaM certification is a vehicle to promote economic growth of Virginia’s businesses.
Becoming SWaM certified is just the first step in doing business with the Commonwealth.
This workshop will cover:
+The SWaM Certification process
+Required documents needed to apply
+How to use the certification to do business with the Commonwealth (intro to eVA, Virginia’s Online Procurement Portal).
+This event is in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity and the Roanoke Regional SBDC.
Who should attend: Current small business owners in all industries who are curious about expanding their business to include government contracting
Date: Thursday, June 2
Time: 10:00AM-11:00AM
Speaker(s): Ramain Gohar
A confirmation email with the Zoom login information will be sent after registration
Do you need:
- Research assistance for your business plan or market study?
- Professional development surrounding HR, accounting, and marketing?
- A jumpstart for your business idea?
- Job search assistance?
- A place to meet clients?
- A telework location?
Look no further than your local public library, in person and online. While each location is different, every library, through the Library of Virginia, has access to digital resources, learning assets, and research tools to help you meet your career and business goals. Join us to learn more!
Presenters:
- Nan Carmack – Director of the Library Development and Networking Division, Library of Virginia (nan.carmack@lva.virginia.gov) (and small business owner!)
- Barry Trott – Adult Services Consultant, Library of Virginia (barry.trott@lva.virginia.gov)
Updated for 2022
Confused about on blockchain for your business? We’ve got you covered.
We demystify blockchain in this illustrative program that includes a Q&A session to answer your questions.
This session will cover:
- Introduction to Blockchain
- Blockchain vs. Bitcoin – how are they different?
- How Blockchain can be used for small business
- Accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment
- Use of smart contracts
- Use of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
- Using blockchain to raise capital
- Looking towards the future of blockchain technologies
- Current rate of blockchain adoption in business
- Moving towards cryptocurrency as national currency
- Industry Applications
- Safety and Privacy Concerns
Presenter:
Cameron Nelson, Chief Digital Advisor, Virginia SBDC and Central Virginia SBDC
With each step forward in your leadership journey, you may encounter roadblocks to leading your teams effectively. As you gain more and more leadership responsibility, you tend to rely less on technical skills, your ability to supervise a process, or your training on how to manage specific metrics. Developing and strengthening specific leadership skills can make a tremendous impact on the results of your team as well as the entire organization.
Following this session, you will be able to:
- Recognize the three most common roadblocks in any leadership transition and how they prevent you from achieving peak performance and profitability
- Understand what separates an effective manager from a great leader and how you can be both
- Recognize the impact of effective communication in a transition
- Implement strategic, practical steps to overcome your biggest roadblocks.
Presenters: Prior to founding Dove Development & Consulting, Wes and Cindy Dove built strong resumes in large corporations and small, family-owned businesses. In addition to extensive work in behavior-based safety, Wes was responsible for safety compliance, human resources, and personnel development in multiple industries. With over 20 years in the healthcare field, Cindy was responsible for operations, hospice, and sales. By applying a foundation of leadership and effective workplace communication principles, Cindy created high levels of success for the companies she served. Both Wes and Cindy have served as Executive Directors with The John Maxwell Team and on that organization’s President’s Advisory Council. They are also Certified Human Behavior Consultants through Personality Insights.
This lesson has also been approved for continuing education credit by SHRM, HRCI, and the National Association of Long-Term Care Administrator Boards (NAB/NCERS).
In an era where cyber incidents are on the rise, ensuring you have a cyber incident response plan means you know how to respond to a serious security incident, such as a data breach, data leak, ransomware attack, or loss of sensitive information.
During this session, we will walk you through the basics of creating a cyber incident response plan for your organization. By the end of this hour, you should feel equipped to put a basic incident response plan together.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Business Owners, Management Teams, Cybersecurity Professionals and individuals within an organization responsible for cybersecurity, risk management or information security
Meet the Expert
Quiana Gainey is a 20+ year IT & Cybersecurity industry veteran and has served as Chief Executive Officer for SecureTech360 located in Springfield, VA since its inception in 2010. Ms. Gainey has an extensive background in the IT industry, including information assurance, cyber-security and research/development for the Federal, State or Local government. She also founded MySecureKid in 2018 a 501C (3) nonprofit organization dedicated to diversity and inclusion in the field of cybersecurity, and information technology. Ms. Gainey has an MBA, a BS in Information Technology Management and Cybersecurity.
Your registration is not complete until you register in Zoom. REGISTER HERE
Who doesn’t want higher sales and more customers? Let’s just make sure More = Good for you and your company.
Join us for this Small Business Growth interactive webinar series in partnership with Luray-Page County Chamber of Commerce. Held on the 3rd Weds. of each month, these discussions will challenge your way of thinking and help you avoid common pitfalls as you grow your business whether you are just starting out or have years of experience!
RSVP to events@luraypage.com or 540-743-3915 by the Tuesday prior to receive the Zoom link plus session materials.
Alcohol distribution in the United States is governed by the three-tier system, which means that distributing craft beverage producers’ success requires healthy working relationships with their wholesalers. In this webinar, Virginia SBDC Craft Beverage Assistance Manager Chris Van Orden will ask Craft Beverage Strategic Advisor Julie Rhodes about the tools and strategies that breweries, wineries, cideries, and distilleries can employ when working distribution partners towards mutual success. Speaker: Julie Rhodes, Owner, Not Your Hobby Marketing With over 2 decades of experience on the business side – supplier sales, digital marketing, and distribution management – of the craft beverage industry, Julie provides strategic sales and marketing advice to small- and medium-sized beverage alcohol brands through webinars, whitepapers, digital courses, one on one consulting, and group coaching programs.
A confirmation email with the Zoom login information will be sent after registration, please be on the lookout for it.
Presented by Virginia SBDC Inclusivity Ambassador, Dr. Hope Murphy. This 45-minute informal information session will help you to get the most out of SBDC RESOURCES, programs, and networks in support of your small business.
As the largest small business support program in the country, the SBDC offers the services that small business owners need to succeed such as:
- Small Business counseling (free)
- Specialty programs (free)
- Access to business data and information (free)
- Cybersecurity training
- Small business loan process
- Training
After this session, you will know what is available, how to access it, and how to make the most of your free counseling sessions with the SBDC.
About the Presenter
Dr. Hope Murphy specializes in connecting business owners with the resources needed to build their businesses. Her experience includes providing business counseling to veterans through the Veteran’s Business Outreach Center and counseling/training entrepreneurs at the Women’s Business Center.
While Dr. Murphy counsels all small business owners, her passion is to provide business counseling that supports the unique needs of minority business owners.
Dr. Murphy is a small business owner and she provides diversity and inclusion training to organizational leaders and their teams. She and her family live in Stafford, Virginia. hmurph3@gmu.edu
A confirmation email with the Zoom login information will be sent after registration, please be on the lookout for it.
Note: This seminar is for businesses within the Dayton – Bridgewater VA footprint. If you would like to discuss seminars or programs for your Shenandoah Valley town, contact the SV SBDC at 540-568-3227.
Local events and attractions have always been the core of activity for locals and visitors to towns like Bridgewater and Dayton.
In this interactive workshop, we’ll discuss how your business can key into those events and partner with other businesses, whether down the street or across the Commonwealth.
We’ll discuss your ideas for “Coopetition” (Competition + Cooperation) with each other and leave with new ideas and action plans to carry out through summer right into the winter holiday season.
Join fellow businesses from your community and SBDC (Small Business Development Center) Business Advisors to learn from and with each other. Bring your questions and best ideas!
Presented by Marc Willson, Virginia SBDC Retail Consultant.
Hosted by The Economic Development Offices of Bridgewater and Dayton.
Date/Time Tuesday, June 28, 9:00–10:30am. In person; masks are your choice.
Location Arey Assembly Hall (basement of Bridgewater Community Center), 201 Green Street, Bridgewater. Parking on premises.
No Fee, but registration is appreciated Register HERE
To request a personal visit, watch for your Confirmation of Registration. It will contain the times available to you. It will ask you to choose your preferred times and tell you how to reach us.
Do you reside in the Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia and are thinking about starting a new business?
Do you have questions about how to move forward? Are you considering moving your hobby into a more structured business form? Have you already started your small business and now realize you may have missed a few things?
Your Shenandoah Valley SBDC has answers, information, and resources to help!
In our Start Smart Workshops, we discuss the path to good decisions and a successful start. You’ll learn to take a thorough 360° approach to your business and all its components – from product development to target marketing to financial projections and bookkeeping. We also cover the regulations and registrations you need to know.
Follow-up appointments are then available with SBDC business advisors to focus on your individual business growth needs.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Have you made it easy for strangers to hijack your brand?
It’s often said that branding is storytelling, and it’s a dead-on statement. You wouldn’t ask a stranger with bad intentions to tell the story of your business. But that may be what you’re doing if you don’t take steps to protect your brand identity. Your trademark – the embodiment of your brand – is the place in the mind of a consumer that links your brand to your business. If the brand is not protected, this connection can be lost or needlessly muddled. High stakes indeed.
In this fast-paced session, we’ll discuss –
- what a trademark is (and isn’t),
- how to start out a business on a solid trademark footing,
- what it means to register a trademark – and how to do it,
- steps to take to be vigilant about infringement,
- ways in which brand value can be corroded from within,
- how domain names fit into the brand equation,
- what brand protection means in a post-pandemic world that’s driven by e-commerce and affected by social media influences,
- five brand protect takeaways to start your Friday.
About the Presenter: Jared Burden, a Harrisonburg-based Partner in the Virginia law firm GreeneHurlocker PLC, is a hands-on transactional business attorney whose practice over several decades has always been focused (whether directly or indirectly) on assuring that business owners maintain the value of their brand. Jared has served as inside and outside general counsel to mature middle-market companies with tens of millions of revenue as well as individual entrepreneurs taking their first steps to actualize their big idea. Jared is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Virginia School of Law, and has lived with his wife Jenny Burden and family in Harrisonburg for 20 years.
Sell, don’t sell, engage, add value, sell – it makes our heads spin! If you’re in the same boat, join us for this workshop were we’ll dive into how to create engaging content that adds value while also selling. Yeah, it’s a mouthful! We’ve got you covered.
Date: Monday, July 11
Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Who should attend: Current small business owners in all industries
Speaker(s): Nicole Cooper
A confirmation email with the Zoom login information will be sent after registration
Do you reside in the Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia and are thinking about starting a new business?
Do you have questions about how to move forward? Are you considering moving your hobby into a more structured business form? Have you already started your small business and now realize you may have missed a few things?
Your Shenandoah Valley SBDC has answers, information, and resources to help!
In our Start Smart Workshops, we discuss the path to good decisions and a successful start. You’ll learn to take a thorough 360° approach to your business and all its components – from product development to target marketing to financial projections and bookkeeping. We also cover the regulations and registrations you need to know.
Follow-up appointments are then available with SBDC business advisors to focus on your individual business growth needs.
Note that this is a live, on-line Webinar.
Thank you for your registration to Start Smart Workshop via Zoom Time: July 13, 10:00 AM Eastern Time Zoom Link will be sent via email in advance.
Looking forward to seeing you there! Please let me know in advance if you are unable to attend via email to krechjh@jmu.edu. Thank You. Joyce Krech, Shenandoah Valley SBDC Event Information: Start Smart
Presented by Virginia SBDC Inclusivity Ambassador, Dr. Hope Murphy. This 45-minute informal information session will help you to get the most out of SBDC RESOURCES, programs, and networks in support of your small business.
As the largest small business support program in the country, the SBDC offers the services that small business owners need to succeed such as:
- Small Business counseling (free)
- Specialty programs (free)
- Access to business data and information (free)
- Cybersecurity training
- Small business loan process
- Training
After this session, you will know what is available, how to access it, and how to make the most of your free counseling sessions with the SBDC.
About the Presenter
Dr. Hope Murphy specializes in connecting business owners with the resources needed to build their businesses. Her experience includes providing business counseling to veterans through the Veteran’s Business Outreach Center and counseling/training entrepreneurs at the Women’s Business Center.
While Dr. Murphy counsels all small business owners, her passion is to provide business counseling that supports the unique needs of minority business owners.
Dr. Murphy is a small business owner and she provides diversity and inclusion training to organizational leaders and their teams. She and her family live in Stafford, Virginia. hmurph3@gmu.edu