May
5
Thu
Boost Your Business Growth through Brand Building @ webinar
May 5 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

If you’re ready to build a strong brand for your business, join #GrowWithGoogle & @Canva during #SmallBusinessWeek to learn how brand consistency can attract more customers. Available to U.S. & Canada residents on 5/5 at 12 pm EST goo.gle/GrowOnAirMay5

May
25
Wed
Complying with Federal Alcohol Regulations: The Roles and Responsibilities of the TTB @ webinar
May 25 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am

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.

Jul
8
Fri
Business Smarts – Protecting Your Brand @ Shenandoah Valley SBDC
Jul 8 @ 8:30 am – 10:00 am

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.