The Business Enterprise Center and Project Management Institute will be co-sponsoring a series of Brown Bags on Project Management and the importance in proposals, planning, milestones, and resource allocation. We will be discussing why it is so important for start-ups.
When: May 14, 2013 from 12-1 pm
Where: Corvallis Chamber of Commerce
420 NW 2nd St Corvallis, OR 97330
It may seem impossible to take an idea for a company from concept to launch in just 54 hours over a weekend, but it’s not. A simple 60-second pitch to a room of entrepreneurs may make your dreams come real. It may attract a team to help you build it and launch it at the Willamette Startup Weekend!
Come join us for an incredible experience. Help launch a company based on an idea pitch that appeals to you. Or if you have an idea of your own, pitch it on Friday night and perhaps a team will form around you to help you launch it!
Go for it! You have the entrepreneurial spark in you. Don’t sell yourself short. Live the dream!
Check it out http://w.w.w.willamette.startupweekend.org
Come join us at our upcoming brown bag session on social media!
Brad Attig will discuss some practical ideas and methods that small businesses can adapt to leverage the power of communication through social media and impact their bottom line.
Local SEO (how to be found), Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Yelp will be covered. In this hour, his objective will be to give you some simple tools to assess your current marketing strategy via the internet and explore some simple ways to increase visibility and engagement with current and future customers.
About Brad: Brad partners with small and mid-sized businesses and non-profits of all sizes to communicate their message better using new technology. Brad has both a fortune 500 background in business development and marketing with Macys, Target and Citibank and experience with small startup businesses including a successful pre-IPO internet business, IvyExec.com. Brad is a member of the Madison Avenue Collective, an unique group of freelancers, consultants and professional contractors who share an office and studio space in downtown Corvallis, Oregon. A hybrid creative agency, if you will.
Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm
Date: Thursday February 21, 2013
Place: Corvallis Chamber of Commerce Small Conference Room (map)
420 NW 2nd St
Corvallis OR 97330
**RSVPs appreciated**
Come join us for a free Brown Bag session on social media, presented by Nicole Weather of ProWorks!
Do the words “social media” give you a migraine? They don’t have to. No, you don’t need to be on everything all time. Come learn about each of the major digital or social media platforms and which ones make sense for YOUR business… Even if you have never logged in to Facebook, you will find this introductory session helpful.
Nicole provides research, planning, and execution to assist businesses with marketing and public relations. She has worked in the marketing field for many years helping many different industries. She has a strong social networking background and familiarity with doing business on Facebook, Twitter, and other social sharing programs.
Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Time: 12pm-1pm
Place: Corvallis Chamber of Commerce Large Conference Room
420 NW 2nd Street (see map here)
A not-for profit pub in Portland is just one example of a new worldwide trend toward businesses that exist to donate their profits to charity, supporting local economic development, while running a profit-making business at the same time. The Oregon Public House and other business nationally and beyond have developed models that serve not only customers, but larger missions as well. As a side benefit, they may also circumvent some of the difficulties that plague young businesses.
Article excerpt: “Through grants from the city and private donations — about 30 people have given between $1,500 to $2,500, support levels that come with a free beer a day, or a week, for life, and their own mug — the bar will also open with no loans or capital to pay back, Mr. Saari said.”
Full article at the New York Times here.
“Critics of crowdfunding say that the risk of fraud is high, but their case is weak given that individual dollar investment amounts allowed under the JOBS Act are so small that it would take hundreds of years for crowdfunding to cost the American people the $17 trillion they lost at the height of the financial crisis.”
More at the Washington Post here.
Willamette Startup Weekend Jan 25-27, OSU Campus – Kearney Hall / Co-sponsored by TAO/WIN Corvallis Chapter Startup Weekend is returning to Corvallis!
Startup Weekend is a global movement that has facilitated the launch over 5,000 startups, and has become the greatest engine on the planet for bringing together entrepreneurial talent to launch their dreams. Willamette Startup Weekend is a collaboration between organizers and sponsors in Corvallis and Eugene. We expect entrepreneurs and talent from around the region. It is rare opportunity, so don’t miss out! To learn more, and to register (space is limited), go to willamette.startupweekend.org
RSVP on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/133957940092328/
What happens when you back a cool new gadget on Kickstarter, but the entrepreneur fails to come through with the finished product? Crowdfunding gathers what are essentially donations. If a product is late or if the concept fails, backers are simply out of luck. An entrepreneur has started a new crowdfunding platform, named Christie Street, designed for use by ventures which create finished gadgets, and which incorporates an element of due diligence.
Full story here: http://www.wired.com/design/2012/12/christie-street-crowdfunding/
When: Friday November 16, 2012
Time: 7pm-9pm
Where: Dennis Hall at the First Presbyterian Church
The BEC is co-sponsoring Small Change, Big Change: Investing in Our Community, a forum on local economic development tools, taking place Friday, November 16, at the First Presbyterian Church (Dennis Hall), 114 SW 8th Street in Corvallis. Doors open at 6:30 pm, and the program begins at 7 pm. The forum will feature presentations and discussion focused on community banking, local investing, developing cooperatives, and local currency.
This free public event will feature a combination of presentations and facilitated discussion, providing participants an opportunity to ask questions, offer ideas, and commit to action. Presenters include Christopher Legg of Occupy Corvallis, speaking about community banking; Amy Pearl of Springboard Innovation, exploring local investing; Cindee Lolik of First Alternative Co-op, discussing cooperatives; and Cheryl Good of HOUR Exchange, explaining how local currency works.
Both before and after the program, exhibitors will be on hand to share information about what their organizations are doing to help promote a strong local economy. Refreshments will be provided by First Alternative Co-op.
“Small Change, Big Change” is a collaborative effort of many organizations, including the Corvallis Independent Business Alliance (CIBA), the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition, the Business Enterprise Center, Corvallis Chamber of Commerce, First Alternative Co-op, Occupy Corvallis, HOUR Exchange, Ten Rivers Food Web, the Main Street Alliance of Oregon, Friends of Family Farmers, and Oregon Banks Local.
The Business Enterprise Center (BEC) has received a contract extension with the City of Corvallis marketing the Airport Industrial Park and Benton-Corvallis Enterprise Zone, and general economic development services. The BEC will provide services through the end of December of this year and support the smooth transition to the newly-formed City of Corvallis’s Economic Development Office. The contract employs one half-time staff and 2 part-time contractors.
Over the history of the contract, the BEC has succeeded in achieving the City of Corvallis’ goal of recruiting two companies per year. The Enterprise Zone, which encompasses part of the Airport Industrial Park, enables qualifying companies to receive property tax abatements on new building and newly installed capital equipment for 3-5 years, in exchange for compensating benefits for the community. Since its inception, four locally-started businesses NuScale, NaturalPoint, T. Gerding Construction, and Perpetua Power, have benefited from Enterprise Zone property tax abatements; supporting growth and job creation.