Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
ADA Workshops Slated
Is your business accessible to the disabled? With an estimated9.6 percent of California's population consisting of peoplewith disabilities, complying with the American With DisabilitiesAct (ADA)-and making sure this group feels welcome in your place ofbusiness-is no small matter. To clear up any confusion, theCalifornia American Women's Economic Development Crop. And theDepartment of Justice will visit community organizations such aschambers of commerce in January and February.
The one-hour presentation will teach BIZ Experiencess simple,cost-effective ways to make the workplace accessible to thedisabled, and will explain how to avoid litigation, take advantageof tax incentives and find resources for assistance. For moreinformation on the session nearest you, call (310) 983-3747.
Colorado
BIZ Experiencess Get Cooking In New Kitchen
Colorado specialty food producers, caterers, bakers and otherfood vendors now have a certified kitchen they can use to cook up astorm. Located in the Denver Enterprise Center incubator, thekitchen is available 24 hours a day and offers a full range ofkitchen equipment including a gas stove, convection oven, walk-inrefrigerator and dry storage space.
A kitchen manager is available weekdays from 8 to 5 to discussproduct development, placement and the other ins and outs ofproducing and selling a food item. There is an hourly fee forkitchen time.
The center has made arrangements with the various agencies foodsellers must deal with so all incubator clients have to do is speakdirectly with the health department for a license. The kitchen isopen to any Colorado BIZ Experiences. For more information, call (303)296-9400.
Nebrasksa
Panhandle Project Target Rural Youth
Small towns and rural communities in the United States know manyof their young people will leave their areas due to inadequateemployment opportunities. The Panhandle Youth BIZ ExperiencesshipProject, operating in an 11-county area of Nebraska, hopes toreverse that trend.
The program targets seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade studentsin Banner, Box Butte, Cheyenne, Dawes, Deuel, Garden, Kimball,Morrill, Scotts Bluff, Sheridan and Sioux countries, offering themthe opportunity to develop their own business and obtain financingfor it.
Business plans can be submitted to the Panhandle Youth Projectby the 10th of each month up until March 10; a reviewcommittee will evaluate them for feasibility by the 25thof the same month. Students whose business plans are approved thenmake a presentation to a banker for a loan of $5 to $500. They mustalso invest their own money, equipment or expertise, and they mustput up something they value as collateral.
In April, the young BIZ Experiencess will have a chance to showcasetheir business successes during a special expo.
The project office can provide a business plan outline, a listof questions the students will need to answer, and assistance inwriting the plan. For more information on the project, contactcoordinator Diana Harms at (308) 632-1367.
National
State And Federal Governments Form ExportPartnerships
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank)recently launched a new program to expedite the loan guaranteeprocess for small and midsized firms involved in exporting.
The Working Capital Co-Guarantee Program is a one-year piloteffort operating in California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland,Massachusetts and Minnesota that enables designated state exportprograms to approve guarantees on behalf of the federal government.This can shave weeks off the approval process and givesentrepreneurs an additional resource for financial backing.
Ex-Im Bank and the state will split between them 90 percent of acommercial working capital loan guarantee, with the remaining 10percent of risk covered by the lender.
For more information, contact the California Export FinanceProgram, (714) 562-5519; the Florida Export Finance Corp., (305)870-5027; the Georgia Export Finance Fund, (404) 657-1958; theMaryland Export Finance Program, (410) 767-6382; the MassachusettsExport Finance Authority, (617) 451-2477; and the Minnesota ExportFinance Authority, (612) 297-4658.
Contact Sources
California American Woman's Economic DevelopmentCorp., 100 W. Broadway, #500, Long Beach, CA 90802, (310)983-3747;
Denver Enterprise Center, 3003 Arapahoe St., Denver, CO80205, (303) 296-9400;
Export-Import Bank of the United States, 811 Vermont Ave.N.W., Washington, DC 20571, (202) 565-3200;
The Panhandle Youth BIZ Experiencesship Project, 4502 Ave.I, Scottsbluff, NE 69361, (308) 632-1367.
