Training Seminars & Events
The Western Regional Office offers a full calendar of business training. Seminars are offered at no charge or for a nominal fee and held at locations throughout Western Massachusetts. This calendar is subject to change. Pre-registration is required for all events. If you do not register, we cannot notify you in the event of changes and/or cancellations.
Please view our payment and cancellation policies.
For information on other MSBDC seminars offered throughout the
state, visit the MSBDC's statewide training calendar at
www.msbdc.org/training.
We would like to thank the following agencies for cosponsoring
our training events:
Platinum Sponsors:
Gold Sponsors:
Berkshire Bank |
Freedom Credit Union |
Greenfield Cooperative Bank |
People's United Bank |
UnitedBank Foundation
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2019 Training Calendar |
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| SEPTEMBER | |
| 16 | Business Legal Primer (Springfield) |
| OCTOBER | |
| 7 | Basics of Starting a Business (Springfield) |
| 16 | Art of Business & Setting Prices (Springfield) |
| 30 | Roadmap for Building an Amazing Website (Springfield) |
| NOVEMBER | |
| 4 | Basics of Starting a Business (Springfield) |
| 4 | Primeros Pasos Para Emprender Un Negocio Propio (Springfield) |
| 7 | Basics of Starting or Growing Your Business (Greenfield) |
| 14 | Business Legal Primer (Springfield) |
| 20 | Understanding Your Company's Cash Flow (Springfield) |
| DECEMBER | |
| 2 | Basics of Starting a Business (Springfield) |
Program Descriptions
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Topics will include: introduction and need for planning; basic business plan format; choosing your legal form of organization; marketing, market planning and research; cash flow projections; financial statements; and financing. In addition, there will be an overview of the U.S. Small Business Administration's programs and services. The presentation will help you gain a better understanding of the various SBA programs and services available to prospective or current entrepreneurs who need assistance in starting or expanding their businesses, and will include capital, counseling and contracting information. Oreste Varela, branch manager of the U.S. Small Business Administration in Springfield, will be a speaker. In addition, Allen Kronick, senior business advisor with the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network's Western Regional Office, will speak. There is no charge for these workshops, but pre-registration is required.
To register, click on the appropriate date below. If you have
questions or problems registering online,
please contact the MSBDC Western Regional Office at
lshedd@msbdc.umass.edu
or 413-577-1768.
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Basics of Starting or Growing Your Business Learn the whole nine yards of starting a business! This free workshop will help entrepreneurs write a business plan and provide structure to starting/managing their venture. It will also focus on business fundamentals; from startup considerations to business plan development and funding sources. Both those who want to start a business and existing business owners looking for guidance on creating a business plan and securing financing to grow their business will find this session helpful. Topics will include: introduction and need for planning; Basic business plan format; choosing your legal form of organization; marketing, market planning and research; cash flow projections; financial statements; and financing. In addition, there will be an overview of the U.S. Small Business Administration's programs and services. The presentation will help you gain a better understanding of the various SBA programs and services available to prospective or current entrepreneurs who need assistance in starting or expanding their businesses, and will include capital, counseling and contracting information. Bonus: If your business is food-related, you are invited to attend a guided tour of the Franklin County Community Development Corporation commercial kitchen following the workshop. Please follow these guidelines when visiting the commercial kitchen: no open-toed shoes, tank tops, or strong perfumes/colognes and limited jewelry. Anyone under the age of 18 is not permitted in the commercial kitchen area. Oreste Varela, branch manager of the U.S. Small Business Administration in Springfield, will be a speaker. In addition, Anita Eliason, senior business advisor with the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network's Western Regional Office, will speak. There is no charge for these workshops, but pre-registration is required.
To register, click on the appropriate date below. If you have
questions or problems registering online,
please contact the MSBDC Western Regional Office at
lshedd@msbdc.umass.edu
or 413-577-1768.
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This presentation will help you gain a better understanding of the core legal concepts impacting your business. Topics will include:
The speaker will be Sarah Willey, counsel with Bulkley Richardson and Gelinas' Business and Finance Department and a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group and Employment Law Practice Group. Sarah has experience advising clients in the areas of business formation, mergers and acquisitions, business succession planning, and corporate structuring of businesses in regulated industries. She counsels clients in protecting and maximizing their intellectual property via trademarks, copyrights, and licensing agreements. In addition, Sarah assists businesses with designing, implementing and auditing corporate compliance programs under International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Date: Monday, September 16, 2019
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Art of Business & Setting Prices Apple never discounts. Clothing stores build in a series of discounts to their initial price. Consulting companies use various techniques to avoid quoting an hourly rate. Law firms typically quote an hourly rate and stick to it. How do you determine what rate you should charge for your time? Too high and you scare clients away. Too low and your clients undervalue your work. There is an art to setting a price for your work. On one hand, what is a livable rate for your work? On the other hand, what is the range of rates for your work in your market? Do you discount? How do you price a job and how do you cover add-ons and other changes? Do you have separate rates for different types of clients? What about donating services? How do you negotiate rates with a potential client? The speaker will be Don Lesser of Pioneer Training, Inc., who has been in business for 30+ years. His companies have grown and shrunk, and the nature of his business has changed, but he is still thinking and working on his business. And, he is successful at it. This workshop will cover the process of determining your rate and sticking to it. The Art of Business is a collection of guiding principles that sum up the lessons Don has learned over the past 30 years. For Don, running a business is as much an art as it is a science. This session will also cover various parts of running a small business with an emphasis on what is involved in setting prices. Date: Wednesday, October 16, 2019
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Roadmap for Building an Amazing Website
The speaker will be Derek Allard who first started working on the internet in early 2000 for a digital healthcare startup. He has worked for large corporations and smaller design studios and brought all of that experience to Tunnel 7, which he started in 2010. With a focus on making clients successful, he has left a long trail of happy clients over the years and continues to build relationships with new organizations. When not at work, Derek can be found hiking, riding bicycles and photographing birds. Date: Wednesday, October 30, 2019
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Primeros Pasos Para Emprender Un Negocio Propio Este taller te dará información essential para orientarte en como emprender un negocio propio. Comenzar un negocio es una aventura y verás que al principio te abrumarás muy fácilmente, sin embargo la clave para seguir en pie es contar con un plan de trabajo a seguir, un mapa que te debe guiar a lo largo del camino de tu negocio. Se requiere registración antes del taller. Regístrese en nuestra página de la internet. Fecha: 4 de Noviembre de 2019
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This presentation will help you gain a better understanding of the core legal concepts impacting your business. Topics will include:
The speaker will be Sarah Willey, counsel with Bulkley Richardson and Gelinas' Business and Finance Department and a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group and Employment Law Practice Group. Sarah has experience advising clients in the areas of business formation, mergers and acquisitions, business succession planning, and corporate structuring of businesses in regulated industries. She counsels clients in protecting and maximizing their intellectual property via trademarks, copyrights, and licensing agreements. In addition, Sarah assists businesses with designing, implementing and auditing corporate compliance programs under International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Date: Thursday, November 14, 2019
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Understanding Your Company's Cash Flow Many a new business owner has asked, “What is cash flow and why is it so important?” The short answer is cash flow is the amount of money coming into a business and the amount of money going out. Think of it as a water tank—water comes in at the top and drains out the bottom. So to keep your tank nice and full...you want more coming in than going out. This seminar will help you understand what cash flow is, why it's so important, and how to monitor it. Your business runs on cash—cash in and cash out—a very critical aspect to you and your business. Whether you hire someone to handle your financials or do them yourself, you must understand these fundamentals. This workshop will teach:
The speaker will be Robb Morton, who has more than 30 years of experience in public and management accounting. As both a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant, Robb offers an excellent source for not only technical accounting and tax issues, but for management advisory support as well. Robb's 7+ years of experience as a controller gives him a unique perspective that serves as a tremendous benefit when dealing with the challenges faced by his small business clients. Robb also has extensive experience working with family owned businesses both as advisor and as a member of their management team. Parking Information: Parking is free and available along Keyes Street or in the bank visitor parking lot off of Keyes Street. The entrance is under the blue Florence Bank awning in the middle of the building on Keyes Street. Date: Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Cosponsored by Florence Savings Bank |
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Payment Details: Please print and mail a copy of your registration email along with a check payable to the University of Massachusetts to the address below. Your payment must be received prior to the seminar date. We do not accept credit cards or purchase orders. We cannot guarantee your place in a workshop without full payment in advance. Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Attn: Lynn Shedd Scibelli Enterprise Center One Federal Street, Building 101 Springfield, MA 01105-1160 Cancellation/Refunds/Materials Policy: The MSBDC reserves the right to cancel or reschedule a training session. Registration fees will be returned or credited towards future programs. Cancellations received by noon the day prior to the workshop will be entitled to a refund. No refund will be given on notifications received after that time or in any no-show situation. Seminar materials are for attendees only. |
Learn the whole nine yards of starting a business! This free
workshop will focus on business fundamentals, from start-up
considerations to business plan development and funding sources. It will help entrepreneurs write a business plan and
provide structure to starting/managing their venture. This workshop
is appropriate for anyone who wants to start a business and existing
business owners looking for guidance on creating a business plan and
securing financing to grow their business.
This seminar will cover all of the aspects and elements involved
in the planning and design of an amazing website for your business.
Specifically, the seminar will cover the three major phases of
building a website: planning, content creation and building,
and what to do after "going live". Whether you
are looking to DIY or work with a website developer, you won't want
to miss the practical tips and information provided in this seminar!