Small businesses connect at seminar

Winsted Mayor Maryann Welcome did much of the footwork and served as the moderator at last week’s Re-Inventing Your Business seminar. Photo by Michael Marciano WINSTED — About 30 people representing local businesses and organizations turned out at The Gilbert School’s library and media center Friday, Feb. 17, for Re-Inventing Your Business, a seminar organized by the Winchester Economic Development Commission and Friends of Main Street.Offering businesses short classes on learning how to connect with online resources such as Google Places, Facebook and LinkedIn, the morning included a keynote address by Journal Register Company Connecticut Group Publisher Matt DiRienzo, along with appearances by government officials from the state and federal arenas.Mayor Maryann Welcome, who spearheaded the conference, was the master of ceremonies for the seminar and told participating merchants that economic development is a priority for the town.“We hope this will be the first seminar of many more to come, and we hope that you will tell us what you need,” the mayor said, holding up a comments form for participants to fill out. “We want to help.”Welcome, a longtime teacher at Gilbert and member of the town’s Economic Development Commission, noted that the school provided its library and computer rooms free-of-charge for the business-friendly event and said Gilbert has always had a positive relationship with local businesses.“We at Gilbert are constantly asking for donations and for advertisements, and you’re always there for us, so I thank you on behalf of The Gilbert School,” she said.Rossi offers adviceWelcome introduced the morning’s speakers, including Congressman John Larson’s (D-1) Chief of Staff John Rossi, who told business owners that Larson’s office is available to anyone who needs help with a small business issue.“If you want to start a small business or expand a small business, this is really a good time to be doing that,” he said. Among the resources Rossi suggested for Winsted-area business owners was the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Rural Development, which offers loans and grants to local businesses, and the Connecticut Procurement Technical Assistance Program (CT PTAP), which helps Connecticut businesses market their products to federal, state and local governments. “They will help any small business with bidding on government contracts,” Rossi said, adding that the program is funded by taxpayer money. “They have an obligation to you, and we want to make sure everyone knows about that obligation.”Rossi said his office also works with the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology to help high-tech businesses succeed and grow.“They are located in East Hartford,” he said. “They will give you any kind of expertise you might need in incubating a highly technical small business.”Rossi noted that the Barkhamsted-based towing-product company Tru-Hitch is an example of a successful local business that has developed a proprietary system that can be marketed internationally.“There are great ideas at small companies all over the state that we can help promote,” he said.An array of other services are offered through state and federal agencies and offices, and Rossi noted that Congressman Larson’s office is eager to accept calls from people who are starting businesses in Connecticut. Staff member Conor Quinn is on hand to discuss the programs that are available. The office can be reached by calling 860-278-8888.“The best thing that you can do, if you don’t have a clear idea of where you want to go, is to please call our office,” he said. “Conor Quinn is in our office to help small businesses every day of the week and it’s one of the things we really pride ourselves on — trying to be there to foster and help small businesses grow.”Help at state levelAt the state level, Ron Angelo, deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), said his office has also been charged with helping small businesses connect with resources and providing money in the form of loans and grants to give them a jump start.“Connecticut is ahead of the curve versus any other state around the country right now, and we are getting phenomenal feedback on all of our programs,” Angelo said. “The most important thing we’ve heard from small businesses is they need access to capital. Banking institutions have money to lend — they are lending — but they’ve got really strict criteria, and there are some things they can’t do. So we have programs where we can actually partner with the lending institutions to enhance relationships and counter that.”Angelo said the state’s Small Business Express program is a hotbed of activity right now for local businesses seeking access to loans and grants. Designed for businesses with 50 or fewer employees, the program offers revolving loans and grants as incentives to create jobs, with $100 million available between now and the end of 2013. Grants and loans can be sought concurrently and business owners can fill out their applications for loans online and receive money within 30 days.“We’ve already committed $35 million out of the program,” Angelo said. “There’s no cost to apply. We’re making it really, really easy for small businesses to get access to capital.”The Connecticut Small Business Express program can be found using any search engine. The home page is www.ct.gov/ecd/cwp/view.asp?a=3931&q=489792.Angelo said Connecticut has made money available for Main Street redevelopment projects and is offering tax incentives and subsidized training to businesses that hire new employees in the next two years. “We’re doing a lot for small business, and we want to hear from you,” Angelo said. “We’re doing these presentations every week, and we’re going to keep doing them. We’ll come to your business, and we’ll offer you every tool we have available to help you stay in business, to help you grow, to help you commercialize a product.”The DECD’s Office of Small Business Affairs can be reached by calling 860-270-8215. Complete resources can be found online at www.ct.gov/ecd.“Gov. Malloy has got an amazing amount of energy,” Angelo added. “He is focused squarely on lowering the unemployment rate and making Connecticut a better place to do business. Even he will come to visit and talk to you. He is out around the state all the time. He wants to make sure I’m doing my job.”

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