Thinking about starting or expanding your business? Join our experts for a day of workshops designed to help enpreneurs plan, grow and:

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Financing Choices — A brief discussion on several financing options including traditional bank financing, Small Business Administration (SBA) and Tri County Council. Participants will learn about the different types of commercial financing options and a Q&A session will follow.

Brian K. Selders, M&T Bank, Vice President & Business Banking Team Leader; 28 years of experience in the financial services industry. A graduate of Maryland Banking School and the National Commercial Lending School, Brian serves on the Revolving LoanFund Committee for Tri County Council of Western Md. and is a member of the Hagerstown Loan Review Authority.

Chris Bolton, M&T Bank Vice President; 27 years of experience in the financial services industry. Chris holds an MBA from Frostburg State University a BS from The University of Baltimore and is a graduate of Maryland Banking School. Chris also serves as a Certified Early Response Team volunteer (ERT) through UMCOR for Disaster Response.

Hagerstown Incentives — The Downtown Hagerstown area has many opportunities for entrepreneurs. From reasonably priced retail and office space to various incentive programs and resources designed to get your business off to a strong start, Downtown Hagerstown has something to help everyone. Come hear Downtown Manager, Andrew Sargent give a brief description of what downtown has to offer!

Dr. Marty Mattare is the Frostburg State University at University System of Maryland Hagerstown Business Program Director. She has 30+ years of business experience including running small businesses, starting up new businesses and consulting with small businesses. She currently teaches entrepreneurship at Frostburg State University at USMH.

Business Planning: Where Do I Start? — This class will cover: basics of business planning, forming strategies, goals, and objectives. Discusion will also focus around the importance of competitive analysis.

Grow Your Business — In this day of information overload and technology it's hard to get your message to your customers. That’s why it's critical to identify and analyze your target market in order to make your message relevant and use the right means to get in front of them. Attend the session to learn more about Target Marketing.

Sam Devaram, a Maryland Small Business and Technology Development Center Business Consultant, provides free, confidential business growth assistance to existing businesses and startups. He also assists with business planning, financial analysis and projections, pricing and marketing.

What Can SBTDC Do For You? — Competitive Advantage- does your business or business idea have a competitive advantage? If yes, are you effectively communicating it to your customers, and do they value it? Come join this interactive session to learn why competitive advantage is key for any business model and thereby forming the core of business marketing.

Downtown Manager, Andrew Sargent is responsible for recruiting new business to the downtown as well as supporting existing businesses. As an ombudsman for downtown businesses, he listens to the issues and implements creative solutions for those problems. Andrew has a B.A. in Environmental Geography from Wittenberg University with an Environmental Studies minor and professional experience in commercial real estate and property management.

Keith Grunow, M&T Bank Vice President; 12 years of experience in the financial services industry. Keith holds a BS from Western Maryland College, is a graduate of the Maryland Bankers School and the Maryland Banking School of Advanced Bank Management. He is also a former Board Chair of the United Way of Frederick County and a current member of the Rotary Club of Hagerstown.

Working with a Banker — A brief discussion detailing how to prepare a loan request package prior to meeting with the banker. The participants will learn the importance of meeting with Score, SBTDC and or their CPA prior to meeting with a banker. A Q&A session will follow.

All workshops are scheduled September 25, 2013. See individual listing for time and location.

• 10:00 a.m. 32 N. Potomac Street

• 11:00 a.m. 32 N. Potomac Street

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• 10:00 a.m. 14 N. Potomac Street

• 10:00 a.m. 32 W. Washington Street

• 10:00 a.m. 100 W. Washington Street

• 1:00 p.m. 100 W. Washington Street

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How an Intern Can Help Your Small Business — Wondering how an intern could benefit your business? Looking to expand your workforce and interested in ensuring your future hire is qualified? Debating expanding your team and not sure what to do? Join us for a discussion on college interns, their strengths and the benefits they bring to the office. Learn key ways to utilize interns in your company.

Meet Stacy Nicole Interior Designs: What it’s Really Like to Start a Business — As a divorced, single parent of four children and business owner, Nicole has experienced the realities of business ownership; she is the first to admit, “I must make this look easy but it’s really hard work.” Rather than crack under pressure, she thrives. Stop by for a candid conversation about the realities of starting and running a small business.

Nicole Ingram is a family therapist by training, an interior designer by trade and event designer by skill. She brings a fresh mix of modern and luxury style, emphasizing light, scale, and architectural elements of a space, creating function and style. Her work has appeared on Decoraoti.com, Ava Living.com, Houzz.com, and HGTV.com. Established in 2013, her Maryland design studio, Stacy Nicole Interior Design & Furnishings, Inc. is located in Hagerstown’s Historical Arts District.

Delivering an Exceptional Experience — Your customers can be simply a means to get revenue or they can be advocates for your business. Which do you prefer? Join us for some simple steps to increase customer value and consumer evangelism for your firm.

Chris Marschner is a serial entrepreneur and has been involved in small business development for 30+ years. Prior to creating the Entrepreneur Resource Group, LLC, a local firm that provides technical assistance and resources to entrepreneurs and small business owners, he directed the strategic development and operations of the Technical Innovation Center, a technology business incubator, in Hagerstown. At the incubator he provided development assistance and advisory services to hundreds of entrepreneurs in the tri-state region.

Marketing Tips for Small Business — In this workshop, attendees will discuss 8 Vital Success Checkpoints:

• What business am I in? What is my niche?• What is my market? My competition?• What is my message?• What is my strategy?• Who is my target customer?• What are my tactics and tools? Inexpensive tools?• How do I track my progress?• Where can I find help?

Bob Jones, a member of SCORE Hagerstown, is a CPA, financial consultant and small business owner who has extensive experience in feasibility studies for new businesses, all aspects of business planning, financial matters and small business operations, including marketing and business development.

Janice Riley is the new manager of the Technical Innovation Center at Hagerstown Community College. She has more than 15 years of experience in marketing and business development in industries such as technology, finance and retail. She is a recently published co-author of Breaking the Barriers: A Woman’s Toolkit for Success.

Bonnie Saunders is the Coordinator of Internship and Job Services for Hagerstown Community College. Under her direction, the internship program has doubled in size and includes experiences in such cutting edge fields as Alternative Energy, Biotechnology, and Cyber Security.

Creating an Effective Business Model — All business plans rely on a workable business model. Before committing hours writing a business plan that will not work, come and learn a quick and easy process using the Business Model Canvas to frame your business concept. You will learn to identify key activities and resources, and ways to create value that customers will actually pay for and leave you with profits.

Bob Poor, a long-time member of SCORE Hagerstown, has a wide-range of experience in entrepreneurial activities, with particular expertise in sales, marketing, public relations and advertising. He regularly conducts a four-session small business workshop on “How to Really Start Your Own Business.” Bob is also author of the “Ask SCORE” monthly column in the Herald-Mail Sunday business section.

• 11:00 a.m. 100 W. Washington Street

• 11:00 a.m. 14 N. Potomac Street

• 1:00 p.m. 32 N. Potomac Street

• 11:00 a.m. 32 W. Washington Street

• 1:00 p.m. 14 N. Potomac Street

When: September 25th, 2013; 1 - 4:30 p.m.

Where: University System of Maryland, 32 W. Washington St. Downtown Hagerstown

Cost: Free to the first 20 confirmed respondents

To Register: Email or call Leslie Hart: Lhart@hagerstownedc.org or (301) 432-4782

The TrainingIn the afternoon of the day-long STARTUP Maryland Small Business Day in downtown Hagerstown, attend this hands-on, interactive training to learn how to set up a Facebook business page. You will leave this training with a functioning Facebook business page and the knowledge of how to maintain the page and the type of content that is most effective to share on Facebook. We will also discuss some other popular social media tools to consider adding to your marketing mix in the future.

Registrants should bring the following:• Personal Facebook account, please bring your log-in information.• Laptop capable of connecting wirelessly to the internet.• An image for your cover photo that is 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels high• An image for your profile picture that is 160 x 160 pixels

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Beth Shillaci is the founder of VillageWorks Communications, Inc. a 14 year old marketing company specializing in internet technologies. She was named one of the 25 CEOs to Know in 2010 by Gazette Business and Politics. She is the author of Your Social Media Roadmap, which provides small businesses with her successful framework for implementing a digital strategy. Beth is also a sought-after social media trainer and a frequent speaker on digital and new media topics.

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Presented by Beth Schillaci