UPCOMING Virtual Events
Tuesday 12/7/21 / 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Book(keeping!)
Club – CWE Central MA – Live Workshop
Tuesday 12/7/21 / 9:00am – 11:00am
QuickBooks
for Beginners (Desktop)
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December 7: Introduction to chart of accounts
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December 8: Paying bills and recording revenue
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December 9: Reports and how they flag errors
Tuesday 12/7/21 / 1:00pm – 2:00pm
Business
Foundation: Simplifying Social Media Marketing for Small Business
Wednesday 12/8/21 / 10:00am – 11:00am
2021
PTAC Webinar: PTAC Nuts and Bolts
Wednesday 12/8/21 / 11:00am – 12:00pm
Is
Your Business Properly Insured?
Wednesday 12/8/21 / 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Microloans
for Small Businesses – CWE Eastern MA – Live Workshop
Wednesday 12/8/21 / 12:00pm – 1:00pm
So,
You Want To Be a Consultant
Join the Massachusetts District Office of the Small Business Administration and SCORE to learn about how to write an effective business plan, and hear from small businesses who’ve had success.
Thursday 12/9/21 / 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Tax
Filing Requirements for Small Businesses
Thursday 12/9/21 / 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Worker
Protections Updates for Small Business
Thursday 12/9/21 / 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Best
Practices for Using the Consolidated Screening List
Thursday 12/9/21 / 9:00pm – 12:00pm
Basics
of Starting Your Business
Friday 12/10/21 / 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Women
Entrepreneurs Happy Hour
Saturday 12/11/21 / 8:00am – 4:30pm
Boots
to Business Reboot for Veterans and Milspouses
Monday 12/13/21 / 10:00am – 11:00am
Starting
and Growing a Business – The SBA Advantage
Monday 12/13/21 / 11:00am – 12:30pm
Legal
Considerations for New Business Owners – CWE Central MA – Live Webinar
Tuesday 12/14/21 / 9:00am – 10:30am
Get
Started-Doing Business with the Federal Government
Tuesday 12/14/21 / 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Promoting
Your Business for Big Shopping Days – Eastern MA – Live Webinar
Tuesday 12/14/21 / 1:00pm – 2:30pm
Business
Plan Basics – CWE Central MA
Wednesday 12/15/21 / 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Keeping
the Books – CWE Central MA
Thursday 12/16/21 / 9:00am – 10:30am
8(a)
Business Development Program
Thursday 12/16/21 / 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Starting
and Growing a Business – The SBA Advantage
Friday 12/17/21 / 11:30am – 1:30pm
Getting
Ready for Tax Season – Central MA
Monday 12/20/21 / 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Crafting
an Effective Video Content Strategy – Facebook & YouTube – CWE Eastern MA – Live Workshop
SVOG Spotlight: Academy of Music Theatre
Northampton’s historic Academy
of Music theatre has been offering a platform for local, regional, and national performing artists for over a century. The beloved venue is a place where communities in Western Massachusetts gather for music, plays, dance, and films.
Prior to COVID, the Academy offered over 140 performances annually; This year, booked performances barely broke 100 – nearly a 50% reduction in activity.
The Academy struggled with keeping staff on payroll as public venues were not allowed to stay open for business – having to lay off 9 employees, while reducing time to 2 hours per week for 3 other full-time staff. Executive Director Debra J’Anthony was the
sole full-time employee moving forward for almost a year and a half.
Surviving layoffs and preparing for reopening
After getting through necessary layoffs, the Academy continued operating off cash reserves and grant funds. J’Anthony during this downtime shifted focus onto capital projects already in the works, including: the installation of a fire suppression
system in the attic space and egresses; expansion and renovation of lower level restrooms; repair of the inner lobby, salon and hallways leading downstairs.
Even while the space was not open to the public, the Academy allowed the use of their stage to artists for free to help them maintain content and provide a venue for performing virtual concerts.
At this pivotal time, the SBA’s Shuttered Venues Operators Grant was then made available, awarded with assistance from Rosa Taormina, Advisor at the Small Business Development Center at Salem State University – who provided free counseling services.
The SVOG helped with reopening the doors – enabling the Academy to rehire staff, including independent contractors, stagehands, maintenance, and bookkeeper personnel.
“Because of the SVOG – it provided us with funding for re-staffing and also allowed us the ability to purchase necessary supplies, and replace some equipment for reopening,” said J’Anthony. “When we first shut down, we lost all our concessions
items such as candy, wine and beer products that went bad and all had to be repurchased. Our theatrical equipment such as lighting and sound, also needed to be serviced and tested before reopening. Additionally, because we lost experienced staff – all new
employees had to be trained and onboarded according to covid-safety protocols for the hospitality industry.”
Necessary equipment such as masks, sanitizer stations, and additional staff for vaccine checks needed to get added to operational costs. With the assistance of the SVOG, the Academy was now able to reopen fully staffed and trained with covid protocols in place.
Arts injecting economic impact in Western Massachusetts
On September 8th, 2021, Academy of Music has officially reopened with a full slate of shows throughout the fiscal year – hoping to re-build the business and replenish reserves, while keeping artists, staff and patrons safe.
Now entering the 10th Academy Season Series, the venue is presenting five mainstage events that will impress. During the 2021-2022 season, the Academy intends to feature local storytellers with the Best of Valley Voices; host award-winning Latinx poet Denice
Frohman; stage their Academy Youth Production, the Broadway classic, Oklahoma!; present “Please Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!,” based on Mo Willems children’s book of the same name; and stage Annie Bakers’ play, “The Flick.”
The theater provides a major economic impact to the city and surrounding towns. Academy of Music is downtown Northampton’s leading visitor destination, based not only on total ticket sales, but also on the consistent delivery of visiting patrons to Northampton
and its 70 shops and restaurants.
In fiscal year 2020 (June 2019 – July 2020 / The Academy closed March 10th, 2020), the Academy of Music:
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Drew over 62,000 patrons with 140 performances and events
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$1.55 Million in ticket revenue
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$1.0 Million in downtown meals and beverage purchases
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$1.1 Million in hotel revenues
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$227,000 in city and state tax revenues (meals, sales and hotel tax)
Based on conservative estimates of consumer spending by Academy patrons, over a 10-year period, it’s estimated that the Academy will generate over $2 million in sales, hotel room tax revenues for the state and city.
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12/31 LAST CHANCE FOR EIDL
Government Contracting
and Business Development
News Release: Statement by Administrator Guzman on SBA-Proposed Reforms to Increase Equity in Federal Buying
Major changes adopted by OMB will help boost access to $560 billion in contracting opportunities for disadvantaged small businesses
Release Date: December 2, 2021
Release Number: 21-112
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S.
Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman released the following statement applauding major
reforms being made by the Biden-Harris Administration to level the playing field for all contracting entrepreneurs through a more equitable federal procurement system and buying strategy:
“President Biden issued a powerful challenge in Tulsa earlier this year to harness the buying power of the U.S. government—the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world—to invest in equity and open doors of opportunity to America’s 32.5 million small
businesses and innovative startups, including many more underrepresented entrepreneurs and small businesses in underserved communities,” said Administrator Guzman. “Today’s historic release of federal contracting data disaggregated by race,
ethnicity, and geography, and our corresponding reforms to federal strategic sourcing strategies known as ‘category management,’ will help guarantee greater transparency and accountability in federal contracting and put more small businesses in a position
to start doing business with the United States government.”
Among the key policy modifications recommended and advocated for by the SBA are changes to the government’s approach to encourage and score 24 federal agencies to bundle contracts. Over the last five years, this system, called Category Management, has favored
major corporations and made far too many contracts out of reach for small businesses, which has a far-reaching impact on the U.S. economy. Today’s changes will help increase contracting opportunities for over 30,000 underserved small businesses and give America’s
32.5 million small businesses a seat at the table by making the SBA a voting member of the Category Management Leadership Council, the interagency governing body that oversees contract bundling activities.
In addition to changes to category management, the Administration is unveiling fiscal
year (FY) 2020 disaggregated contracting data – analyzed by the SBA – which tracks the Federal Fovernment’s contracting with small and minority-owned firms and breaks that information down across several racial and ethnic categories – a move Administrator
Guzman has consistently pushed for to create transparency and accountability in contracting. Under the previous Administration, more than 80 percent of small businesses – half of which were from historically disadvantaged socioeconomic groups – had been nearly
left out of the federal contracting space, losing billions of dollars in opportunities every year.
“As a first step to creating meaningful change, the SBA and its Office of Government Contracting and Business Development have worked closely with the White House, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Department of Defense to lead the effort across
all of government to reform category management, the Federal Government’s buying strategy for managing the purchase of goods and services,” added Bibi Hidalgo, Associate Administrator for SBA’s Office of Government Contracting and Business Development. “These
reforms, which take place immediately, will ensure agencies are not docked for contracting with a socioeconomic business and will begin to reverse the decline of our small business industrial contracting base. We know that small businesses are agile and innovative,
and we must continue to widen the door of opportunity so that all federal agencies can take full advantage of the talents and ideas in every corner of the contracting community.”
7(j) training, provided to eligible firms and their employees, includes very specialized training in the areas of federal contracting. The training will be provided in an online format with live instructors and the ability for students to participate and ask
questions. Up to 40 participants per workshop will receive training on how to make “real world” business decisions that will facilitate their firm’s success.
Please check out the 7J training schedules for Stover & Associates and Gabriel Enterprises below.
Stover & Associates, Inc. Training Schedule
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
https://sbaworkshops.stoverteam.com
Click the “Register for Training” button on the left side navigation pane
Gabriel Enterprises’ 7j Training Schedule
Greetings 8(a) Participants – We wanted to remind you of the free and comprehensive live webcast sessions specifically developed to help educate 8(a) certified small businesses on pursuing and winning contracts with the Federal Government.
Please note the new URL as the training provider has upgraded the virtual learning environment in response to feedback from the small business community.
New URL:
https://sba.slatevx.us/sba8avirtual
The following flyer describes SBA’s virtual environment and live training brought to you by SBA’s Office of Business Development through the 7(j) Management and Technical Assistance Program:
https://gecvedocs.s3.amazonaws.com/SBA+VE/SBA+Live+Virtual+Experience+and+Webcast+2021-12.pdf
NOTE: If the links in this email do not work, you may need to copy and paste the URL into your web browser
Course descriptions are included in the flyer, and the schedule of upcoming courses is provided below.
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Date | Time (ET)
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Course
|
Target Cohort*
|
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12/8/2021 | 4pm – 5pm
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How to do Business with the Federal Government and Win Contracts as an 8(a) Certified Firm
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New 8(a) Participant
|
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12/14/2021 | 1pm – 2pm
|
Capabilities Statements and Briefings
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New 8(a) Participant
|
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12/14/2021 | 3pm – 4pm
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How to Market to the Federal Government as a “Small Business Concern”
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Program Years 8-9
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*Participants in Years 0-2 of the 8(a) program must attend all Year 0-2 New 8(a) Participant courses live before they have access to courses in other cohorts.
Participants Login/Registration Link:
New URL:
https://sba.slatevx.us/sba8avirtual
You may need to copy and paste the above URL into your web browser.
Training topics vary based on number of years in the 8(a) BD Program, enabling participants to fully grasp core competencies necessary to succeed at various stages of company maturity. The training courses will be mandatory for 8(a) firms in the first year
of program participation and optional in later years (the optional courses are encouraged for firms that have not been awarded a federal contract).
For questions regarding registrations, training certificates, or anything else pertaining to this training, please email the Gabriel Enterprises team at support@geconsultinggroup.com.
Now Accepting Nominations for 2022 National Small Business Week Awards
THURSDAYS at 10AM until 1/11/22
Every Thursday at 10AM, Public Affairs Specialist Norman Eng will be holding open office hours to answer any questions about the NSBW Awards submission process.
Microsoft Teams meeting
(Join on your computer or mobile app)
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