The annual City of Jacksonville's Vetrepreneur Summit is on Friday, 11 December, from 10 am - 12 pm EST. A virtual event this year, the event focus is How to Startup or Pivot Your Business During COVID

This event is hosted by the City of Jacksonville’s Military Affairs and Veterans Department in partnership with the Florida SBDC at University of North Florida. FAVOB member Karen Barnes-Rivera will be one of the panelists. Hear from her and other Jacksonville business owners on surviving and thriving during COVID-19. Learn about their successes and mistakes followed by a panel of local resource providers ready to assist you and your business. Candid discussion and interaction are encouraged! For more information, please call (904) 255-5550 and register via this link Pay for Workshop (unf.edu) - there is no cost for this event.

On 17 February 2021, the University of Central Florida will hold their inaugural UCF Technology Venture Symposium (UTVS). The fundamental objective of this symposium is to showcase the little known HIDDEN GEMS within UCF research, faculty and alumni for advancement and potential investment.

UCF alumni, faculty, and students are welcomed to attend this free virtual symposium along with interested industry and government stakeholders, entrepreneurs, investors, and community leaders. Ideas and inspiration will be provided in heavy doses. Participation is available via Zoom from 8 am - 4:30 pm (EST). To see the agenda and register for the Zoom link, please go here.

State of FL B2B Reboot Flyer 12-16-2020.pdf

Register Here:

https://sbavets.force.com/ (Choose Florida location then Online, Miami)

What is REBOOT?

Reboot is an entrepreneurial education and training program offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The course provides an overview of entrepreneurship and applicable business ownership fundamentals. Veterans of all eras, Active Duty Service members (including National Guard and Reserve), and spouses are eligible to participate.

For additional questions please contact Lonnie Koyama at leon.koyama@sba.gov

Take a look at our upcoming webinars for the month of December!

• Introduction to QuickBooks

Thursday, December 3, 2020 from 10:30am to 12:30pm EST

Creating invoices, writing checks and managing customers, QuickBooks makes it all easier. This introductory class takes you through the basics of the software program. This course gets you started on making your company’s bookkeeping simpler.

https://ic.eshcfl.org/reg.aspx?mode=event&event=675400143

• Reach Customers Online with Google

Tuesday, December 8, 2020 from 10am to 11am EST

Learn how customers find your business online and how to promote your business using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Smart Campaigns in Google Ads. In this workshop you will learn how to: Improve your website’s visibility in Google’s organic search results, on all devices Maximize SEO strategies that are most important in 2020 Attract new prospects with low-cost advertising.

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4504281734895212556

• The 5 Step Marketing Strategy During a Pandemic

Tuesday, December 8, 2020 from 1pm to 2pm EST

Marketing is a process. It’s circular, cyclical, top-down, bottom-up, and hierarchical. As with most processes, if one of the steps fails, the entire outcome falls short. You can follow five straightforward steps to make certain your marketing efforts are executing at the highest return on investment (ROI). To do this, Certified SCORE Mentor and Marketing Chair Cheri Bales will show you how to tackle each of these steps with your own small businesses and give you some tools to look at marketing in a whole new, manageable way in today’s pandemic times.

https://readytalk.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1391325&tp_key=51c0ed69e3&sti=scoreeventpage

• Sales Training – Learn to Sell

Wednesday, December 9, 2020 from 11am to 12:30pm EST

Learn about the sales process. Help customers choose your products and services. How much is a customer worth? Why do you lose customers? How do we get more sales per transaction? You will learn these things and more. This class is taught by a business professional with many years of coaching and sales experience. Most of the sales knowledge passed on in this class applies regardless of your products or services.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/webinar-sales-training-learn-to-sell-tickets-127991791895

• Small Business Certifications Managed by SBA

Wednesday, December 9, 2020 from 1pm to 4pm EST

In order to take advantage of business opportunities, such as government contracts, you may need to obtain some certifications. Federal, state and local governments offer businesses opportunities to sell billions of dollars worth of products and services. Many government agencies require that some percentage of the procurements be set aside for small businesses. Certifying your business can definitely help you successfully compete for government contracts. Certification covered included 8a, Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) and HUBZone.

https://clients.floridasbdc.org/reg.aspx?mode=event&event=500390134

• Credit Card Processing Secrets that will Save Your Small Business BIG Money

Thursday, December 10, 2020 from 1pm to 2pm EST

Do you know how much you pay in credit card processing fees per month? If not, do you know how to find this information? Most business owners don’t, which ultimately results in losing a lot of money you don’t even realize you’re losing. This insightful webinar, presented by CEO and Co-Founder of Delta Payment Solutions Irwin Grossman, will share some key steps you can take to lower your costs and pair with the right processor for your business.

https://readytalk.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1393460&tp_key=efebe8a1ca&sti=scoreeventpage

• Grow Your Small Business with Financial Forecasts and Projections

Tuesday, December 15, 2020 from 3pm to 4:30pm EST

Financial forecasting for the future of you small business is not easy. It is even more more difficult in a Covid-19 economy. However, the basics of financial forecasting remains a key piece of your company's financial success. Small-business owners must develop the talent to financially plan ahead. In order to do a good job of financial forecasting for your small-business, your company should be able to develop a comprehensive set of projected financial statements. This webinar will guide you in understanding how to develop and evaluate financial forecasts and projections for your small business.

https://clients.floridasbdc.org/reg.aspx?mode=event&event=100400033

• Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contracting Certification

Wednesday, December 16, 2020 from 11m to 12pm EST

The Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) program is designed to help more women owned small businesses to win federal contracts by providing a level playing field for WOSBs to compete. This class provides an overview of the WOSB and EDWOSB Federal Contracting Program as well as eligibility requirements. All small businesses that are interested in submitting an offer on a solicitation that has been set aside for WOSBs under the WOSB Program must complete this certification prior to submitting the offer. This class also covers recent regulatory changes regarding sole source authority and self-certification.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/federal-contracting-certification-woman-owned-small-business-wosb-tickets-127205193157

NEW – SCORE Small Business Resilience Resource Portal https://www.score.org/recovery/small-business-resilience-resource-portal

Blogs and Recorded Business Training Videos

• SBA Learning Center - https://www.sba.gov/learning-center
• Recorded webinars from SCORE - https://www.score.org/recorded-webinars
• Training Videos from the Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network - http://floridasbdc.org/training-videos/
• Sign up to get SBA E-Newletter and updates -https://www.sba.gov/updates

Date: December 2nd, 2020 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM EST

Registration: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5289615612168386060

Engage directly with SBIR Program Managers about current open SBIR solicitations! The NAVSEA SBIR/STTR Topics Workshop is an annual event bringing together small business innovators and SBIR Program Managers from NAVSEA, NAVAIR, and DHS to connect and discuss open SBIR/STTR Topics from the 2021.1 solicitation. This event is a great way for small businesses at every stage of maturity to learn directly from Federal Program Managers about how to effectively engage in the SBIR/STTR program to deliver innovative technologies to the United States Navy and Department of Homeland Security.

This year’s event marks the 6th year of the NAVSEA SBIR/STTR Topics Workshop. While we are not able to connect in person this year, we are pleased to be presenting this event as a fully virtual two-day experience. The first day will feature keynotes from government leadership and reviews of NAVSEA, NAVAIR, and DHS SBIR/STTR topics in the Broad Agency Announcement pre-release. The second day will be devoted to one-on-one matchmaking with SBIR Program Managers and Defense Prime Contractors. Once registered, you will receive an email with further information on how to sign up to participate in one-on-one meetings that will take place on December 3rd.

This year, due to the virtual nature of the event, we are pleased to announce the registration for this event is free to all attendees.

Date: November 23, 2020 12:00, PST

Registration Link:  https://womenveteransalliance.wildapricot.org/Sys/TermsOfUse?ReturnUrl=%2fSys%2fInviteeReply%2fAttendReply%3feventId%3d4060426

Women Veterans Alliance is partnership with Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership will host a webinar for those to learn more about the Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at Harvard Kennedy School as they seek to recruit its next cohort of Black Family Fellows for Academic Year 2021-2022. 

The Black Family Graduate Fellowship provides vital financial support and a comprehensive leadership development program for up to 25 students annually at Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School (HBS), and Harvard Law School (HLS) who are veterans and active duty military students from the United States. It brings together young men and women who have served and sacrificed for their country to bring fresh, responsible and ethical leadership to the US and the world.  

HKS students who are entering their first year in their graduate degree program are eligible to apply. Incoming first years and continuing students from HBS and HLS are eligible, as are joint and concurrent degree students.

To apply for the 2021-2022 academic year, prospective degree candidates must complete the following two steps:
 
1. Apply to Harvard Kennedy School by December 8, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. EST. For incoming first-year students to HBS and HLS, please refer to respective school websites for application details.
2. Apply for the Black Family Fellowship by February 4, 2021, at 5:00 p.m. EST for HKS. HBS and HLS have later deadlines, noted on the CPL website.

Best regards,
Women Veterans Alliance

Date: December 10, 2020 9:00 am - December 10, 2020 5:00 pm

Registration Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/florida-defense-cybersecurity-training-program-rural-areas-tickets-127785803779

Did you know...

Without meeting DoD requirements for cybersecurity as outlined in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation (DFARS) section 252.204-7012, your business may not be eligible to continue to provide products and services to DoD?

Join us on December 10 for this full-day VIRTUAL cybersecurity training program! Attendees will receive:

· Detailed training that will assist small and medium-sized defense contractors from Florida’s rural areas and across the state.

· Increase awareness and highlight how to prepare and become compliant with the Department of Defense’s (DoD) regulations for Cybersecurity, including the DFARS regulations and DoD’s new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) standards.

With more than $16.5 billion annually in directly contracted defense procurement across the state, and more than $95 billion in total annual economic impact from the military and defense presence in our state, supporting our warfighters is critical to Florida’s economic health as well as our national security. With the DoD ramping up its focus on cybersecurity for its supply chain, manufacturers and defense contractors of all types will need to take specific steps to protect their networks if they want to continue doing business with DoD.

Admission is free

For more information, please contact Michael Aller, Director of Supplier Development, FloridaMakes.

VLV flyerWINTER 2021.pdf

Date: January 9th, 2021

Link for registration: 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSedqs5DFB84QhSVx62kRu1GPE5QCDV6rAu6ogCBPWOCsDGlLQ/viewform

This 14 week program covers important and necessary considerations when planning, launching, and growing a business, including:

• validate your concept

• Identify and quantify your customer

• develop your launch strategy

• build a viable business model

• strategize short- and long-term goals pre- and post-launch.

The classes are scheduled for virtual delivery with optional personal attendance available when conditions permit. Classes are kept intentionally small - 15 to 20 people - so you get the best direct attention and assistance during the program. Your business is our mission; find out how we can help you.

Veterans Florida sponsors the program so Veterans may attend at no cost. Eligibility for the sponsorship is restricted to:

• US military Veterans, Reservists, Guards, Retirees or Active duty personnel.

• Honorably discharged from the service as evidenced on your DD214.

• A resident of Florida or stationed in Florida.

If you need additional information, please contact Rosie at rosie@actionzonetampa.comor Valerie at valerie@actionzonetampa.com.