Oswego County Business Magazine

Monday March 4, 2013

‘What’s Next?’ to Focus on In-depth Business Training

Speakers, workshops geared to hone professional skills

By Jacob Pucci

Local small business owners, or simply those looking to learn a thing or two, are invited to attend “What’s Next?” a day-long seminar that will be held by the SUNY Oswego Small Business Development Center on March 21.

The event is being featured at 118 Rich Hall on the SUNY Oswego campus.

The event, which is open to the public free of charge, features guest speakers and programs covering a wide range of business topics.

“It’s a pretty diverse group of workshops and talks covering a lot of different areas of business,” said Larry Perras, senior business adviser for the SBDC at SUNY Oswego.

An event of this size and diversity of topics is a first for the SBDC, according to Perras.

The seminar begins at 8 a.m. and is broken down into three separate four-hour sessions, running until 8 p.m.

Perras stressed that while participants are welcome and encouraged to attend the full day of workshops, participants can register for any of the three sessions and are welcome to stay for the fully catered breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“Right now enrollment is very open,” Perras said. “We’re anticipating around 50 individuals.”

Graduates of the Oswego County Micro-Enterprise Program inspired the name for the event. The micro-enterprise program is a 24-hour course that provides training and prospective financing for current and prospective small business owners.

Originally, such workshops were open only to graduates of the program, but are now open to the general public.

Though the SBDC does not have anything definitely scheduled, the group plans to put on similar workshops throughout the year, Perras said.

Those interested in registering for the program are encouraged to do so by March 13.

For more information, including a full list of programs and guest speakers, call 315-312-3492 or visit http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e6z5s5tk3f946940&llr=8ki8qakab.