Hot Topics

Disaster Relief Available for City Businesses

The US Small Business Administration has issued a disaster declaration for Tropical Storm Lee, which occurred on September 8-9, 2011.  The disaster declaration area includes the City of Alexandria as well as Fairfax and Arlington counties.  Small businesses affected by Tropical Storm Lee may be eligible for low-interest physical damage and economic injury disaster loans.

Businesses and nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.  In addition to loans for physical property damage, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster.  EIDL assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage. 

The Alexandria SBDC has information and fact sheets on these disaster loans, and will assist City of Alexandria small business owners to understand and complete the application.  Information is also available on the SBA website at www.sba.gov/about-offices-content/4/2818/news/32211.

Please note that the filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage was January 13, 2012.  The deadline to return economic injury applications is August 14, 2012. 

Questions?  Contact Gloria Flanagan, Assistant Director, at 703-778-1292.

Google to Great Webinar Series

Do you use Google to search on the Internet?  Did you know that Google also has more than 40 services that are specifically for (or can easily be tailored to) running your entire small business?  What are these services? And, where do I start and how much will this cost?  Most of these Google services are free, and if they cost anything, it’s a nominal fee that any small business can afford.  Ray Sidney-Smith, president of W3 Consulting, presents a no cost Webinar (online seminar) series hosted by W3 Consulting, providing in-depth instruction of each group or individual Google products or services that you can implement immediately.

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the FREE webinar.  Space is limited!  Log in a few minutes early to make sure you are up and running for the webinar. 

Did you miss all or part of an earlier webinar? You can now see our earlier Google to Great webinars on the Alexandria SBDC website (www.AlexandriaSBDC.org).  Go to the "Resources" tab and click on "Archives."  Additional webinars will be posted as they happen.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

"Being Business-Informed Using Google" (Google Reader, FastFlip & Google Currents)
February 23, 2012
10:15 - 11:15 am

Information is all around us 24/7!  How to keep track of it quickly and easily?  Google Reader is a tool for gathering, reading, and sharing all the interesting blogs and websites you read on the web.  Reader monitors new content, updates it and lets you create and share feeds of interesting items you've found on other feeds as well as your own standalone notes.  FastFlip offered a more visual, print-like way to view news on the web.  Learn how how the product was melded into Google Reader and Google Currents.  Google Currents – Your favorite publications, on your tablet and smartphone.  It is a clean, touch-friendly way to consume your favorite blogs and news sites on your phone and/or tablet. 

Watch Google Geek Ray Sidney-Smith, president of W3 Consulting, Inc., show how to harness the power of Google to quickly stay informed and keep up with the trends in this free one hour webinar.

To register, go to: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/502738704 or call 703-778-1292 for more info.
 

More Google to Great Webinars coming in March!  Stay tuned to our website for these topics.