disaster assistance: Small businesses are eligible to apply for low interest disaster loans to offset economic losses because of reduced revenue to farmers and ranchers caused by excessive rain and wheat stripe rust in 10 California counties. Small businesses may apply for economic losses that are attributable to the following incident dates: San Benito County from April 1-May31, 2003. The deadline to apply is June 23, 2004. For more information, call 800-488-5323, write to SBA at P.O. Box 13795, Sacramento, Calif., 95853-4795. The hearing impaired can call 916-566-7388.
Business workshop: The Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce will offer a One Page Business Plan workshop from 8-9:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 11. The event will feature a 90-minute presentation from small business expert Bob Kramer, President of Visionary Strategic Consulting. Cost is free for members, $15 for all others. Call 831-424-7611 to reserve a spot or for more information.
Retail Stores: This free eight-hour training course will help you learn the basics of working in retail. It will be held every Friday through June from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Gavilan College SBDC offices at the Dry Creek Village Center, 8351 Church Street, Building E in Gilroy. For more information, call Debi Simmons at 408-847-0373.
Small business workshops: Gavilan Small Business Development Center is hosting small business workshops on marketing and customer service. The workshops will be offered at the CSDC Office at 1131 San Felipe Road, Hollister on Wednesdays, May 12 and June 9. The marketing class will be an overview of basic marketing strategies and will be from 10 a.m. to noon. Customer service will explain why customer service is so important and share the keys to quality customer service. These sessions will be from 1 to 3 p.m. The fee for each workshop is $20. Chamber members receive a special rate of $10 for each. For more information or to register, call (408) 847-0373.
