The Small Business Center at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College has announced its spring schedule of free seminars.
The programs are offered for people thinking about starting a small business or currently operating their own business.
The SBC is a community-based provider of education, training, counseling, information and referral, assisting entrepreneurs with business ideas and existing ventures.
The SBC offers free seminars with support from the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce, Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce, the city of Kannapolis, the Rowan Business Alliance, the Small Business & Technology Development Center and Downtown Salisbury Inc.
The seminars cover topics such as startups, financing, marketing, Internet business, taxes, recordkeeping and customer service.
Upcoming seminars:
– Business Startup ó 6:30-8:30 p.m. April 8, Rowan Public Library in Salisbury, and 6:30-8:30 p.m. June 9, South Rowan Regional Library in China Grove.
– Funding Your Business ó 9:30-11:30 a.m. April 14, The Plaza building in Salisbury; 6:30-8:30 p.m. May 12, South Rowan Regional Library; and 6:30-8:30 p.m. June 22, RCCC’s Cabarrus Business & Technology Center in Concord.
– How Do I Market My Small Business? ó 6:30-8:30 p.m. April 6 , South Rowan Regional Library.
– Five Best Ways to Promote Your Website ó 6:30-8:30 p.m. April 22, Kannapolis Train Station.
– Starting an Online Business from Scratch ó 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 6, RCCC’s Cabarrus Business & Technology Center.
– Internal Customer Service: Communicating with Employees ó 6:30-8:30 p.m. May 19, South Rowan Regional Library.
– Market Research Made Easy ó 6:30-8:30 p.m. June 3, Kannapolis Train Station.
– Going Global: Consider Canada as Your Next Market ó 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. June 4, RCCC’s Business & Technology Center.
For more information, call RCCC at 704-216-3512, send e-mail to sbc@rowancabarrus.edu or visit www.rowancabarrus.edu/ sbc.
Concord man finalist for steakhouse honorJohn Huffman of Concord was named a finalist for Texas Roadhouse Managing Partner of the Year award, which is the company’s highest honor. He was chosen from a pool of more than 300.
The award recognizes the managing partner, or general manager, who best displays characteristics of an operational leader. Huffman and the other 11 finalists will be judged on food, service, marketing, culture, people, profits, pride and passion.
The winner will be announced at the company’s annual conference in San Francisco on April 5. The winner will receive gifts and a check for $15,000.
Huffman has been the managing partner of the Concord store, located at 7801 Gateway Lane, for four years. He has been with Texas Roadhouse for six years.
Gold Hill woman joins Tastefully Simple
GOLD HILL ó Michelle Whitesides has become an independent consultant with Tastefully Simple Inc., a national direct-sales company featuring easy-to-prepare gourmet products.
Whitesides offers the company’s gourmet foods and beverages to guests at home taste-testing parties. Guests receive samples, easy meal ideas, recipes and serving suggestions.
“The Tastefully Simple opportunity is designed to be life friendly,” says Jill Blashack Strahan, Tastefully Simple Inc. founder and CEO.
Tastefully Simple is an ideal opportunity for those seeking new or additional business options to supplement their income, Blashack Strahan says.
You can contact Whitesides at jmbcwhitesides@ aol.com or visit www.tastefullysimple.com.
Food Lion to get 8th EnergyStar award
Food Lion will receive an eighth EnergyStar award, the U.S. environmental Protection Agency’s highest honor for energy management, according to a report in Progressive Grocer. The award presentation will take place March 31 at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
The EnergyStar Sustained Excellence Award is being awarded because of Food Lion’s energy conservation efforts in 2008, as well as the company’s year-over-year energy reduction achievements.
“Conserving energy is a longstanding operating strategy at Food Lion,” Food Lion’s senior vice president of corporate development Robert Canipe told Progressive Grocer. “We’ve taken such great strides to improve the energy-efficiency of our stores, in fact, that the 2.5 trillion BTUs we’ve cut since from our energy program since 2000 is the same amount of energy it takes to power 481 grocery stores. It’s as if 481 stores, or 39 percent of our entire chain, use no energy at all.”
According to the U.S. EPA, the 2009 Sustained Excellence Awards are given to organizations that have shown outstanding leadership year after year, have received the EnergyStar Partner of the Year distinction for multiple years and have gone above and beyond the criteria needed to qualify for recognition.
Harris Teeter begins recycling program
Harris Teeter has launched the second Together in Education’s “We Think Green” contest, designed to teach students the benefits of recycling and to provide schools with yet another opportunity to earn cash.
The company aims at educating future shoppers about what they can do to help ensure a sustainable future. Students at participating schools collect plastic bags and turn them into their local store to be weighed and recycled. Winning schools are those that collected the most weight in plastic bags.
At the end of the contest, 15 schools ó a first-, second-, third-, fourth- and fifth place winner from each Harris Teeter region ó will be presented with a check for collecting plastic bags.
First-place winners will receive $1,000; second place, $500; and third-, fourth- and fifth-place, $250 each.
Rules and regulations are available at www.harristeeter.com.
Harris Teeter has donated more than $12 million to schools since 1998 through its Together in Education program.
Stylist attends pet fair in Atlanta
Peggy Rose of “Shampooch and Kitty Too” in Salisbury recently attended the Atlanta Pet Fair, the largest show in the Southeast for professional pet stylists.
The three-day weekend included continuing education, grooming competitions and an industry trade show, sponsored by McPaw Inc. of Atlanta.
The event allows pet stylists to network with other stylists, update their product knowledge and grooming techniques and return to salons with new ideas.
Rose attended classes related to skin and coat therapies, creative styling, and fancy bow making.
Shampooch and Kitty Too is located at 1109 Old Concord Road and is open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday. For more information, call 704-637-1101.
Women’s business council meetingThe Greater Women’s Business Council, a regional partner organization serving Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina for the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, will host its first meeting on March 19 at the Hilton Charlotte University Place from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
The meeting will feature Linda Denny, WBENC president and CEO, and representatives from women-owned businesses and corporations in the Carolinas. The nonprofit organization helps women interested in promoting, developing and maintaining business relationships with corporations, governmental agencies and other women business owners.
More information about this event and registration can be found at www.gwbc.biz.
Charlotte region real estate numbers dip
CHARLOTTE ó The Charlotte Regional Realtor Association reported 1,348 closings for February, a decrease from the same period a year ago of 38.1 percent.
The average sales price for February was $182,865. That’s a decrease of 15.5 percent when compared to last February 2008. The average listing price of solds in February ($206,172) decreased 9.9 percent over last February’s average list price of $228,916.
Closings were up 7.2 percent over January when closings totaled 1,258.
Residential contracts reported in February (1,712) decreased 7 percent over last month when contracts totaled 1,841. New residential listings for February totaled 4,637, down 13.2 percent over last month.
The average days a property was on the market from the time it was listed until it closed (list to close) was 145.9 days for February. The average days a property was on the market (days on market), excluding the days the property was off the market or pending, remained virtually unchanged at 113.2 for February.
Figures come from Carolina Multiple Listing Services, Inc. (CMLS) data.
“February marks the second consecutive month of sales-price declines in the CMLS service area. Some of the pricing drop can be attributed to foreclosure transactions since they typically sell below market prices,” says Donna Anderson, CRRA/ CMLS president. “However, we are optimistic that the increase in closings in February, and the most recent passage of legislation addressing the housing industry issues will all work in concert to increase consumer confidence and bring buyers back to the market.”
For more residential-housing market statistics, visit www.CarolinaHome. com
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