2018 Business Education Series - 4

Description

BUSINESS EDUCATION SERIES - 4
 
The Small Business Development Center at UW-Stevens Point is excited to offer a four-part series for business owners across North Central Wisconsin!

The 2018 Business Education Series will provide business owners with key insight in the following topic areas scheduled for:
 
FEBRUARY 6 - Finding the Money - Know what financing and funding is available for your businesses. 

APRIL 3 - Marketing for Talent - How to attract top talent to your organization.
SEPTEMBER 6 - Buying and Leasing Commercial Real Estate - How to know what is right for your small business.
NOVEMBER 1 - Grow your Customer Base - Increase sales through networking, sales techniques, and digital and traditional marketing. 

Grow your Customer Base
Increase sales. 
With so many ways to reach out to potential customers, what truly is the most effective way to do so? Through networking, sales techniques, and digital and traditional marketing, learn how you can grow your customer base and increase sales.

Presented by: 

Melissa Meschke, Director
Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at UW-Stevens Point


Mark Speirs, Business Consultant
Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at UW-Stevens Point

About our Speakers: Melissa Meschke is the Director of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at UW-Stevens Point. A UW-Eau Claire graduate, Melissa returned to Wisconsin after five years as marketing director and chief operating officer at Michigan Creative, a marketing company in Lansing. She also served as an ambassador for the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce for almost two years. Through heavy involvement in Lansing’s entrepreneurial space, she gained knowledge on funding sources, business plan development, legal issues and marketing. Her accomplishments include being nominated for the 10 Over the Next 10 award in Lansing three times, appearing as a guest speaker at multiple events throughout her career, and, of course, assisting hundreds of clients, both in Michigan and now in Wisconsin, with their businesses.

She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Business Communication Certificate from UW-Eau Claire.

Mark Speirs is the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) business consultant at UW-Stevens Point. Mark has a strong and varied background in small business management and promotion with eight years as a small business owner and six years working in business and economic development. He is an experienced SBDC consultant who has counseled over 150 businesses and clients in starting and growing their business. His accomplishments include business planning to establish a successful start-up concrete manufacturer, obtaining financing for several new service and retail businesses in downtown Fredericksburg VA, and guiding clients through the processes and procedures of selling goods and services to the State and Federal Government.
 
Prior to working in the public sector Mark spent eighteen years in the commercial and residential construction field, eight years of which was spent as a business owner/licensed contractor working with communities and building professionals on real estate development projects in Maricopa County, Arizona. Mark’s education includes dual Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Information Technology. He is a graduate from the Temple University’s School of Environmental Design with a Master of Science degree in Community and Regional Planning.