This week there were two great opportunities to garner information to help you start or grow your business.
The Chamber hosted three days of marketing training covering topics such as website development and presence, social media and marketing, and AI tricks and tools.
Startup Colorado also produced a weeklong training opportunity called the West Slope Startup Week. This training was held in Durango Aug. 12-16 and was a week’s worth of incredible learning opportunities including marketing tips, financial resources, website and brand development, franchising, and so much more.
Did you attend any of these classes? Did you know we worked with the Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation to help get people registered for CDL, or commercial driver’s license, training? Were you able to take advantage of QuickBooks trainings and consultations that we offered recently in conjunction with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC)? Do you need assistance with starting your business, growing your business, understanding your financials, marketing skills, financial assistance, community data or even an exit strategy?
The Chamber and our partners have many options to assist you. Start with the Chamber. Talking to us first may help alleviate some of the hurdles of finding the right person or organization to speak with. You may have some basic questions that are easy to answer and we can do that for you.
Even if you are a nonprofit and are looking for grant opportunities, through our work with philanthropic agencies, grant writers and our local industry, we can help point you in the right direction or answer some questions on grant opportunities.
What about financial assistance? One of the most common questions we get is if there are grants out there for businesses. We can vet what your needs are, the type of business you are and then give you some resources to follow up with.
Even if you have been a Chamber member for years, have you attended a monthly Maximizing Your Membership class? Do you know the organizations that the Chamber is affiliated with that can help you? Through organizations such as Club 20, Region 9 and the state Chamber of Commerce, we are also able to voice concerns from our businesses or our general community while also garnering information that affects Archuleta County. These partnerships help our business community.
Do you know how one simple tool, like knowing your “InfoHub” account, can make your Chamber membership life easier? This class is free to members or businesses that are thinking of joining the Chamber.
Later this year the Chamber will be offering two Starting Your Business classes — one in English and one in Spanish. This class will cover the basics of starting a business, including resources to help you, general guidelines on business setup, state and local licensing, financial resources, accounting basics, and more. Stay tuned for more information.
In the meantime, two important resources are the Southwest SBDC and Region 9.
The SBDC can get you partnered with a mentor to help you on a particular aspect of your business. Region 9 can help you with data and financial assistance. The SBDC comes to Pagosa frequently for free consultations, and many of the follow-up sessions are also at no cost. Region 9 also comes to Pagosa and an appointment can be scheduled with that organization.
The Chamber can help point you in the right direction and vet some of your questions simplifying your business inquiries. The Chamber is more than just a producer of events. We are focused on helping our businesses work smarter, be more successful or help them through trying times.
However, your business needs to reach out and that process is simple. Contact Mary Jo at the Chamber at director@pagosachamber.com or at (970) 264-2360. All sessions are confidential.
Chamber members receive the Chamber’s weekly Updates and Reminders. Our classes and those of our partners are listed. Read the updates to know when educational opportunities are held. The Chamber also uses our community’s media resources to help spread the word.
Help us help you. Reach out if you have a question or need a resource. We love to connect people to the right resource, and we want to help make your job easier and less daunting.
The easiest part of starting the inquiry process is to reach out to your Chamber of Commerce.
