World Tradewinds

MBITA CORPORATE SPONSORS:

Fri, June 20th, 2003
California Homeland Security & Global Trade
- What to Expect -
Luncheon

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MBITA New Member: California Coastal Rural Development Corporation

Loan Guarantee Program

This program promotes small business enterprises with special emphasis on assistance to those which will create or retain jobs. Funds may be used for inventory, accounts receivable, equipment acquisition and farm production, small business loans, revolving lines of credit, short and intermediate term loans. To qualify under this program a borrower must have received a commitment from a lender that participates in the Guarantee Program. The interest rate is negotiated by the lender and borrower.

Direct Farm Program

This program provides loans to family farms eligible for a Farm Service Agency (FSA) Guarantee. Funds may be used for crop production, harvest loans, farm ownership, farm improvements or equipment acquisition. To qualify under this program a borrower must be deemed eligible as a family farm by the FSA Loan Office. The interest rate is prime based variable rate on production loans and fixed rate or variable on farm ownership.

504 SBA Loan Program

This program provides affordable long-term, fixed rate financing to help healthy, expanding small and medium sized businesses grow. The loans are for acquiring long-term fixed assets, such as land, buildings, machinery and equipment, or for building, modernizing, renovating or restoring facilities. At present this program is limited to only Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties. The interest rate is tied to U.S. Treasury rates.

Contact:

Herb Aarons President 221 Main Street, Suite 301 Salinas, California 93901 Tel. (831) 424-1099, X 205 Fax (831) 424-1094 email: Herb_Aarons@calcoastal.org Web: www.calcoastal.org email: Herb_Aarons@calcoastal.org

Regional offices: Salinas (831) 424-1099 Monterey (831) 641-0722 Santa Maria (805) 349-0798 Lompoc (805) 735-4600 Santa Barbara (805) 962-9251

 

 

 

Free Business Seminars to Targeted Income Group (TIG) Entrepreneurs in the Monterey Bay Region

Start-up and existing businesses that meet the targeted-income group criteria, are invited to attend the Marina Business Seminar Series (MBSS), Summer 2003. The workshops are free of charge and will be held from 9:00 a.m. to Noon, at the Marina Small Business Incubator (MSBI), located at the UCMBEST Center at 3180 Imjin Road (off of Reservation Road near the Marina Airport). Participants can sign up for any number of sessions, according to their needs.

The program is presented by a consortium of organizations that includes the City of Marina, California State University, Monterey Bay, the Monterey Bay International Trade Association (MBITA), Monterey Technology Institute (MTI) at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) and the Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) at Gavilan and Cabrillo Colleges. The consortium has been named Monterey Bay Business and Technology Consortium (MBBTC).

The nine-week series of business seminars, running from June 25 through August 20, is designed to highlight the start-up phases of business for those contemplating starting a new business and provide attendees with an understanding of how current technology trends and import/export strategies can open new markets and increase profitability. The unique consortium of organizations will provide qualified instructors and materials.

The program is funded by a microenterprise assistance grant from the State of California Community Development Block Grant to the City of Marina. To qualify as a participant, the maximum income level for a household with one person is $31,960 (Monterey County), $42,400 (Santa Cruz County), $37,560 (San Benito County), for two people it is $36,560 (Monterey), $48,440 (Santa Cruz), $42,960 (San Benito) for three people, it is $41,120 (Monterey), $54,520 (Santa Cruz), $57,960 (San Benito) ranging up to $60,280 for a household with eight people in Monterey. To receive this benefit, each individual will be asked to provide documentation of household income.

The topics and dates for the Marina Small Business Seminar Series Workshop Schedule are as follows.

6/25	SBDC	Business Plan Seminar
7/2	MTI	Take Your Business On-Line
7/9	SBDC	Traditional & On-Line Marketing Strategies
7/16	MBITA	Export Marketing Strategies & Import Procedures *
7/23	MTI	Tech Trends for Small Business
7/30	SBDC	Financing Your Small Business
8/6	SBDC	Human Resources - Hire the Best
8/13	MSBI	Creating Your Funding Presentation
8/20	Consortium	Funding Presentation Review

* There will also be six half-hour 'webinars' on Export Market Strategy & Import Procedures given every Tuesday and Thursday from 4:00 to 4:30 p.m. at the convenience of your desktop starting on June 26th and ending on August 26.

ABOUT THE MARINA INCUBATOR

The Marina Small Business Incubator is a non-profit business accelerator dedicated to assisting technology start-up companies in the Monterey Bay Crescent with space and business resources. The Incubator is a project between the City of Marina and the University of California's Monterey Bay Education, Science and Technology (MBEST) Center .

To determine eligibility and to pre-register, please call Chris Khan at (831) 582-4791, or email him at chris_khan@csumb.edu. For additional information, click here.

 

 

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MBITA Conference 'Global Trade Meets the World Wide Web'
Monterey, Ca - May 16th, 2003

What do you know about 'Global Web Marketing'? Do you know the tricks and blunders to outsmart your competitors and market your web site successfully in the web? On May 16th, the Monterey Bay International Trade Association (MBITA) conducted a one-day conference entitled 'Global Trade Meets the World Wide Web' to provide a forum presenting services and products from leading companies in the World Wide Web marketing business community.

Hosted in Monterey at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), the conference was sponsored by the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) and the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) and co-sponsored by Silicon Valley International Business Incubator (IBI), Bay Area World Trade Center (BAWTC), California Chamber of Commerce, Silicon Valley Center for International Trade Development (SVCITD), California Technology Trade & Commerce Agency, TechVentures Network and San Jose Export Assistance Center.

The forum provided valuable information to the participants, who were 'export-ready', small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking more cost-effective and efficient methods to promote their products and services worldwide through the World Wide Web. Topics included presentations and workshops on global web services in the following sectors:

* Search engine services & index registration in foreign markets
* Global web site design, translation and function for maximum market penetration
* Making the Global Internet work for you
* Web conferencing & Global eCommerce online solutions

Andreas Mueller, Chief Strategist of Bloofusion discussed ways to optimize a web site by placing it at the top of the non-US search engine listings when a search for non-English keywords associated with your business is implemented. Registering a translated web site in local foreign indexes is as important as putting your company's name and contact information into the local phone book. It is absolutely necessary although you would not really consider it "marketing".

Philippa Gamse, President of Total Net Value Inc. spoke on how to take advantage of the numerous opportunities to reach global markets and audiences by utilizing the Internet. There are a number of issues to consider in creating a realistic strategic plan for your new internationally appealing web site. These include demographic research to learn more about the potential markets for your products and services in various countries, cultural differences that may impact your site design or content, language barriers, governmental restrictions and regulations, and security concerns. Ms. Gamse suggested solutions, resources for further investigation, as well as marketing and promotional tips and techniques.

Erik Schmidt, Principal of Fireteam Consulting LLC discussed Global web site design, translation and function for maximum market penetration. Making sure your web site downloads quickly enough for foreign executives with slower bandwidth is critical to be competitive in the global market, especially in regards to reaching developing foreign markets where fewer users have access to broadband internet service.

Mr. Schmidt demonstrated new software solutions that identify which country your visitor is coming from and automatically serves up a web page in that language, with a prominent text-link to secondary language choices.

Tony Livoti, Executive Director of MBITA demonstrated how to automate all of the import and export document processes with foreign partners, the government, banks, freight forwarders and custom brokers. These new services are provided at affordable fees to small and mid-sized enterprises.

Complimentary abalone appetizers were offered by MBITA New Member USAbalone of Santa Cruz, Ca., the second largest abalone grower in the U.S. and the number one producer of abalone pearls in the world. At the conclusion of the conference, Carmela's Gourmet, Monterey-based gourmet food manufacturer, provided gourmet salad dressings.