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Taproot Foundation makes grants of high-quality, professional consulting services, called Service Grants

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:06:00 EDT

http://www.taprootfoundation.org/npo/

Service Grants Program

Unlike traditional foundations that make cash grants, the Taproot Foundation makes grants of high-quality, professional consulting services, called Service Grants.

Through our Service Grants, we are working to provide high-potential nonprofit organizations with the tools and services necessary to maximize the impact of their critical work in the community. We believe that the right capacity-building Service Grant, at the right time, can greatly enhance the ability of an organization to serve its constituents.

Each Service Grant is executed by a team of professionals who volunteer their time and expertise to help the community. Unlike a lot of pro bono work, we guarantee these professionals will deliver high-quality services, customized to meet specific objectives.

Why Apply for a Service Grant?

Get tangible tools that will make a meaningful impact on your nonprofit's ability to accomplish its mission
Receive professional services that rival those of consulting firms, where you could expect to pay $30,000 or more for each project
Maximize your limited time and resources thinking through the tough issues on the project, while we handle the recruitment, screening and management of the pro bono consulting team.

Get Started

Review our grant-making process and grant criteria
Read our case studies and visit our design gallery
Visit our grant catalog to see a complete listing of the services we provide
Walk through the stages of a typical project, so you know what to expect
Apply online for the grant that best meets your needs

Grant Deadlines

We review grant applications quarterly. Applications are due according the following deadlines:

September 1st We will give special consideration to early applications for September and strongly encourage non-profits to apply during the month of August.
December 1st
March 1st
June 1st

New -- "After-Breakfast Session" added!! -- Due to the Holiday, Registration for July 7th KC Business Networking Breakfast is due by Noon Thursday, July 2, 2009 -Kauffman Conference Center 4801 Rockhill Road, KCMO 64110

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:06:00 EDT

We were able to finalize an quot;After-Breakfast Sessionquot; (will last no longer than 10:00 a.m.): Doing Business with Local Government Entities immediately following the July 7th GSA Breakfast including:

(1) City of Kansas City, Missouri
(2) City of Lee#39;s Summit, Missouri
(3) City of Olathe, Kansas
(4) Jackson County, Missouri
(5) Johnson County, Kansas
(6) Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas

The Kansas City Small Business Networking Breakfast has been going for over 17 years on the 1st Tuesday of every month and has over 25 sponsoring organizations.

On July 7, your registration fee will allow you to experience one of the most organized, friendly, diverse and effective networking events in the Greater Kansas City area, plus the quot;after-breakfast sessionquot;.

The Networking meeting will be held at the Kauffman Conference Center at 4801 Rockhill Road, KCMO 64110

The deadline for registration and payment is noon, Thursday, July 2, 2009.-- Holiday weekend!!!

FAX the attached registration form to: 816-823-5104 – Direct questions to rhonda.abbate@gsa.gov or 816-926-7203.

Doors to the Breakfast open at 7:15 a.m.

Our ten quot;2-minutequot; Speakers are:
Dallas Laffoon Facility Source Inc dallas@facilitysourceinc.com
Peter Kardash Clearvox, LLC   pkardash@clearvox.com
Tamara Morris Morris Communications LLC   tmorris@kc.rr.com
Bob Featherston Media Services amp; Shred Time baf@MediaServicesNOW.com
Annie Bass AFLAC   annie_bass@us.aflac.com
Kris Maschler In-Transition mashlerk@hawks.rockhurst.edu
Gina Egan MAX GXL   ginalegan@yahoo.com
Brent Rempe       Cristo Rey KC High School BRempe@cristoreykc.org
William Wells Jr.       True Broadband Networks wwells@trueh2o.com
Sam Scarfino     Cyber Center sam@kc-cyber.com

To view the list of breakfast attendees, go to our web site, http://www.gsa.gov/r6smallbusiness. On the left side of the page under Small Business Assistance, click on Business Breakfast Information.

Pat Brown-Dixon
General Services Administration
Office Phone 816-926-7203
Office of Business and Support Services (6ADB)
http://www.gsa.gov/r6smallbusiness

quot;America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination, and unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.quot; -- Harry S. Truman

The Empowerment Experiment

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:06:00 EDT

The Anderson Family#39;s year-long journey through The Empowerment Experiment is at its half-way point. See that living off of Black business is not that much of sacrifice and has nothing to do with exclusion... it is about love, pride and enlightenment. In the Andersons#39; EE journey, they#39;ve supported dozens of quality Black businesses, professionals, and Black-made products that they would not have even known existed had it not been for their pledge. They have lost nothing in terms of quality or in higher prices. They#39;ve gained much in terms or knowledge and power. They live a powerful life! They spend their money in places and in ways that can contribute to their community#39;s improvement. They have brought the issues facing Black business and the economic crises caused by the lack of Black-owned businesses in Black communities back into the national dialogue. This is their journey. This is OUR movement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGJTRQ2SZVw

Re: Make a FREE Website Fast and Easy

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:06:00 EDT

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http://www.officelive.com/en-us/free-website

Saddling minority businesses with cumbersome, duplicative, and time-consuming red tape?

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:06:00 EDT

Biz Talk With Josh -- Radio One/WOL 1450 AM
Visit http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.wolam.com or http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.biztalkwithjosh.com
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Friday, June 19, 2009 @10:30 am EST
Topic - Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Certification

Biz Talk With Josh has broadcast several shows focusing on minority owned businesses, and has shared with our audiences our own views, and those of our invited guests on the topic. A recurring theme whenever we talk about minority owned businesses is the need for their owners to certify that they are indeed members of the six general demographic groups classified as minorities by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Those groups are: Hispanic, Black, White, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (Islander).

There are differences of opinion about certification programs, but here on Biz Talk With Josh it is our belief that the time, energy, and resources required by entrepreneurs to certify with each city and each city department, each county, and each county department, each state, each federal agency, and each corporation where that entrepreneur would like to do business is not only onerous, but it actually takes away time from developing and growing the business - the very reason the entrepreneur went into business in the first place.

An observation from the Final Report of the U. S. Commission on Minority Business Development (published in 1992), of which Biz Talk Host, Joshua Smith, was Chairman, still rings true today: quot;...while originally intended to safeguard minority businesses from abuse, a myriad of certification processes have evolved and have quot;backfired,quot; saddling minority businesses with cumbersome, duplicative, and time-consuming red tape.quot; The Commission further recommended that the certification process be made uniform and standardized and that a quot;certifiedquot; business be recognized by every level of government and not forced into a series of re-applications. In 2009, this remains but a wish...as entrepreneurs wishing to participate in limited competition business opportunities where they can compete against companies of like size still must jump through many hoops before they can even qualify to submit a proposal.

There are, however, some programs at the state level that have taken the lead on a uniform certification for MBEs, making the one-stop shop for these companies more of a reality and lessening the need to individually certify a company with each department within a state government. This week on Biz Talk With Josh, we are pleased to have with us representatives from two such states.

In Maryland, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) is responsible for certifying MBEs, and we are so very glad to feature Ms. Zenita Wickham Hurley, Director of the DOT MBE Office. In Virginia, fresh from a recently completed disparity study in that state, Mr. Samuel Hayes, Director, Department of MBE will share with us the results of that study. Both guests will share with us how MBE certification is handled in their respective state, what kinds of programs are available to assist MBEs and the future of business opportunities for minority owned businesses.

Please encourage all your business associates, family and friends to listen in at WOL 1450 AM or on the Internet at t http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.wolam.com at 10:30 am EST every Friday morning. Call us toll free at 1-800-450-7876.

Biz Talk With Josh focuses on the issues, developments and concerns which impact entrepreneurs, small and minority/women-owned businesses. The show broadcasts live on Radio One/WOL 1450 AM in the Washington, DC area and is always available following the live broadcast at biztalkwithjosh.

For additional information please visit our website, or email our Host, Joshua Smith (josh@biztalkwithjosh), or our producer, Andre Carrington (andre@biztalkwithjosh)

Missouri takes loan applications for small businesses

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:06:00 EDT

The program, which makes low-interest loans available to small businesses, launches with $2 million in capital. Loan amounts range from $2,500 to $25,000. Applications are available on the Missouri DED Web site. The deadline for the first round is June 26, 2009. http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2009/06/01/daily3.html?jst=cn_cn_lk

ed2go Online

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:06:00 EDT

Enroll any time! Over hundreds of classes are offered through distance learning. New classes are now being offered!

We offer a wide range of highly interactive courses that you can take entirely over the Internet. All of our courses include expert instructors, many of whom are nationally known authors. The online courses are affordable, fun, fast, convenient, and geared just for you.

Courses on:

Grant Writing amp; Nonprofit Management

Start Your Own Business

Web Page Design

Health Care, Nutrition, amp; Fitness

Test Prep

and more...

Nonprofits / For-profits Partnerships

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:06:00 EDT

Non-profits and for-profits can achieve significant results together that are often impossible alone. And partnerships between the two can be smooth and mutually beneficial. Our experience has shown that they are a great tool for Social Entrepreneurship as long as the benefits to both are clearly understood and all obligations are adhered to.

The benefits to for-profits organizations can range from added publicity to access to new, hard-to-reach, markets. Social benefit ventures can gain tools, resources and even skilled management assistance.

In my own case, a partnership between my non-profit advocacy website and a for-profit video website gave me online video editing tools, bandwidth and server storage I could have never afforded. The FPO (a start-up) got tens of thousands of new members, and my site was able to achieve its social objective.

How should you proceed if you work for a social benefit venture?

•   Approach the FPO with a partnership arrangement that offers tangible benefits (not just quot;good PRquot;), i.e., 100,000 new web visitors or advertising in your newsletter.

•   Ask the FPO to provide you with services or products that are part of its normal business.Resist the impulse to ask for cash – that is charity, not a partnership.

•    Involve technical staff early in the discussions to ensure that operational problems are taken care of in the agreement, rather than fought over later.

•   Write a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and send it back and forth for editing and changes. Make it as detailed as the project calls for. And remember, it is not the final agreement that is important, it is the communication process that creates it.

•   Make sure that all stakeholders in both organizations sign off on the MOA –anyone who will be involved or impacted. Make sure you deal with non-stakeholders who may have negative opinions, so they don#39;t sabotage the agreement.

•   Stay involved and keep the relationships strong. Don#39;t sign the MOA and then turn it over to staff to execute. Stay in touch with the project and the leadership of the for-profit organization – you may want to work with them again.

I love to work with start-ups. New companies are often easier to deal with than large established firms. They are hungry, open to new ideas, and have yet to grow a bureaucracy that throws up roadblocks to partnerships. And start-ups often have new tools and products that entrepreneurial NPOs can put to use quickly to gain publicity and new grants.

http://www.socialedge.org/discussions/business-models/archive/2007/03/19/nonprofits-for-profits-partnerships

Ten Characteristics of Successful Social Entrepreneurs

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:06:00 EDT

WHAT CHARACTERISTICS do social and environmental entrepreneurs share?

Capturing the common characteristics of such extraordinary, diverse people is tough, but here are some especially noteworthy qualities.

Among other things, these entrepreneurs:

•    Try to shrug off the constraints of ideology or discipline
•    Identify and apply practical solutions to social problems, combining innovation, resourcefulness, and opportunity
•    Innovate by ﬁnding a new product, a new service, or a new approach to a social problem
•    Focus—ﬁrst and foremost—on social value creation and, in that spirit, are willing to share their innovations and insights for others to replicate
•    Jump in before ensuring they are fully resourced
•    Have an unwavering belief in everyone's innate capacity, often regardless of education, to contribute meaningfully to economic and social development
•    Show a dogged determination that pushes them to take risks that others wouldn't dare
•    Balance their passion for change with a zeal to measure and monitor their impact
•    Have a great deal to teach change makers in other sectors
•    Display a healthy impatience (e.g., they don't do well in bureaucracies, which can raise succession issues as their organizations grow—and almost inevitably become more bureaucratic)

But as interest grows in trying to solve the world's great social, environmental, and governance challenges, the deﬁnitions —and the boundaries between ﬁelds— blur. In the process, the ﬁeld of social entrepreneurship has become "a truly immense tent into which all manner of socially beneﬁcial activities may ﬁt," as two board members of the Skoll Foundation —Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management, and Sally Osberg, the foundation's president and CEO— put it.

One result, inevitably, is confusion.

So, they argue, the real measure of social entrepreneurship should be "direct action that generates a paradigm shift in the way a societal need is met." What such people do, in effect, is to identify and attack an "unsatisfactory equilibrium." Their endeavors are transformative, not palliative, with the power to catalyze and shape the future.

http://www.socialedge.org/blogs/unreasonable-people/archive/2008/02/26/ten-characteristics-of-successful-social-entrepreneurs

The Local Business Center dashboard opens its doors

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:06:00 EDT

If you#39;re a local business owner, it#39;s likely that Google plays a role in helping customers find you. And we#39;re not just talking about your website — thanks to Google Maps and Google Search, you may also be getting a lot of online traffic to your business listing. You#39;ve probably seen one of these listings before:

You also probably know how they tend to work: A potential customer does a search on Google.com or in Google Maps, comes across your listing, clicks on it to see your reviews and details, and then gets directions to your location.

Now, imagine if there were a way for you to get a better understanding of how those customers are finding you. Did they search for quot;pizzaquot; or quot;pastaquot; to get to the listing for your Italian restaurant? Do they live across town, but drive miles for your great selection of camping gear? What happens to traffic to your new dental practice when you start advertising in the local paper? With information like that, you#39;d be able to make better informed decisions on how to drive more traffic to your listing and attract more customers.

Later today, you#39;ll be able to do just that, thanks to a new dashboard feature we#39;re launching in the Local Business Center (www.google.com/lbc). The LBC is a free tool that enables business owners to control the content of their business listings as they appear in Google Search and Google Maps. All you have to do is claim your listing in the LBC and go through a quick verification process to get access to the following kinds of data:

Impressions: The number of times the business listing appeared as a result on a Google.com search or Google Maps search in a given period.
Actions: The number of times people interacted with the listing; for example, the number of times they clicked through to the business#39; website or requested driving directions to the business.
Top search queries: Which queries led customers to the business listing; for example, are they finding the listing for a cafe by searching for quot;teaquot; or quot;coffeequot;?
Zip codes where driving directions come from: Which zip codes customers are coming from when they request directions to your location.

The new dashboard will also let you dig into that data using all kinds of lists, maps, and graphs like this one, which measures impressions and actions for a hotel#39;s business listing:

When you sign in to the LBC today, you#39;ll find that we#39;ve already populated the dashboards for claimed listings with data from the last 30 days. After that, new information will be added every day, so you can check in often to see how things are going. We#39;re also working hard to add more historical information, and to make this available for businesses outside the U.S. All the data we share through the dashboard will be anonymous and aggregated, to protect the privacy of Google users.

We#39;re really excited to be able to open up this data to local business owners. Before now, you could track usage metrics on your website using a tool like Google Analytics, but data about how customers found you in other ways never got back to you. That all changes today, and we think business owners will really get a lot out of this new information. So if you#39;re a local business owner and you feel the same way, be sure to check out this new dashboard.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/local-business-center-dashboard-opens.html

Business Planning Tool Kit

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:06:00 EDT

Tool Kit

Business Plan Tools

Environmental Management

A Business Guide to U.S. EPA Climate Partnership Programs
- The programs profiled in this guide can serve as critical components of your company's climate strategy. This guide will help you find programs that best address the specific climate risks and opportunities for your firm. Companies can join these programs one at a time or as a package as part of a more comprehensive climate strategy.
Universal Waste - Flourescent Light Bulbs - Don#39;t Throw Them Away -- Recycle Them
DES#39;s quot;Making Your Business Greener Workbookquot;
Are You Ready For Reach?

Disaster Preparedness

Financial Management

Cash Flow Projections

Marketing amp; Sales

Marketing Plan Outline

Starting a Business

Sustainability in a Challenging Economy

Become an Energy Auditor and make money during the Green Revolution

Sun, 31 May 2009 04:05:00 EDT

Wondering how you can cash in on the #39;green job#39; revolution?

A good part of the stimulus dollars will be spent to train and certify individuals to conduct energy audits for both home and commercial properties. I have found information where you can order information to become certified to conduct these audits for a job, share the info for those interested or get trained, certified and go into business yourself.

Link: Click Here
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=992859

Why Energy Audits?
There has never been a better time to get into the energy auditing and consulting business.
1.) Energy Audits thrive in a down economy
2.) Obama has directed billions in energy savings

Benefits of the Denby Energy Programs
1.) Start a new Career (or side-job) for less than $250
2.) Enjoy a business that helps save people money
3.) Perfect new business for a down economy
4.) Two different programs for different needs
5.) Strong, professionally crafted training,
marketing, and business materials

Opportunities
Our Comprehensive Energy Programs will enable you to have your own Energy business in as little as 2 weeks. Just complete these 3 easy steps:
1) Complete a Training Program
2) Get Your Denby Certification
3) Get Your Business Building Kit

We missed the Dot.com boom, Housing boom and now is your chance to get in first on the growth in the energy business.

Good luck!

PDE-news: The Entrepreneurial University

Fri, 29 May 2009 01:05:00 EDT

The Entrepreneurial University: An Institutional Innovation
Universities, particularly research universities, are an important component of any innovation economy. The various successful experiences from around the world show that shaping entrepreneurial universities requires commitment to institutional innovation..

[More]

From the Policy Dialogue on Entrepreneurship Blog

Schramm to Students: Join the Army of Entrepreneurs
In his commencement address to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign last week, Kauffman Foundation President and CEO Carl Schramm told students to join the army... the army of entrepreneurs.. [More]

Saving Detroit
A new partnership between the Kauffman Foundation and the New Economy Initiative (NEI) for Southeast Michigan is focused on saving Detroit through entrepreneurship. [More]

This Week in Entrepreneurship Policy
There are no hearings scheduled for this week as Congress is in recess. The next meeting of the Senate is June 1, 2009; the House next meets June 2, 2009. [More ]

No Business Plan? Don#39;t Worry
Business plans are an important tool for entrepreneurs, but a new study revealed that when it comes to obtaining venture capital, business plans are of little importance. [More]

Contract Opportunity: Business Administration Services

Fri, 22 May 2009 11:05:00 EDT

Title	Topaz
Project Amount	$100K to $1M USD (Est.)
ID	63081
Start Date	Thursday 21 May 2009 12:44 PM PDT
End Date	Monday 1 Jun 2009 11:59 PM PDT
Commodity	Business Administration Services
Company Name	Experian Services Corporation
Sales Territories	Any Territories
Description	This bid is for a potential supplier to provide A/R online payment processing.

What should you do next?

Click here to view the details

KCC ENERGY DEPARTMENT AND ENERGY PROGRAMS

Thu, 21 May 2009 10:05:00 EDT

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the State Energy Office is receiving approximately $52 million in additional funding from the Department of Energy. The funding comes through three different federal programs:

$38,284,000 through the State Energy Program (SEP);
$9,593,500 through Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block; and
$3.7 million for a new Appliance Rebate Program.

New Programs Using State Energy Program (SEP) Funds

Pending approval from the U.S. Department of Energy, the State Energy Office plans to implement the following programs.

Revolving Loan Program for Energy Efficiency ($34.2 million): This program will establish a revolving loan fund to provide a sustainable source of financing for cost-effective energy efficiency improvements in Kansas homes and small businesses.

To ensure improvements will be cost-effective, the Revolving Loan Program requires all funded projects to be based on an audit and a customized energy conservation proposal from an approved energy auditor.
Participants can access the Revolving Loan Program either through (1) Partner Banks or (2) Partner Utilities.
Pending DOE approval, the new program will be available on July 15, 2009.

Loan Fee Rebate Program ($481,000): This program will provide $250 rebates to banks to offset loan origination fees.
Energy Audit Rebate Program ($350,000): This program will provide a $350 rebate to offset the costs of the energy audit for the first 1,000 participants who elect to implement approved projects through the Revolving Loan Program.
Training Program ($250,000): This program will provide support to (1) qualified energy auditor training institutions for initiatives to "Train the Trainers" and enhancements to facilities, such as expanded labs for furnace testing (see grant announcement); and (2) fund up to 100 full scholarships ($1,200 to $1,500) to those attending the energy auditor training program.
Equipment for New Auditors ($250,000): This program will assist 50 new auditors in obtaining the necessary start-up equipment (e.g, blower door, duct blaster) to start a new business and perform energy audits through the Revolving Loan Program.
Marketing Program ($500,000): The State Energy Office will employ the services of a marketing firm to assist with the development and implementation of a strategic promotional campaign.
Utility Rate Design – Planning for Comprehensive Changes ($1 million): The Kansas Corporation Commission will employ the services of a consultant to assist in developing and guiding a comprehensive, collaborative planning process to redesign utility rate structures to achieve new goals of energy efficiency and environmental protection.

New Programs Using Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Funds

Renewable Energy Grant Program ($3.8 million): This program will provide grants for 25% of the cost (up to $250,000) of renewable energy projects undertaken by local units of government and educational institutions throughout the state. The State Energy Office will submit its application to DOE by June 25, 2009.
Enhancing the existing Facility Conservation Improvement Program ($5.7 million): This program will provide enhancements to the existing Facility Conservation Improvement Program (FCIP). Program details are under development. The SEO will submit its application to DOE by June 25, 2009.

http://www.kcc.state.ks.us/energy/index.htm

URL: http://kcc.ks.gov/energy/arra.htm
Revised Thursday, 14-May-2009 13:41:43 CDT

GSA Heartland Office of Business and Support Services

Thu, 21 May 2009 08:05:00 EDT

The GSA Heartland Office of Business and Support Services (OBSS) is dedicated to identifying bidding opportunities and contracting vehicles for small businesses. The procurement preference categories are: small, small disadvantaged, Section 8(a), woman-owned small, HUBZone small, veteran-owned small, and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses.

Vendors are notified of current GSA procurement projects electronically by registering on FedBizOpps (Federal Business Opportunities).

Kansas City#39;s Networking Business Breakfasts

Local entrepreneurs are offered the opportunity to introduce their business to small and large businesses, school districts and universities, as well as local, state and federal agencies. The breakfasts are held the first Tuesday of each month in Kansas City, Missouri.

For more information, and to see a list of upcoming Kansas City#39;s Networking Business Breakfasts, please visit the Kansas City#39;s Small Business Networking Breakfast Events link or call (816) 926-7203. You may register for the next breakfast by visiting the Business Breakfast Information page and downloading the registration form.

Attention Veteran-Owned Small BusinessesGSA, the federal government and prime contractors are actively searching for veteran-owned small businesses (especially service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses). Contact the Heartland Office of Business and Support Services to request information on contracting and subcontracting opportunities.

The shortcut for this page is www.gsa.gov/r6smallbusiness

GSA Heartland Office of Business and Support Services
(816) 926-7203
Fax (816) 823-1167
business.counseling@gsa.gov

Patricia Brown-Dixon
(816) 926-7203
pat.brown-dixon@gsa.gov

Schlitterbahn Vacation Village / KC Blueprint On-line Planroom Registration Notice

Wed, 20 May 2009 02:05:00 EDT

- Construction Contractors/Subcontractors -

Please take some time to register your company on our online KC Blueprint planroom where Schlitterbahn construction documents will be managed exclusively. Be sure to identify the individual (and applicable email) where you will want Schlitterbahn project information delivered to ensure you and your company are kept up to date on all opportunities that become available.

All bid invitations, document updates and pertinent project information will be distributed exclusively through this planroom and online database. You will need to be a registered user to access plans, specifications and project info to bid on this project.

REGISTRATION IS FREE!!!

One of the many benefits of being registered is you will receive via e-mail up to the minute information on this project. The link below will take you to KC Blueprint#39;s home page and from there you will click on quot;Online Planroomquot;. If you need instructions registering, contact KC Blueprint customer service at (816) 527-0900 for additional support. www.kcblueprint.com

Thank you

Eric Cardwell

Document Manager/Project Coordinator

KC Blueprint amp; Planroom

2106 Swift

North Kansas City, MO 64116

Phone: (816) 527-0900

Mobile: (816) 509-7047

Receive Bid Opportunities Via Email: www.ibsacontracting.blogspot.com

SBA Adm. Mills Annnounces ARC Program

Mon, 18 May 2009 11:05:00 EDT

*********************************************** U.S. Small Business Administration -- News Release -- *********************************************** Release Date: May 18, 2009 Contact: David J. Hall (202) 205-6697 Release Number: 09-30 Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/newsSBA Launches New 100-Percent Guarantee ARC Loan Program To Help Struggling Businesses WASHINGTON – Small businesses suffering financial hardship as a result of the slow economy may be eligible to receive temporary relief to keep their doors open and get their cash flow back on track through to a new loan program announced today by SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills. Beginning on June 15, SBA will start guaranteeing America's Recovery Capital (ARC) loans. ARC loans are deferred-payment loans of up to $35,000 available to established, viable, for-profit small businesses that need short-term help to make their principal and interest payments on existing qualifying debt. ARC loans are interest-free to the borrower, 100 percent guaranteed by the SBA, and have no SBA fees associated with them. "These ARC loans can provide the critical capital and support many small businesses need to make it through these tough economic times," said Administrator Mills. "Together with other provisions of the Recovery Act, ARC loans will free up capital and put more money in the hands of small business owners when they need it the most. This will help viable small businesses continue to grow and thrive and create new jobs in communities across the country." As part of the Recovery Act, the ARC program was created as a no-interest, deferred payment loan to help small businesses that have a history of good performance, but as a result of the tough economy, are struggling to make debt payments. ARC loans will be disbursed within a period of up to six months and will provide funds to be used for payments of principal and interest for existing, qualifying small business debt including mortgages, term and revolving lines of credit, capital leases, credit card obligations and notes payable to vendors, suppliers and utilities. Repayment will not begin until 12 months after the final disbursement. Borrowers don't have to pay interest on ARC loans. After the 12-moth deferral period, borrowers will pay back the loan principal over a period of five years. ARC loans will be made by commercial lenders, not SBA directly. For more information on ARC loans, visit www.sba.gov

Why Content is King In Web Design

Mon, 18 May 2009 05:05:00 EDT

How can you help your readers know whether your site can really help them? Do you need a web designer to make it happen? Why is content writing for the web different from any other kind of writing? You#39;ll find answers in this article.

Web Design: Scannability

Would it interest you to know that most web users don#39;t come to your site to appreciate the attractiveness of the design? That#39;s not to say that an attractive web design isn#39;t important.

However, the majority of site visitation happens because the consumer was motivated to look at your site to see if you could give them a reason to purchase from your ecommerce business.

The web is based on small resolution sizes. The words read online aren#39;t even as clear as newsprint. The pictures are often low resolution and a computer screen can tax the best of vision.

Practical Application

One of the most cost effective applications this information can produce is that you may not need a website filled with all the toys such as Java Script or Flash design. These tools add spice to your website, but can often detract or even annoy visitors who are simply looking for information they expect to find on your website.

A well ordered website can reap incredible rewards for ecommerce business. Effective bullet points, keywords or phrases accented in bold type and an easy to navigate page may have a greater impact on your ecommerce web design than anything.

What this may also mean is that the web design options you can chose from may expand.

Self-Directed Design

You see, if you know what will help make your site better you can self-direct the development of the site through template rich designs that allow you total control over the text in an easy to use environment that does not require the use of complicated code or extended training seminars to use.

Obviously many web design experts would rather have you seek an alternative using their personalized service, but in the end you have a stronger interest in the success of your website than a hired web developer.

If you can utilize the tools available to make your site user friendly and highly scannable you will likely find you can achieve your own success in web design.

Writing for the Web

Content writing for web pages is not the same as writing for any other type of content. Thoughts must be compact and content must be scannable.

This means when you write for the web you must help your reader find the subject they are most interested in using a sub-heading or indexing system that allows a quick scan to determine if your web page contains the information they need.

Even if your website does not contain the exact information your visitor wants they may be pleased to know it didn#39;t require extended reading to make that determination. In turn the visitor may venture to other pages of online content to determine if you have the information they need elsewhere on your site.

About the Author: Scott Lindsay

U.S. Army award and recognition

Fri, 15 May 2009 12:05:00 EDT

U.S. Army Worldwide
Public Affairs Symposium

Crystal City, Virginia 2009

Adrian Cruz (Ft. Leavenworth Public Affairs Officer) and W. Lazone Grays (IBSA, Inc., President)
posed with Award for Excellence plaque and coin issued by Major General Kevin J. Bergner, U.S. Army Chief of Public Affairs.
Ft. Leavenworth receive award and recognition in this quot;Worldwidequot; competition for excellence in promoting the past, present and future of the United States Army Buffalo Soldier Calvary commissioned in Kansas (1866) Ft. Leavenworth

Adrian Cruz (Ft. Leavenworth Public Affairs Officer)
posed with Award for Excellence plaque and coin issued by Maj. General Kevin J. Bergner, U.S. Army Chief of Public Affairs (bottom left).

Award for Excellence winners; including Maj. General Kevin J. Bergner, U.S. Army Chief of Public Affairs. Represented is Ft. Leavenworth (left-back row), Ft. Bragg, South Korea, and others...

Source: IBSA Newswire

The price of excellence is discipline. The cost of mediocrity is disappointment. ~ William Arthur Ward

New Location for Heavenly Visions Photography

Thu, 14 May 2009 05:05:00 EDT

HEAVENLY VISIONS PHOTOGRAPHY

YOLANDA HALEY TAYLOR

NEW STUDIO LOCATION

629 SE QUINCY ROOM 101D

(Directly across from the Shawnee County Courthouse)

Available to provide quality and affordable photographic services for all occasions

High School Seniors, Weddings, Family and Individual Portraits, Family Reunions, Parties, Sporting Events, Church Activities and Other Special Events

NEW LOCATION SPECIAL

JUST IN TIME FOR GRADUATION

GET A STUDIO PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN OF YOUR 2009 SENIOR

No Sitting Fee Charge

CALL 785-608-3291

HEAVENLY VISIONS PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL PHOTO PROJECT

Currently seeking your church congregation to featured in an

Images Photo Book designed especially for your church

FOR MORE INFORMATION

EMAIL yyotylr@hotmail.com or CALL 785 608-3291

The Public Forum Institute on Entrepreneurship

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:04:00 EDT

FYI

World Economic Forum Calls for Entrepreneurship Education
A new report from the World Economic Forum#39;s Global Education Initiative analyzes entrepreneurship education practices and offers specific recommendations for policymakers around the world on everything from youth, to higher education and social inclusion. [More]

Top Social Networks for Entrepreneurs
Mashable, a popular blog covering social media and Web 2.0, recently offered its take on the top 10 social networks for entrepreneurs. [More]

Contracting Opportunty: Residential Appliance Replacement Program

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:04:00 EDT

The purpose of the Residential Appliance Replacement Program is to reduce energy consumption of Kansas households through the disposal and replacement of outdated, inefficient and unsafe appliances.

Who is eligible?
To participate in the program, the following conditions must be met:

*The applicant is a Kansas resident; the household where the work is being done must be located within the State of Kansas; the property to be assisted is the applicant#39;s primary residence.

*The applicant owns the appliance to be replaced (or the renter gains permission from the property owner) and appliance is at least 10 years old.

*The applicant household#39;s Adjusted Gross Income does not exceed 75% of state median income.

What appliance#39;s can be replaced?
Appliances allowed by the program include:

*Refrigerators
*Gas Water Heater
*Gas Forced Air Furnace
*Central Air Conditioner
*Window Air Conditioner

Objectives of Residential Appliance Replacement Program Are To:

*Provide homeowners and renters the opportunity to replace old, inefficient and unsafe appliances with new, energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly models.

*Reduce residential energy consumption, lower household energy bills and provide environmental benefits

For more information:

Phone: (785) 291-3282
Email: rar.info@kshousingcorp.org
Web: www.kshousingcorp.org

Eligible participants can use #39;any#39; contractor they choose; as long as they are the lowest qualified bidder. Once the work is completed successfully, the participants voucher will be given to the contractor who can remit it to the State of Kansas for payment.

For more info on this and other contracting opportunities made available under the Recovery Act using stimulus funds, contact IBSA at (913) 240-6247 or your local minority business development agency.

Support African American Contractors!

Press Release: Attorney Willie Gary/Opa-Locka Flightline, LLC.

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:04:00 EDT

From: Gary Law Firm lt;info@garylaw.comgt;

Press Release

April 16, 2009

Contacts: Kori Love, Director, Public Relations or

Kristen Glanton, Public Relations Coordinator

Phone: (772) 283-8260

Web site: www.williegary.com and www.oflightline.com

Gary Appears Before Miami-Dade Committee to Avoid Filing Billion-Dollar Lawsuit and Seeking an Injunction to Suspend all Federal Funding for the Miami-Dade Aviation Department

Stuart - Famed Trial Attorney Willie Gary spoke to the Miami-Dade Airport and Seaport Committee today in an attempt to avoid billion-dollar litigation against Miami-Dade County Aviation Department (quot;MDADquot;) and AA Acquisitions, Inc. (quot;AAquot;) for their reckless and discriminatory treatment of Opa-locka Flightline, LLC (quot;OLFquot;). His client, Opa-locka Flightline, is the only African-American-owned and operated FBO in the nation. Gary contends that amid his client#39;s negotiation for a new lease with MDAD, MDAD improperly assigned Opa-locka#39;s leasehold interest to AA.

quot;As soon as MDAD got in bed with AA, they colluded to destroy and put my client out of business. MDAD breached its promises and failed to live up to its contractual obligations. My client relied on the County#39;s representations to its detriment and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of its hard earned money,quot; said Gary.

At the Committee meeting earlier today, Gary implored the Commissioners to investigate the reckless and discriminatory conduct of MDAD and AA against his client. Other non-minority FBO received preferential treatment with the leases once the County assigned its interests to AA. Instead, OLF is facing an illegal eviction proceeding from AA and other threats by MDAD. Gary further contends that as a result of its illegal and discriminatory conduct against Opa-locka Flightline, MDAD has violated both state and federal laws that could seriously put all the federal funding for the Miami-Dade Airport and related entities in jeopardy. quot;We certainly do not want to sue the County because we believe that they should do the right thing and honor their commitment; but if we have no choice, we will do what we have to do to seek justice.quot; Gary reiterated.

Gary is no stranger to seeking justice. He is noted for winning a $240 million jury verdict in Orange County against the Walt Disney Corporation for his clients who alleged Disney stole their idea for a sports theme park. In 2001, a jury awarded Gary a $139.6 million verdict for the Maris Distribution Company against Anheuser Busch. In addition, Gary was given a half-billion dollar verdict in Jackson, Mississippi against the Loewen Group, a large Canadian funeral home chain.

# # #

Online courses that are making a difference in people's lives.

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 02:04:00 EDT

Millions of newly unemployed people are increasing their knowledge base in order to cross into another occupation or to increase their value to their current employer. After partnering with ed2go.com, IBSA has successfully facilitated increased learning which has allowed many people upgrade their skillset and gain greater knowledge on areas of thier immediate interest. Below are links to some of the most popular courses requested to date.

Grant Proposal Writing, Advanced $ 99 (USD)

Do you know the best way to present information in a grant proposal? In this course, an experienced grantwriter will show you how to research and write winning proposals that get funded. Learn what to do--and,... more

Grant Proposals, Writing Effective $ 99 (USD)

Learn to prepare grant proposals that get solid results for your favorite organization or charity. Over $200 billion annually is available for worthy causes and most people don't know how to prepare the a... more

Grant Writing Consultant, Becoming a $ 99 (USD)

Good grant writing consultants are always in demand. Learn how you can use a basic knowledge of grant or proposal writing to become an expert in the red-hot grant consulting field. This is one field where your... more

Nonprofit, Creating Your Own $ 99 (USD)

Do you dream of starting and running your very own nonprofit? This unique course carefully details the many aspects of taking a nonprofit start-up from vision to reality. Filled with savvy advice and plenty of... more

Nonprofit, Marketing Your $ 99 (USD)

Discover marketing practices that will help you further the ideals and goals of your nonprofit. In the face of stiff competition, an increase in the number of worthwhile causes, new regulations, more oversight,... more

For a listing of all available courses: http://www.ed2go.com/ibsaonline

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