The U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is now offering a new set of three export-oriented podcasts offering valuable information on issues and challenges small business exporters may find when dealing with specific countries.

The podcasts, featuring interviews with business representatives from Uganda, Cameroon and Bahrain, are part of a comprehensive effort by SBA to promote and support the President’s National Export Initiative. The interviews focus on what U.S. companies can expect when exporting to those countries and provide information relevant to their respective business and import environments. read more »

Mason County Literacy will hold pre-service volunteer tutor orientation and training July 30 and 31 for volunteers who are interested in tutoring adults in Shelton, Belfair and Olympia. The training and orientation equips the volunteer tutors with the tools they need to support student success.

“Volunteer tutors are the backbone of our program.” said Kris Smock, executive director. “Recently we had eight students pass their GED tests; this represents both the hard work and effort of the student and dedication of our volunteers.” read more »

• McWilliams Road Safeway, East Bremerton
• Bucklin Hill Road Safeway, Silverdale
• Callow Avenue Safeway, West Bremerton

Riders can load their ORCA cards with E-purse, Kitsap Transit monthly bus passes, PugetPasses or Washington State Ferries monthly passes at Add Value locations. Other Kitsap County Add Value locations include the Kingston IGA, Bainbridge Island Safeway and Kitsap Transit’s Bremerton Customer Service Office. read more »

Kitsap Economic Development Alliance recently announced that the SBA has introduced the first phase of its social media strategy this week.

On the new SBA YouTube Channel there will be videos on topics such as financing, exporting and marketing business.

Also connect with the SBA’s newest resources on Twitter and Facebook as they continue to be developed.

As contrary as it might sound, consumers have more power in a poor economy. So says John Tschohl, founder and president of the Service Quality Institute in Minneapolis, Minn., and author of several books, including The Customer is Boss.

“In a strong economy, many organizations take their customers for granted,” he says. “But, when times are tough, smart businesses look for ways to attract and retain customers. They pay more attention to customer service, which means customers can call the shots.” read more »

Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. (Enterprise) and the Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC) have partnered to create the Washington Green Communities Retrofit Loan Fund, a $2 million financing pool available to owners of multifamily affordable housing properties in the state of Washington.

“We are pleased to offer this opportunity at a time when finding options to finance retrofitting activities is a top priority for the affordable housing community,” said M.A. Leonard, vice president and Pacific Northwest impact market leader, Enterprise Community Partners. “Reducing carbon emissions, while increasing the health benefits and utility savings of a building is a win-win to the building owner, the resident and the surrounding neighborhood. read more »

The June social networking conference at the Kitsap Conference Center brought about 130 people from around the state to Bremerton. The one-day event, dubbed Bigfoot, was organized by the North Mason Chamber of Commerce, considered a nationwide leader among chambers for its social networking efforts.

Frank Kenny, chamber president and CEO, who organized the event, said attendance surpassed the goal of 100 people. The chamber is already looking ahead at the next event, and future ones every year after that. He said the theme will change every time, and the theme for next year may feature mobile and handheld devices. “With all the new applications, the changes will happen very fast and will be overwhelming. “Mobile will be a big deal,” he said. read more »

When I was a kid I loved the beginning of summer. It meant sunshine, the beach, popsicles, bike riding, slumber parties, and most importantly, no school. As business owners, it means something entirely different to us. Our thoughts turn to balancing vacations with reduced staff, summer flex hours, liability issues with company sponsored sports teams, the complexities of summer internships, and the proverbial summer picnic. It was a whole lot easier when all we had to worry about was getting an even tan! read more »

After learning how to market themselves through tweets and status updates, some small companies are taking the next step: selling directly to consumers via social-networking sites.

Merchants on Facebook and MySpace are adding e-commerce stores to their fan pages, hoping users will scan lists of for-sale items and services — such as floral bouquets, hand-crafted jewelry and spa treatments — and click a button to add them to online shopping carts.

The e-commerce trend, also being adopted by large companies such as Hallmark Cards Inc. and Brooks Brothers Inc., so far appears limited to Facebook and MySpace, where applications for selling directly to consumers started cropping up in 2008. read more »