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Business Symposium - September 18
Business Symposium - September 18 at Finger Lakes Community College Geneva Center
GENEVA, N.Y. (Aug. 23, 2010) – John M. Eades and Michael C. Ferreri, who founded Vere Sandal Company to launch an American-made line of sandals early next year, will give the keynote address at an entrepreneur seminar Saturday, Sept. 18, at the Finger Lakes Community College Geneva Campus Center, 63 Pulteney St.
The Geneva natives, in the midst of launching a manufacturing business, will talk about their experiences at the “Entrepreneur Solutions” seminar. The event, which runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., also includes sessions on business planning and financing and using Google and Facebook to promote your business.
“Entrepreneur Solutions” is designed for people who want to start their own business or those currently in business. Participants will have time to ask questions of workshop leaders and visit information tables staffed by representatives of the U.S. Small Business Administration and local banks and business development agencies.
The cost is $25 and includes a continental breakfast and a box lunch. Register by Sept. 13 by calling Finger Lakes Community College at (585) 785-1421, or e-mail Lorrie Childs at FLCC at childsle@flcc.edu. Participants must choose one of two technology workshops (Google or Facebook) when they register.
Seating is limited. Scholarships are available; recipients may be asked to show hardship.
Childhood friends John M. Eades and Michael C. Ferreri, both 1989 graduates of Geneva High School, returned to their hometown and launched Vere Sandal Company to manufacture high-quality sandals with recycled or recyclable material in a production process that eliminates nearly all waste. Manufacturing will start this fall at the Geneva Economic Development Center on North Genesee Street.
Eades, who graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in industrial design, has more than 15 years of experience in the footwear industry, most recently as footwear product director at Reef in California. A layoff and a desire to return East brought him back to Geneva, ready to act on what retailers had been telling him about their interest in products made in the U.S.
Ferreri has a bachelor’s degree in industrial distribution and a master’s degree in business administration from Clarkson University in Potsdam. He has more than 15 years of experience working with technology and financial services in Fortune 100, mid-size and start-up businesses.
Read their blog at veresandals.com.
“Entrepreneur Solutions” is a joint project of Finger Lakes Community College, the Ontario County Office of Economic Development and Pathstone, a nonprofit that provides entrepreneurial training, technical assistance and access to capital.
The workshops are as follows:
· Small Business Financing: Valerie Bassett, director of the city of Geneva Department of Economic Development, and Mike Fratto of the Bank of the Finger Lakes will join Al Hartsig of PathStone to explain what a business owner needs to know about finding money and alternative sources of financing.
· Technology workshops (each participant selects one of the following):
o Web site Optimization: Mike Alves, owner of Select Web Service, will show participants how key word searches and links to other sites can get a business Web site listed on page 1 of Google search results.
o Facebook in 3 Easy Steps: Kathleen English, business development officer for Pathstone, will take people through a hands-on session in setting up a Facebook page for a business.
· Roadmap to Success: Jim Grillo, a Pathstone instructor, entrepreneur and Alfred State College professor, will review the components of a business plan you can’t do without.
All participants of the Sept. 18 event will have an opportunity to sign up for PathStone’s Microenterprise Assistance Program (MAP), a series of 12 evening classes at the FLCC Geneva Campus Center that covers the fundamentals of starting and expanding a business. Classes run Tuesdays from Sept. 28 to Dec. 7. The MAP course costs $50.
For more information about the event or FLCC programs, call (585) 785-1623.
Posted On: Monday, August 30th, 2010 @ 7:09 pm by Web Administrator