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Posts Tagged ‘Jeannette McDonald’

Day-Long Seminar Critical for Exporters

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

On Thursday, September 22 from 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., the International Trade Resource Center (ITRC), in cooperation with Evolutions in Business, will offer a seminar, “Export Controls and Licensing Under the EAR” at its headquarters at 172 Pembroke Road in Concord. This full-day seminar will help participants understand the requirements under Export Administration (EAR) and Export Administration Act, how to determine whether a license is needed, procedures of obtaining a license, as well as other crucial information on navigating and complying with the EAR regulations.

In 2010, a total of approximately 2,200 New Hampshire businesses exported nearly $4 billion in 2010. With new regulations and, it’s critical that businesses that are currently exporting or that plan to do so in the near future know their obligations under these acts. Failure to obtain a license, if one is needed, for either the production or the destination of the product can result in both civil and criminal penalties—and, as an exporter, it is the responsibility of the business to determine if a license is needed.

The seminar will cover topics including: what items and activities are subject to the Export Administration regulations; the steps that need to be taken to determine export licensing requirements for a product; how to navigate the Commerce Control List (CCL); the proper classification of products; when you can export or re-export without a license; export clearance procedures, enforcement and record-keeping; new regulations and updates, and much more.
The seminar will be presented by Jeanette Reed, Vice President and CEO of Evolutions in Business, who has 20 years of experience in advising, training and counseling defense, security and commercial corporations on export and import regulations.

Cost for the seminar is $95 per person. For online payment and registration, go to www.exportnh.org, click on “Calendar of Events”, and then “Event and Seminar Registration.” To pay by check, make it out to SNHU/IIB and mail it to: P.O. Box 1856, Concord, NH 03301. For more information or if you have questions, contact Ellie White at 603-271-8444 or email ellie.white@dred.state.nh.us.

Ask CJ: Becoming the Master of Disaster (Planning That Is…)

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

NH Business Resource Center Seacoast Business Service Specialist Christine Davis

I decided to shake things up a bit this week and instead of answering reader’s business questions, I have a question for businesses. 

Q: Do you have a plan in place in the event of a crisis or natural disaster?

I was home with my youngest daughter, Emma, a few days back as she had a sore throat.  Since I was going to be in Exeter all day, I decided to be proactive and see if we could get teeth cleaning / checks moved to that day too.  Lucky for me they had some cancellations and the girls and I headed over. 

I like to think I am the type of person who is prepared and stays ahead of the game.  Apparently, I’m not.  I had a strong suspicion that one or two of my fillings were cracked as I had been having some sensitivity for a while and sure enough I was right.  Not only were the fillings cracked, but the teeth they resided in were cracked as well.  My dentist had told me a long time ago that I needed a mouth guard as I grind my teeth at night (stress rears its ugly head in so many different ways).  I didn’t want to believe it was really that big of a deal and so I didn’t take a simple precaution that I now know would have saved me at least $2,000.00.  It was preventable.  

I am sharing this little story about my foolishness because as I was driving back from attending the “When Disaster Strikes-Business Continuity Workshop,” I started thinking about how easy it is to prevent a disaster in both our personal and business lives yet we often take foolish risks and hope for the best.  The session I attended is part of a series of free half-day workshops that go over the steps a business should take now to keep their business up and running in the event of a disaster. 

I admit that I did not have a plan in place when I was running the Women’s Business Center in Portsmouth.  When the water heater let loose one night, we weren’t prepared.  The only reason we didn’t end up in a really bad place was sheer luck.  If it had happened on a Saturday night, we would have had to shut down operations for much longer than I would like to admit.  Counting on luck in your business isn’t a great plan.

Fortunately there is a second workshop that is taking place on Thursday, June 30th in Rochester for anyone who is able to attend.  For those who cannot, I wanted to share some of the resources and tips that I learned today. 

First of all, I quickly learned that “disasters” aren’t limited to floods, ice and tornados.  Interruptions in your supply chain, cyber security breaches and workplace violence are all forms of man-made disasters that affect businesses.

The many different faces of disasters have pretty ugly results as well. It was noted the 40-60% of small businesses do not survive a disaster.  In the past five years, over 1,300 businesses reached out to the NH Division of Economic Development, www.nheconomy.com, in response to disaster related issues.  I wonder how much of that could have been prevented by better planning?

Jeannette McDonald of Cogent Solutions LLC. in Portsmouth, referenced a list of questions that she pulled from a great website, www.ready.gov.  The site is loaded with good simple information that covers business continuity issues.  The following questions and suggestions are a great start to getting your business prepared for any natural or man-made interruption:
1. What are your potential risks?
2. Assess your critical business functions
3. Can you depend on your supply chain?
4. Create an emergency management plan
5. Where is your back-up data stored? 
6. Create a crisis communication plan and include social media
7. Can my business survive for more than a few days?
8. What is my insurance coverage?  Do I have business interruption coverage?
9. Where else can I run my business?
10. Create, communicate, practice, reevaluate again and again

These topics were expanded upon in the discussions throughout the morning event and were touched upon by industry experts from Homeland Security, Fire and EMS, Social Media, Public and Media Relations and the Small Business Administration.  No matter what size your business happens to be, it is so important that you are prepared for any number of disasters.  Investing a few hours of your time to create an emergency management plan could not only save you thousands of dollars but could potentially save your business.

Other online resources include www.preparemybusiness.org, and www.sba.gov.  The next workshop for “When Disaster Strikes” is Thursday June 30, 8:00 am – 12:00 pm in Conference Room 1A at the Rochester Community Center, 150 Wakefield St, Rochester, NH.  There is no charge to attend.   For more information and to register, visit: http://strafford-disaster-eorg.eventbrite.com/  Registration isn’t required to attend.

Christine J. Davis works for the N.H. Division of Economic Development as a resource specialist serving businesses in Rockingham and Strafford counties. Her role is to provide the support needed for businesses so that they may remain viable and growing entities in the community. Ms. Davis lives in Exeter with her two daughters.  When not performing her work or parenting duties she likes to spend time outdoors and discovering news places and activities in the community with her girls.  She can be reached at Christine.davis@dred.state.nh.us.

Free Workshop Series Developed to Help NH Businesses Survive Disaster

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

It’s 9 a.m. and the streets are flooded. Roads are not easily navigated by delivery trucks and businesses are forced to close their doors indefinitely. Unfortunately, this is a scene that has been repeated more than a few times in the Granite State recently with floods, ice storms and even tornados disrupting business activities.

when-disaster-strikesBearing in mind that maintaining operations is key to long-term business survival, the New Hampshire Division of Economic Development and USDA Rural Development are working together to promote the importance of preparedness and communications even before a disaster strikes. The Division of Economic Development and the USDA will host “When Disaster Strikes! How Will Your Business Survive?,” a series of workshops in all ten New Hampshire counties to educate business owners and senior level managers on business continuity, social media efforts and media relations – all in an effort for these companies to be better prepared if a natural or manmade disaster were to effect their daily operations.  The workshop series is just the first step in helping NH businesses. Concurrent plans also include developing three online web portals focused on supporting the public safety infrastructure. 

“We believe education and preparation, especially in times of crisis, are essential to running any business,” said NH Division of Economic Development Interim Director Roy Duddy. “The workshops are designed to be a hands-on learning situation with best practices on business continuity, social media and media & public relations.  Businesses who participate in the workshops will be engaged and given opportunities to learn how to be prepared before a crisis situation happens.”   

On December 11, 2008 New Hampshire was hit with a devastating ice storm that left much of the state paralyzed. Entire sections of the state’s electric systems crashed, leaving more than 400,000 homes and businesses without power. Many roads were closed due to fallen trees and branches making efforts to restore power that much more difficult. President Bush issued an emergency declaration for New Hampshire. Hardest hit communities included: Belknap, Carroll, Merrimack, Rockingham, Coos, Grafton, Hillsborough and Merrimack. The workshop series and development of the web portals were made possible through a grant provided by the USDA and are designed to help small to medium sized businesses located in counties designated by the Presidential Disaster in the federal fiscal year 2008. With additional support from the Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA), funding was secured to include Cheshire and Sullivan Counties, the two counties that were not affected by the ice storm. Businesses in all ten NH counties will receive the opportunity to attend a seminar happening in the county in which their business is located.  

Molly Lambert, State Director for USDA Rural Development stated that, “This is an extraordinary opportunity for USDA Rural Development to partner with federal, state and local leaders to create the platform and Internet based tools necessary for businesses to minimize economic loss and more efficiently recover from natural disasters.  The ability of this program to assist business owners, their employees, and families to prepare for future disasters is critical to stable, healthy communities across the Granite State.” 

“The Community Development Finance Authority wants to nurture an environment in which entrepreneurs have all the tools to succeed.  Challenges to operating a business can range from economic to natural disaster. We are pleased to support this workshop series with the main goal of educating business owners on how they can be better prepared,” added CDFA Communications Director Kevin Flynn.

The workshop series will run once in each of NH’s 10 counties. The workshops will begin at 8:00 a.m. and end promptly at Noon.  

The break-out sessions will focus on:

Business Continuity: How businesses, non-profits and the public sector can use business continuity planning to prepare and to respond to emergency situations. Presented by: Jeannette McDonald, Principal, Cogent Solutions LLC

Social Media: Web 2.0 Disaster Management: How to use social networks to plan for and respond to emergency situations. Presented by: Allen Voivod, Principal, Epiphanies Inc.

Public and Media Relations: Communicating in a time of crisis, getting to know your local media before disaster strikes. Presented by: Monica Bardier, Principal, PingPR and Scott Tranchemontagne, Principal, Montagne Communications.

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Workshop Series Dates & Locations

June 2  Tech  Village,  Conway                                                                                           

June 7  Cheshire County, TBA

June 9  Pease Public Library, Plymouth         

June 14 White Mountains Community College, Berlin

June 16 Division of Fire Standards Training and EMS Fire                                                                    Academy, Concord    

June 21 Hampton Police Department, Hampton

June 23 Gilford Public Library, Gilford

June 28 Claremont Savings Bank, Claremont

June 29 NH Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, Manchester

June 30 Strafford County, TBA                 

For more information on the workshop locations and to register visit: http://bit.ly/NHDisaster2011

Registration is required and space is limited.

In addition to the workshop series, three online tools are under development and are focused on the public safety infrastructure. Those three internal websites, which will operate as part of nheconomy.com, the State’s economic development web portal, include a business emergency preparedness site, a financing site and a manufacturing site. All will work to ensure that the New Hampshire business community is well positioned to be prepared when the next disaster or disruption in operations takes place.