The program details were unveiled at a quarterly Downtown Small Business Gathering event held the morning of Oct. 18 in an effort to enhance outreach to the small business and entrepreneur community in Downtown Scottsdale. The gathering was held from 7 – 9 a.m. at the Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West and was produced by the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the City of Scottsdale economic development department.
“We realized that while there are great groups out there in Downtown, there is not one gathering that has been able to focus more on the business aspect of things and try and create connections between all specialty business users in downtown Scottsdale,” said Chair of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce Downtown Committee, Travis Radevski, Owner of Sip Coffee & Beer House.
The new pilot video series named ‘Downtown Spotlight’ was unveiled at the event. This video series was created to bring more value and awareness of local small business in the community. It will feature unique small businesses in 90 second video promotions.
“The focus will be on the uniqueness of their businesses, the importance of shopping locally, and why they choose to call Scottsdale home,” said Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, Mark Hiegel. Interested participants may go online to fill out an application form, share basic information about their operations in Scottsdale and why they believe their business should be featured in this series. If selected for a video, they also must be willing to participate in follow up surveys and feedback, and social media promotion of their own videos and other shop local promotions in the City. If they need assistance and guidance on usage of social media, resources will be offered.
Downtown Scottsdale businesses may complete the online application to be considered for the first videos in the pilot series. Applications are due no later than Oct. 27.
Other events focused on small business development activity in Scottsdale include:
The City of Scottsdale Economic Development Department in partnership with the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce, SkySong, the ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center and Stealthmode Partners have also announced dates and topics for the upcoming four-week fall Small Business Training Series. Entrepreneurs, startups and business owners are encouraged to attend this free series and get one-on-one mentoring with industry leaders. The series will be held at 1951 at ASU SkySong Tuesday evenings from 6 – 7 p.m. during the month of November and topics covered will be:
Nov. 7
Being Sure You Are Ready To Grow
Presented by: Bob La Loggia, AppointmentPlus
Nov. 14
Customer Acquisition- Do You Know Your Costs?
Presented by: Mike Simmons, Catalyst Sale
Nov. 21
The Legal Realities of Being a Business Owner
Presented by: Andy Western and Aaron Harmon, Osborn Maledon
Nov. 28
Making a Marketing Plan for Growth
Presented by: Kathy Sacks, Kegelbell
“We appreciate the continued support from the leaders in the business community that have agreed to participate and look forward to working closely with attendees to provide this level of programming and direct mentorship,” said Economic Development Specialist, Mark Paratore. “The training series was well attended in the spring and it is great to see this program continue for another year.”
Registration is now open for each session and interested attendees can register at ChooseScottsdale.com/news.
About the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce
The Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce is the leading organization dedicated to serving Scottsdale, regional businesses and community prosperity through advocacy, access to leaders, economic development, connectivity and business education. Our Vision is simple and direct; To build a vibrant and prosperous community through business leadership.
About the City of Scottsdale
Scottsdale is one of the state’s leading job centers, with a diverse economy built on medical research, high-tech innovation, tourism and corporate headquarters. Scottsdale is home to nearly 18,000 businesses supplying over 150,000 jobs. The high-tech innovation center SkySong, located just a few miles from Downtown, is designed to help companies grow through a unique partnership with nearby Arizona State University. The Scottsdale Cure Corridor is a partnership of premier health care providers and biomedical companies seeking to advance medicine and patient care through cutting-edge research. For more information, visit ChooseScottsdale.com.
