July 2019

SBIR Road Tour

Seeding America’s Future Innovations (TM)
Friday, August 16th, 7:15 AM – 3:45 PM

Attention: Small Technology Firms, Technology Entrepreneurs, Innovators, Researchers
The SBA SBIR Road Tour is coming to Colorado for the first time this year, and is stopping in Boulder.

The SBIR Road Tour is a national outreach to provide technology funding opportunity through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Together these programs represent $2.5 billion in early-stage funding.

This is an exciting opportunity for attendees to gain an in-depth understanding of agency technology funding priorities, listen in on engaging panel sessions, meet one-on-one with program managers from 25 federal agencies and connect with local assistance; e.g., DHS, DOE, NASA,NIH, NOAA, USDA, USPTO and more.

Click here for agenda highlights, location, contact information and registration ($69/person): http://bit.ly/2SDFLct.

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Navigating CDOT Systems

SBDC Programs / saraeknudsen

Do you want to know more about how to do business with the Colorado Department of Transportation? Here’s your chance. There’s a free webinar TOMORROW, July 17th, 11AM – 12PM — Navigating CDOT Systems, presented by the Program Manager for the Connect2DOT program, Cathy Kramer.

You will receive an email from GoToMeeting with a link to join the webinar upon registration today. Otherwise, call in tomorrow morning, 303-326-8686, and the SBDC staff will forward the link. This workshop will cover the various systems and online resources for doing business with CDOT. It includes the various ways to find and bid on engineering, construction, and goods and services contracts. If you want to maximize your time online and learn CDOT’s various contracting systems, join this webinar for a hands-on look at where to go and how to navigate: Highway & Bridge Construction | Highway & Bridge Design | Goods & Services. Suggested audience: Small business contractors interested in doing business with CDOT. Full description and Registration here.

More government contracting and certification workshops presented by the Aurora-South Metro SBDC.

More workshops presented by Connect2DOT.

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SOS – Bogus Solicitations

Solutions / saraeknudsen

The Colorado Secretary of State’s office today is alerting small business owners about potentially misleading notices requesting an extra fee for a third party to file business documents. The Secretary of State’s office has received multiple reports of these potentially deceptive or misleading solicitations being sent to Colorado businesses. The Colorado Secretary of State maintains an easy to use online filing system for businesses. Use of a third party to complete filings with the Secretary of State is not required.

The solicitation may:

* Appear similar to a government form.
* Contain your business entity’s actual business ID number and date of formation, as reflected in the Secretary of State’s business records.
* Contain a “Customer ID Number” that does not match a number given to you by a State or Federal Agency.
* Contain a warning to make sure that the form’s instructions are followed exactly when completing the form.
* Contain a due date for your response.

* Mention a periodic report.

Click to see a sample of the misleading notice… In the example, the company is charging a $75 “processing fee” for a $10 filing. The Secretary of State’s office does not mail out business filing forms and compliance with these notices is not required.

All business filings, including annual Periodic Reports, are filed online. The current fee for filing the Periodic Report is only $10. Business owners can find instructions to easily and directly file business forms on the Secretary of State’s website under the Business Organizations heading.

“We want to make sure Coloradans have the tools they need for their businesses to succeed. We have an easy-to-use and affordable business filing system. Business owners should be wary of third-party solicitations related to filing requirements,” said Secretary of State Jena Griswold

In order to receive advance notice of when Periodic Reports, Trademark renewals, or Trade Name renewals are due, business owners can sign up online for free Email Notifications. Additionally, business owners can visit the Secretary of State’s site to verify their business status, file a form or obtain a free certification.

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Yoda Has Left The Building

Aurora Team, Consultants/Trainers, South Metro Team / saraeknudsen

It’s official — Small Business Specialist, Employee of the Year, Consultant of the Year, and Aurora Small Business Advocate of the Year is officially retired now — and still happier than a millionaire. We will miss him. He’s shown below with Glenn Plagens, Director of Business Support and Rural Prosperity, and to the right Chuck is with his colleague and long-time consultant Jim Olp. Jim gave Chuck his ‘framed’ million!

We are excited for Chuck’s next venture and wish him well!

New on board with the SBDC is strategic planning and financial specialists Neil Pollard for Aurora and Laurie Wolmer for the South Metro area. We are also privileged to have Lanelle Barnett on Wednesdays to assist clients with tax planning, accounting and bookkeeping questions (no, she will not do your books for you nor your tax returns ;^) Stefanie Dalgar is our marketing expert, and they are all a joy and enthusiastic for small business. Please give us a ring for one-on-one free and confidential business consulting, (303) 326-8686. We continue forward without our Yoda Chuck Hahn!

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