Bear Paw's Small Business Development Center recently held free business workshops in Malta and Havre.  These workshops, taught by John Donovan from the Small Business Administration and Joe LaPlante with the SBDC, focused on utilizing financial statements to help business owners better manage their operation by enhancing their knowledge of cash flows.

LaPlante, Bear Paw's SBDC Director, explained the different types of financial statements, common sizing income statements, and identifying key indicators on the balance sheet. Donovan educated attendees about the time it takes for a dollar spent by the business to be converted into a dollar received by the business, or the cash conversion cycle. Participants also looked at how financial ratios could help them analyze different aspects of their business operations to become more profitable. At the end of the workshop,  attendees took home a business-ready guide provided by the SBA which covers state and federal resources available to expand or create a business.

 

Ashley Stuart, Executive Director of Phillips County Growth Council in Malta, said "The class offered valuable tips and tools to increase cash flows and better manage your business and bookkeeping on a daily basis.  The knowledge and experti se shared with our community by John and Joe was very helpful and we look forward to partnering with the SBDC and Bear Paw Development in the future to offer additional classes in our area."

If you want to learn more about these topics or would like to b ring a small business workshop to your community, contact Joe LaPlante at 265-9226 or email him at [email protected] .    

A key role of the Food and Agriculture Development Center Network is to provide assistance to businesses applying to Montana's Growth Through Agriculture grant program, hosted by the Montana Department of Agriculture. This economic development tool has been highly impactful to new, as well as established food and value-added agriculture ventures throughout the state.

 

This year, the twice-annual deadlines available in previous years were compressed into one grant submission deadline. As such, the FADC experienced increased, urgent and enthusiastic interest from potential applicants. Through rekindling past connections, and initiating relationships with new, potential applicants, Taylor Lyon, Bear Paw's FADC Director, was able to assist with six GTA applications, out of a total of twenty-four statewide submissions.  Project types included two major pulse processing and handling facilities, two breweries, a vegetable farm and a meat processor. The projects encompassed a geographic region spanning from the Flathead Valley all the way across the Hi-Line to Glasgow. Decisions on funding will be made in late November 2016.

 

On other fronts, Lyon completed Cooperative Development Specialist training to better serve the Hi-Line and enhance the partnership between Bear Paw Development and the Montana Cooperative Development Center, and to better utilize the cooperative business model for business start-up and growth. Following certification, Lyon participated in meetings with the budding Fresh Start Grocery Co-op's steering committee in Geraldine. Next steps for this exciting venture will be electing a board of directors for the co-op, which will occur in Geraldine on November 29, 2016.

To contact the Bear Paw FADC, call 265-9226 or e-mail Lyon at [email protected] .