The Salt Lake Community College Miller Global Business Center is once again offering its Executive Certificate of Global Business Management course to business executives, professionals, working staff, entrepreneurs and qualified students who wish to increase their knowledge and improve their strategies in global business practices.

BuzzBoosters will be presenting at the Glazer Kennedy inner circle local chapter this week.
The topic is No B.S. Social Media for Business.
don’t forget to rsvp

BuzzBooster.com- Provides marketing coaching for small business and authors
SCORE — Provides counseling to small businesses
- Ogden SCORE - E-mail
ogdenscore158@aol.com
- Salt Lake SCORE - Chapter 0049
310 S. Main St., N. Mezzanine, Salt Lake City. Phone: (801) 746-2269; Fax: (801) 746-2273; e-mail: mallen@slcscore.com
- Wayne Brown Institute — Runs the oldest and most successful non-profit venture accelerator program in the country, helping technical entrepreneurs from every social economic level raise money for their businesses.
- Grow Utah Ventures — A privately funded organization established solely to advance entrepreneurism and high growth business creation in Utah. Among its initiatives are the eStation Business Incubators and Launch– The Magazine for Utah Entrepreneurs.
- Small Business Development Centers
– Provides counseling and training to small businesses.
- Small Business Administration — Provides information about small business (Click here for Utah SBA)
- Utah Micro Enterprise Loan Fund — Provides counseling and funding for small business
- The Pete Suazo Business Center — Provides counseling and training for Hispanic/Latino businesses
- Utah Business.gov — Provides online access to Utah Government services; one-stop shop business registrations
- Export.gov — Provides information on how to export your product.

Ogden City announced yesterday the “Concept to Company” contest, which aims to attract new product ideas and new companies to Ogden’s burgeoning outdoor recreation business environment.

With the support of primary sponsors Zions Bank, Grow Utah Ventures and USTAR, Concept to Company may be the first competition in the nation to focus on spurring innovation in the outdoor recreation products industry.

The winners will be announced on September 27th, as part of the City of Ogden’s “Mountain to Metro” festival. The contest is open to any Utah-based inventor or small business with a product or service idea that applies to outdoor recreation. Ideas should focus on skiing, snowboarding, cycling, climbing, hiking, paddling, and other non-motorized, non-fishing or non-hunting sports. The idea or invention must not yet be introduced into the market and must have no sales revenue.

“Ogden has gained a reputation as an outdoor industry-friendly town,” said Ogden City Mayor Matthew R. Godfrey. “We want to further that reputation by encouraging creativity and product development that could impact a wide range of sports.”

A panel of outdoor industry experts will evaluate ideas based on innovation and marketability. The winning entry will receive a $20,000 award, comprised of cash and the equivalent value in consulting or prototyping services to help bring the idea to fruition. Two runner-up winners will receive $10,000 awards, comprised of cash and services.

The contest is open to individual inventors or to innovative small businesses with less than $5 million in annual revenues. Applicants must reside or be based in Utah.

“Contest winners will get a lot of attention from the outdoor recreation industry, and that could lead to increased opportunities in licensing or in the actual launch of some new businesses which is our ultimate goal,” said T. Craig Bott, president of Grow Utah Ventures.

The Concept to Company contest may be unique. “There are a number of product innovation contests around the country, but to the best of our knowledge, this is the first and only one to foster new ideas in outdoor recreation,” said Curt Roberts, Northern Utah Regional Technology Outreach Director for USTAR. “We look forward to working with the winners to help them turn their concept into sales revenue, or better yet, into a company.”

Industry sponsors of the contest include Amer Sports Winter & Outdoor, Backcountry.com, Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd., Deer Valley Resort, Descente North America, GOODE, Mountain to Metro, Ogden City, Outdoor Industry Association, Ogden Climbing Park, Petzl America, Rossignol Group North America and Seed Weber Davis Morgan.

Applications may be submitted now through the submission deadline of Aug. 30, 2008.

Contest rules and an application form are available at www.launchutah.com/concepttocompany.php.

by Sarah Ryther Francom

“Utah’s economy has slowed from about 70 mph to 25 mph, while the national economy is parked by the side of the road with a couple of flat tires.” said Jeff Thredgold, economic consultant to Zions Bank, during the bank’s recent Business Builder’s Breakfast. Last week Zions Bank released a report, written by Thredgold, discussing Utah’s economic situation.

According to the report, Utah’s economy is being negatively impacted by two primary factors: the nation’s fixation on U.S. economic weakness and home price declines. This has led to lower consumer confidence levels and softer spending, Thredgold says, but Utah’s economy remains relatively steady.

“Utah’s economy was the single strongest state economy in the country in the last two years as measured by growth and employment,” Thredgold says. “During the last 12 months, Utah’s economy has generated 25,000 additional net jobs at a growth rate of 2 percent.” While this growth is better than every other state (except Wyoming), it is a sharp decline when compared to last summer’s growth rate of 4.5 percent and the summer of 2006’s growth rate of 5.4 percent.

Though job creation is sluggish, Thredgold says that the state’s labor market remains largely intact. “Utah’s unemployment rate averaged 3.1 percent during 2008’s first four months, again ranking among the nation’s lowest,” he said.

According to the report, the most significant change in Utah’s economy has been the major slowing in new home construction. In fact, today’s residential construction levels are at the weakest rate since the 1990s, the report says. “The biggest problem is the housing market, which is true of most parts of the country. We got little carried away with home building and we have an excess of homes to sale,” Thredgold says. Because of the state’s excess supply of new homes, Thredgold predicts that new home construction will remain weak in 2009.

Though the nation’s economy, and Utah’s economy, has sharply slowed, Thredgold says that the Beehive State could benefit. “In a series of economic slowing, it’s a good time to look for opportunities to attract talent or other people from other parts of the country,” he says. “There are great challenges in periods of economic weakness, but great opportunities as well.”

According to Thredgold, Utah has an array of strengths that could attract outside companies. “[Utah has a] young workforce, rising population, strong work ethic, recreational opportunities, good airports and good infrastructure,” he says. “This combination of factors does play to our favor…My outlook for Utah continues to look good.”

by Sarah Ryther Francom
Utah business magazine

“Public relations will never be the same as before social media,” said Brian Watkins, public relations manager of social media at Omniture. Watkins spoke to Utah Technology Council (UTC) members about how public relations professionals can utilize social media in their communication strategies.

Watkins said that social media is becoming the way to communicate with customers, noting that the key difference between social media and traditional forms of PR communication methods is that social media is interactive. “Social media allows anyone to participate in a conversation, and the conversation is in real time,” Watkins said. “Your customers can reach out to you and you can reach them.”

Watkins said that many companies are reluctant to utilize social media, with the main concerns being time constraints, fear of giving the customer too much authority and legal implications, among others. But those companies are missing out on reaching many customers, Watkins said. “Participating in [social media] will increase your visibility, increase your customer loyalty, will give you the ability to watch your customer’s behaviors and then allow you to respond fast. [Social media] is also a lot cheaper than a focus group,” he said.

To the companies that are participating in social media, Watkins advises to do so with a strategic plan. “Everyone has this attitude of ‘Hey, we should be doing that.’ I think it’s really important that you be strategic about whatever you do. Don’t just do it to do it. Use [social media] as a strategic tool,” he said.

Before hopping on the social media bandwagon, Watkins said that each company should begin with an assessment. “Find out where your customers are. Are they blogging? Are they on Twitter?” he asked. Next, Watkins said to write up a detailed strategy and make sure that you’re using the right social media platform.

Once your company begins participating in social media, whether through a blog, MySpace, etc., Watkins said that it’s vital to be authentic. “You must be yourself. Customers can see right through fakeness.” He added that companies must be prepared to receive negative feedback, be prepared to fix customer-related problems and have a code of conduct. It is also important, Watkins said, to designate one individual who will watch and evaluate the content, whether on the company’s site (like a company blog) or on an independent site (like a customer’s blog).

To be successful, Watkins maintains that companies should respond to customer queries and complaints, and respond quickly to any potentially damaging comments. “You should respond to anything that could be harmful to your company within three hours,” he said.

Watkins also said that companies should not be reluctant to participate in another company’s (or an individual’s) blog, Website, etc. For example, while many companies hesitate to provide a link to another company’s Website, doing so can actually benefit your company, Watkins said. “The whole point of social media is to establish a community. If you link to them, they’ll link to you and you’ll see more customers on your site.”

All-in-all, Watkins said that PR professionals should remember that traditional PR rules apply in social media, but PR professionals must also acknowledge that the communication arena has significantly changed. “The whole point of social media is that it’s an individual talking to another individual. It’s not a faceless organization broadcasting content to its customer. It’s not targeting anymore, you’re having a conversation.”

Shahar and Nash will present to a high-powered, like-minded, energized group that gets together each month to NETWORK with each other, and to learn about and discuss EFFECTIVE MARKETING methods.
Check this business event in Salt Lake City

by Sarah Ryther Francom

Have you been to the Fort Douglas Museum? How about the Olympic Cauldron Park? With gas prices on the rise, now is the time to explore the Beehive State. And with the Salt Lake Connect Pass, it couldn’t be any easier to venture through Salt Lake City. Launched by the Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau and Gray Line Utah, the Salt Lake Connect Pass is the area’s first hop-on, hop-off city tour, allowing residents and tourists direct access to many of Salt Lake’s top attractions, while providing guided transportation.

“As locals, we often take for granted what’s in our own backyard. This tour let’s you visit a lot of places that you know about that you’ve never been to,” says Shawn Stinson, director of communications of the Visitor’s Bureau. “It allows people to see some of [Utah’s] top attractions, fine arts and museums.”

Though in its introductory year, the tour, which was inspired by similar hop-on, hop-off tours in cities like New York and Boston, is expected to be popular due mainly to rising gas costs. “In the time of this gas crunch, we can all take the opportunity to see more of Utah,” Stinson says. “And you won’t have to worry about parking or driving.”

But the tour does more than provide residents and tourists access to some of Salt Lake’s premier destinations — the tour also helps bring people and dollars to local businesses. According to Stinson, many of Utah’s businesses are expecting to see more visitors this summer, and not just the attractions that are part of the tour. Surrounding restaurants and retail stores should also see an increase in traffic, as people might opt to venture into an attraction’s neighborhood. This, the bureau believes, will be an added boost to the local economy.

To participate in the tour, begin at either the Visitor’s Center or Little America, where a bus will pick you up and take you to the first destination. Another bus will be back in 45 minutes to take you to the next destination. Of course, you can stay longer than 45 minutes at a destination if you choose. You can also opt to skip certain destinations. “Guests can customize their own experience on the City Tour by choosing where to explore depending upon their interests and schedule,” Stinson says.

The City Tour runs daily until September 3, operating from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Entry fee to participating attractions is included for Discovery Gateway, Red Butte Garden, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Utah Museum of Natural History, Utah’s Hogle Zoo, Lion House Pantry Restaurant, Clark Planetarium and This is the Place Heritage Park. The cost of the City Tour is $35 for adults, $33 for seniors and $27 for children. City Tours can be purchased online at SaltLakeConnectPass.com and at the downtown Visitors Center.

The Salt Lake Connect Pass City Tour picks up and drops off passengers at the following attractions:

Downtown Salt Lake Visitors Center (origination point)
Little America Hotel (origination point)
Olympic Cauldron Park
Utah Museum of Fine Arts
Fort Douglas Museum
Red Butte Garden
This Is The Place Heritage Park
Utah’s Hogle Zoo
Utah Museum of Natural History
Historic South Temple / Masonic Temple & Governor’s Mansion
Cathedral of the Madeleine
Lion House Pantry
Historic Temple Square
Utah State Capitol
Discovery Gateway
Clark Planetarium (IMAX and Star Show)

By Amy Donaldson
Deseret News
SANDY — Mara Berzins and Thanh Huang stand on the sideline of a volleyball court discussing what might entertain a pack of teenage boys on a Sunday afternoon in Utah.
That is not an easy task as they try to juggle volleyball schedules with drive times and individual interests.

“Yesterday, we took the 18s team up to Park City and did the zip line and watched the skiers jump into the pool,” said Berzins, who has two sons playing in the Maryland Volleyball Club. “They got paper and started to give them scores on their jumps. Some of them would look up to see how the boys scored them. They had a lot of fun.”

Mothers and fathers from around the country — and even a few from outside the United States — face the same dilemma as Berzins and Huang. Nearly 35,000 people converged in Sandy this past week for the 2008 USA Boys Junior Olympic Volleyball Tournament. The event, which started July 2 and runs through Wednesday, is projected to have around a $25 million to $30 million economic impact as those who came for volleyball turn the trip into a family vacation.

This is the fourth USA Junior Volleyball Olympic Championship tournament Utah has hosted in eight years; the other three events were girls tournaments.

SLC trying to re-establish its foreign-trade zone to bolster Utah companies’ profits
By Steven Oberbeck
For the third time in as many decades, Salt Lake City is trying to establish an oasis for foreign trade to help businesses throughout northern Utah better compete in the international arena
If the city finally is successful in setting up a viable “foreign-trade zone,” hundreds of Utah companies will be able to bolster their profits by reducing the duties they pay the federal government when bringing foreign goods into the country for manufacturing and other uses.
“We’re not talking a few dollars in savings here. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars for some companies,” said Lew Cramer, president and chief executive of the World Trade Center of Utah.
Businesses won’t be the only beneficiaries.
“By lowering manufacturing costs, foreign-trade zones can help keep jobs in Utah that might otherwise go offshore or to some other state,” said Robert Farrington, Salt Lake City’s new economic development director.
Also, lower manufacturing costs eventually will be reflected in lower consumer prices, he said.
Foreign-trade zones are areas within the United States where foreign and domestic merchandise is considered to be outside the reach of U.S. Customs. Companies operating within an FTZ can import parts and other products into the zone, store them, repackage them if they want, or use them in their own manufacturing activities without
paying import duties on those components.
Third time’s a charm
Although Salt Lake City tried unsuccessfully to establish a viable FTZ in the late 1970s and again in the mid-1990s, city officials vow that this time things will be different. “This is definitely going to happen,” Farrington said. “We have a strong partner now.”
The city has teamed up with The Rockefeller Group, which is among the premier FTZ development firms in the country. Rockefeller, which was represented by William D’Evelyn of the Salt Lake real estate firm Commerce CRG, has purchased 55 acres for an industrial park near 1150 South and 4800 West.
With Rockefeller’s help, Salt Lake City has applied to the U.S. Department of Commerce to re-establish its dormant FTZ status for the property. A decision is expected within the next 60 days.
As a transportation center that is growing in regional importance, Salt Lake City is an ideal location for an FTZ, said Brandi Hanback of The Rockefeller Group, who also serves as chairwoman of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones.
There are a number of reasons that companies may want to use a FTZ, she said. Among them are:
* Relief from some import duties.
As an example, a company might import motors for use in the manufacture of a vacuum cleaners. Normally the motors would carry a 4 percent duty, but they could be shipped duty free to a foreign-trade zone, Hanback said. “When the vacuum cleaner leaves the FTZ and enters the U.S., the duty rate on the motor drops from 4 percent to zero because there are no import duties on vacuum cleaners.”
* Duty exemption on re-exports.
When foreign-made merchandise is brought into a foreign-trade zone, no customs duty is owed until that merchandise leaves the zone and enters U.S. commerce. However, if the imported merchandise is exported out of the country, to Canada or Mexico, for example, no customs duty is ever due, Hanback explained.
* Custom duties can be eliminated on damaged or waste merchandise.
Importers can destroy damaged products within the zone and not face a penalty. An example would be a company that imports a container of porcelain plates and discovers half of them are broken. Without an FTZ, the importer would have to pay a duty on the entire container, broken plates and all. Using an FTZ, the importer would have to pay duty only on the half of the merchandise that actually leaves the zone.
Hanback said FTZs increasingly are gaining in importance in the light of the expanding number of free-trade agreements the United States is striking with its trade partners.
In the case of vacuum cleaners, foreign manufactures can export their products to the U.S. duty free, while U.S. manufacturers would have to pay the duty on the foreign-made motor used in their vacuums.
“By using a foreign trade zone, the playing field is leveled for the U.S. manufacturer,” she said.

The first time around
Utah’s first foreign-trade zone venture was little more than a fenced-off warehouse set among weed-covered fields on land in the Salt Lake International Center, west of Salt Lake City International Airport. It was organized amid a national flurry of foreign-trade zone development in 1978, shortly after the U.S. Department of Commerce revamped its regulations governing such city-run enterprises.
However, unlike many of the 256 foreign-trade zones that encompass 2,650 companies employing more than 360,000 Americans, the Salt Lake zone never amounted to much over the years.
“We could never get enough companies interested,” said Alison Gregersen Weyher, Salt Lake City’s former director of community and economic development.
At the time, many of the companies interested in using a foreign-trade zone were bringing their merchandise through the ports on the West Coast and wanted to keep their operations consolidated there.
In the mid-1990s, Orem automobile dealer David Washburn was one of only a few business owners taking advantage of the city’s foreign-trade zone. A couple of dozen times a year, he’d ship a new Isuzu pickup to the warehouse, where a mechanic would crack open the transmission.
Standing under the hoisted vehicle, the mechanic would change the gears, adding safety equipment to prevent the truck from going more than 25 mph and making it suitable for use in underground mines.
Without the benefit of the foreign-trade zone, Washburn would have been charged an import duty on the components that were needed to adapt the pickups for underground use.
“By doing the work in the foreign-trade zone, we’d get a break on the custom duties,” Washburn said. “It wasn’t too bad of a deal, although we did have to send people to Salt Lake City occasionally.”
Salt Lake City subsequently vowed its foreign-trade zone was going to be reborn and expanded as a place where companies could turn to for their manufacturing and assemble activities. Yet that effort also fell by the wayside after the city transferred its foreign-trade zone land to Salt Lake City International Airport, which needed the property to expand.
“It isn’t unusual for something like that to happen,” Hanback said.
For FTZs to prosper, support typically has to come from both the public and private sectors, she explained. And until a FTZ gets well established, that can be a problem given that city administrations change every few years, and with them their economic development priorities.
Also, there are new regulations that will allow Utah businesses to establish their existing facilities as FTZ subzones. And that will allow companies within a 60-mile radius of the Salt Lake City FTZ to enjoy the benefits without moving their operations to Utah’s capital city.