SBDC, WCC, to co-host ThinkBiz 2010 small business conference Sept. 9, 10

Western Washington University’s Small Business Development Center, Whatcom Community College, along with sponsor Whidbey Island Bank, will host ThinkBiz 2010 – Small Business Conference Sept. 9 and 10 at Whatcom Community College’s Heiner Center.

ThinkBiz is a simple, affordable training and networking conference to help businesses stabilize and begin to move forward from the challenging economic times.

The two-day conference features four training options, in each of five sessions, for local business owners in four basic categories: New Media, Marketing and Connecting, Business Gears and The Bottom Line. Each session will provide a “Take-Away Ten,” which are 10 ideas or strategies the attendee can put into practice immediately.

Nancy Juetten, a publicity trainer and Extreme Bio Makeover expert, will be one of the keynote speakers at the conference. Juetten is a work-in-the-trenches publicist, “Media Savvy” columnist for the Puget Sound Business Journal, a DIY publicity blogger, an inspirational speaker, and the creator of the popular Bye-Bye Boring Bio Action Guide that has earned raves from business owners and publicity experts. Three of the first 250 registrants for the conference will receive a copy of the Bye-Bye Boring Bio Action Guide.

The other keynote speakers at the conference are Canadian speakers Judy Thompson and Gayle Hallgren-Rezac of Sherpa Learning Company, author of the book “Work the Pond,” given to the first 250 registrants for the conference. Along with being a chartered accountant, Thompson is vice-chair of The Vancouver Board of Trade’s Women’s Leadership Circle advisory council; she sits on the board of directors of the BC Women’s Enterprise Centre and is a director of a publicly traded mining exploration company.

Hallgren-Rezac is the founder of Cookies by George and is a YWCA Woman of Distinction. She is a member of the Davos Circle, having attended the Annual World Economic Forum more than 10 times.

Registration for the conference is $69 or $20 for students with valid ID; there are only 25 spots reserved for students, so early registration is important. To register, call (360) 383-3200 or register online at http://thinkbiznw.com/.

For more than 20 years, the Small Business Development Center has enabled Western Washington’s College of Business and Economics to give back to the business community and has helped to shape the economic future of Whatcom County. The SBDC provides free, confidential counseling, technical assistance combined with business intelligence research to business owners and managers in an effort to help businesses thrive throughout Whatcom County. For more information contact Jennifer Shelton at the SBDC at (360) 733-4014 or visit at http://wsbdc.org/.