Webinars from October, 2007 and later require Flash Player (already installed in 98% of web browsers). The power point presentations and other documents are available in PDF format and require Adobe Reader to open.
Archived recordings are available for the following webinars:
Spring 2013
April
Food Safety for Farmers Market Vendors
- Watch the recorded webinar now
- Download the presentation
- Other resources of interest
- Sample vendor cleaning log template
- Sample vendor training log template
- Sampling at Farmers Markets: A Practical Guide for Farmers Market Vendors (a publication of Cooperative Extension Service, University of Kentucky)
- Small Farm and Direct Marketing Handbook (a publication of Washington State Department of Agriculture)
- University of Vermont Food Safety publications (several related to farmers’ markets)
Winter 2013
March
Pinterest for Your Business
February
Trends and Cool Tools in Social Media
January
Getting Action from Website Landing Pages, Jay Jenkins, UNL Extension,
Fall 2012
December
Best Practices for Food Safety for Value-Added Producers, Londa Nwadike, UVM Extension
November
Using Social Networks to Build Local Economies
Casey Hoy, Ohio State University
- Download the presentation from the webinar
- Watch the recorded webinar now
- Short video shown during webinar
October
Establishing a Microenterprise Lending Program
Nancy Bowen, Ohio State University Extension and Julie Miller, Wright State University
September
Retail Layout and Design
Kathy Kelley, Pennsylvania State University Extension
Spring 2012
June
Cooperative Extension and Latino Business Development
Timothy Boritch, Ph.D. , Iowa State University
Himar Hernandez, Iowa State University
May
The Art & Science of Direct Marketing – Customer Service
Mary Peabody, UVM Extension
April
Direct Marketing – Displaying Your Products
Melissa Bond, University of Kentucky
Winter 2012
March
Security and Organizational Risk Planning
Brad Reed, Glenville State College, West Virginia
February
Direct Marketing: Specialty Foods
Connie Hancock, Jennifer Nixon, Jay Jenkins, University of Nebraska and Glenn Muske, North Dakota State University
January
Maps, Apps and Mobile Media Marketing!
Julie Fox, Program Director Direct Marketing – Ohio State University
Fall 2011
December
Preparing to Transfer the Family Enterprise, Beth Adamson, Prairie Family Business Association
November
Understanding the 1099 Economy with Erik Pages, EntreWorks Consulting
October
Being Prepared: Is Your Business Ready for a Disaster? George Haynes, Montana State
September
Building the Case for Entrepreneurship in a Jobless Recovery with Stephan Goetz, Director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development
Spring 2011
June
Economic Development by the Numbers: Selected Tools and Databases for Economic Development with Sam Cordes, Purdue Center for Rural Development
May
Community Business Matching with Tom Harris and Buddy Borden, University of Nevada
April
Targeting Regional Economic Development in a World of Clusters with Steve Deller, University of Wisconsin – Madison
- View the recorded webinar now!
- Download the presentation from the webinar
- Learn more about Targeted Regional Economic Development
Winter 2011
March
You are Here! with Connie Hancock and Jenny Nixon, University of Nebraska
February
Getting Down to Business with Social Media with Becky McCray, Small Business Survival
Want to connect with Becky? Check out Small Business Survival or search @BeckyMcCray or @SBSurvival on your favorite social media site.
January
Creating Valuable Content that Converts with Scott Wild, WildInspire
Want to connect with Scott? Check out WildInspire
Fall 2010
December
Helping Students Become More Innovative and Entrepreneurial.
November
Culinary Tourism. Culinary Tourism, the emerging niche that combines agriculture, specialty food and tourism. Culinary tourism is one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry — and it’s not just for tourists. From well-heeled travelers to local school children, culinary experiences play an important role in helping us share and learn about unique customs. Experiencing culture through food is the crux of culinary tourism, and communities throughout the U.S. are rediscovering and celebrating their heritage with a focus on food and drink. Lisa Chase of University of Vermont Extension and Laura Brown of University of Wisconsin Extension will discuss what culinary tourism is and how farms, restaurants, and other small businesses around the country are benefiting for this growing niche. Participants will learn best practices for communities and business to capture tourism dollars and integrate culinary experiences into economic development programs.
October
Branding Your Specialty Food Business. This webinar focuses on the importance of branding and features specialty food business owners Judith Moore of the Charleston Cookie Company and Robin Rhea, Slather Brand Foods
September
Starting Right in Specialty Foods with Brian Norder, Director, Vermont Food Venture Center An informative session on what it takes to start and grow a specialty food business. Brian has over a decade of experience assisting entrepreneurs in all phases of food-related business development.
Resources referenced in the session
- Vermont Food Venture Center
- Northeast Center for Food Entrepreneurship
- New England Food Entrepreneurs
- Rutgers Food Innovation Center
- North Carolina State University Food Science
- University of Idaho
- University of Nebraska Food Processing Center
- Prince Edward Island Food Technology Center
- Guelph Food Technology Centre
- FDA Labeling Assistance
- National Business Incubation Association
Spring 2010
June
Youth Market: Rural Entrepreneurship Experience. This webinar highlights the Youth Market 4-H project, which was designated as a Program of Distinction in 2009 by National 4-H Council and also received the Annie E. Casey Family Strengthening Award. The project’s overall goal is to incorporates a youth component into the county effort to improve the economic status of families in Garrett County, Maryland, a rural Appalachian area. Youth market goals are focused in two areas. First, a classroom experience – youth gain knowledge and skills through participation in a youth track at the annual rural enterprise conference. Second, a vendor experience where youth develop a successful small business. The Youth Market Program was developed to provide young people and opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship and have a “real-life” experience of selling at a market. Participants develop life skills, gain money management experience, and explore new product markets. Youth working under the guidance of 4-H leaders and mentors from the adult farmer’s market will increase their chances of success in their small business initiatives. As youth experience success in their market endeavors they become contributing members of the household, the financial security of their family increases and as a result, the economic development of the region improves.
May
Getting Your Community Ready for Entrepreneurship Development, part 2. In this follow-up to April’s webinar Sharon Gulick of University of Missouri Extension introduces you to two communities that are taking their economic development into their own hands. The projects have taken very different approaches (e.g., one has taken a broad based community economic development and youth entrepreneurship focus and the other on local foods and tourism). The presenters discuss the challenges they faced, how they built their teams, developed their plans and the successes that they’ve had. These are two very dynamic projects that have gotten national attention for their unique strategies and community engagement styles.
April
Getting Your Community Ready for Entrepreneurship Development. Even before the current recession we have been reading and hearing a lot about entrepreneurs. And by all accounts, they may be the most important ingredient for a sustainable economy into the future. Yet, unlike a big manufacturer that comes calling seeking incentives to locate in our community, they are hard to identify … and their needs are a challenge to understand, much less meet. If a community is going to make entrepreneurship development a part of its economic development portfolio, how do they go about it? Are there some proven approaches and best practices that will help communities to be successful at welcoming and supporting entrepreneurs? In short, yes! …Features Deb Markley sharing insights drawn from the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship’s Energizing Entrepreneurs (e2) approach to thinking about entrepreneurship-focused economic development and Greg Clary sharing how the Texas Center for Rural Entrepreneurship (TCRE) prepares communities for certification as an Entrepreneur Ready Community. Greg Wise from the University of Wisconsin-Extension Center for Community and Economic Development will moderate this program.
Winter 2010
March
Get Found! with Jay Jenkins, Extension Educator, University of Nebraska. This session focuses on strategies you can use to drive more traffic to your site(s). Is your information getting lost in the sea of information available on the Internet? Are you lost in the maze of acronyms and vague meanings of terms like SEO, SEM, keywords, tags, page titles and subheadings? You will learn how clearly written and properly implemented web pages get found.
February
Analyze This with Vishal Singh, Instructional Multimedia Designer – Communications, Information and Technology, University of Nebraska. Google Analytics generates detailed statistics about visitors to your website. It provides you with a powerful website analytical tool that can help you improve your websites.
- Download the presentation from the webinar
- View the recorded webinar now!
- Link to the guide discussed on the webinar
January
Web Usability Testing. Lana Johnson, CIT DEAL Lab, Communications, Information and Technology, University of Nebraska. Usability is the ease with which people can perform a certain task on an object or system to achieve a particular goal. Web usability testing allows us to observe what users do, where they succeed and where they have difficulties. Feedback from this testing can then be used to improve web designs and interfaces for better user experiences.
Fall 2009
December
Identifying Hidden Assets and Opportunities in Your Community(or What You Don’t Know About Your Community Spells Lost Opportunities). Bill Pinkovitz, Community and Business Development Specialist, Center for Community and Economic Development, University of Wisconsin-Extension leads this session on how communities can better position themselves to take advantage of opportunities. “Nothing ever changes around here.”That is a common refrain in rural America. However, a quick look at some of the dynamics often reveals significant changes in even seemingly stagnant communities. Often, the changes are substantial, but can be subtle and go unnoticed. Other times, we have just been too busy to notice. In too many cases, real opportunities go untapped. This session identifies and analyzes many of these often unnoticed trends and the opportunities they create for communities, organizations and businesses. Data sources and successful methods for using the data to identify and analyze opportunities for local businesses and organizations will be discussed.
Following are some of the web pages that were featured in the presentation:
- www.census.gov – The US Census page discussed during the webinar
- Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics
- Bureau of Economic Analysis
- factfinder.census.gov
- The Self-Sufficiency Standard
November
Missouri 4-H Youth Entrepreneurship: Cultivating “Cloverpreneurs” in the Show Me State. Steve Henness is Extension Associate with the University of Missouri Extension 4-H Center for Youth Development. Steve provides leadership for 4-H programs and events in Youth/Adult Partnerships and Youth Entrepreneurship. He directs the MU Extension Youth Enterprisers Program, a statewide AmeriCorps*VISTA project placing full-time adult volunteers in assignments to build community entrepreneurial capacity.
- View more information related to the Extension Youth Enterprises Program (EYE)
- View more information related to the Missouri 4-H Entrepreneurship Project
- View the recorded webinar
October
Economic Gardening. Chris Gibbons, Director of Business & Industry Affairs for Littleton, CO discusses the opportunities and challenges in economic development rooted in growing jobs through entrepreneurship rather than chasing jobs by recruiting companies from outside.
- Read about Economic Gardening in Littleton, CO
- Download the presentation from the webinar
- View the recorded webinar
- Link to low- and no-cost resources for Economic Gardening
- How to register for the Econ-Dev mailing list (to discuss economic development with others interested in the same topic)
- Go to Google Groups sign-up page.
- In the column on the right side of the page click “Join this group”.
- Sign in to Google using your existing Google account. If you do not have a Google account,
click “Create an account now.” Once you are signed up as a member, you will be able to post to the group by sending an email to econ-dev@googlegroups.com. You may change your settings at Google Groups Econ-dev webpage anytime.
September
Visual Merchandizing. Glenn Muske, Oklahoma State University, takes us on a tour of ways that business owners can create compelling visual displays that will draw the interest of customers without breaking the bank.
Spring 2009
June
Engaging Youth in Entrepreneurship. Join Mary Emery, Iowa State University, Laura Allen, Career Education Coordinator, Michigan State University Extension, Debra Kantor, University of Maine, and Patricia Fairchild, Nebraska 4-H Curriculum Design and Youth Entrepreneur Specialist for an informative session on how to engage youth in entrepreneurship. The session will introduce the Youth Entrepreneurship Community of Practice and their project to create a matrix of youth entrepreneurship programs. Patricia Fairchild will introduce the Nebraska curriculum and Laura Allen will present on the Beyond the Lemonade Stand PROJECT which used the curriculum “Be the E.” This session will wrap up our webinar series for the summer.
May
Finding Your Target Market Using MarketMaker
April
Tips and Tricks for Successful Farmers’ Markets
Related resources you might find helpful…
- The Art and Science of Farmers’ Market Display
- Visual Merchandising: The Silent Salesperson. View a recording of a marketing workshop conducted by Glenn Muske, Oklahoma State University. The workshop covers some key aspects of display as a sales tool. The workshop is approximately 45 minutes long.
March
Informal and formal planning: Using INVenture to build your business plan Join Maria Marshall, Small Business Specialist, Purdue University for an overview of how to use INVenture, an online business planning tool free to the public and available at INVenture. INVenture helps you think through the business planning process in the course of six interactive stages. Recommended for small business owners, farmers, business coaches and mentors.
Winter 2008/2009
E-Commerce Series
Maximizing Your Pay-Per-Click Campaign with Andy Lewis, University of Wisconsin Extension and John Wells, President of WebWise Design & Marketing
The Fruit Company: A real ecommerce story.
The Next Level of eMarketing – Web2.0 Tools and Tips with Tim O’Brien, Information Technology Business Consultant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development.
Fall 2008
November 2008
Effective Networking Tips and Techniques for the Business Owner Glenn Muske, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension.
October 2008
NebraskaEDGE: A Piece of the Economic Pie. Marilyn Schlake presenting program highlights and results from an extensive survey of past five years of entrepreneurial education.
- View the recorded webinar
- Download the powerpoint presentation from the webinar
- Participant survey used for the NebraskaEDGE study
- Business owner survey used for the NebraskaEDGE study
September 2008
Ten Tools for Talking about Tough Issues. Elaine Froese talking about communication in the family business.
- Download 10 Tools for Talking about Tough Issues
- Download the Communication Style Inventory recommended by Elaine Froese
- Action planning grid presented by Elaine Froese
- View the recorded webinar
Remember there are many more resources available at www.elainefroese.com.
Spring 2008
June 2008
- View a 1-hour webinar on Youth Entrepreneurship. Hear how 2 different programs are creating interest in self-employment among the young people in their regions.
May 2008
- View a 1-hour learning lesson on Internet Marketing:Kick it Up a Notch or download a copy of the presentation.
April 2008
- View a 1-hour learning lesson on Welcoming Entrepreneurs to Your Community or download a copy of the presentation.
March 2008
- View a 1-hour learning lesson on Marketing Value-added Products or download a copy of the presentation.