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Small Business First Program
Through the Small Business First Program, NEPA makes financing
available to businesses that are starting or expanding their operations. While eligibility varies from program to program,
manufacturing businesses are generally eligible for every loan program available from NEPA. Additional business sectors that are
eligible for the Small Business First Program include warehouse and terminal facilities, research and development enterprises,
recyclers, computer related services (software development), business to business computer related consulting solutions, network development or
e-business applications, construction enterprises (80% or more of income comes from construction of new business related or residential buildings)
and child day care enterprises (for profit or not-for-profit).
Through the First Industries Program, low-cost funding is also
available to various tourism and agriculture related enterprises including hotels, motels, lodging facilities, supermarkets in under-served areas,
farmer’s markets, food processing, production agriculture, sale of farm commodities at wholesale, energy related activities affecting
production agriculture or agribusiness, destination sites (amusement,
sporting, recreational, cultural, heritage) and travel-related businesses. Financing is limited to businesses employing 100
or fewer employees. The maximum loan is $200,000 or 40% of the project cost, whichever is less. The interest rate is fixed at 5% for the loan term.
The loan terms are working capital (3 years), machinery and equipment (5 years) and land and building (15 years).
For detailed information on the NEPA Business Financing Programs, contact
John Wozniak at jwozniak@nepa-alliance.org or Dave Nat at dnat@nepa-alliance.org, by phone 570-655-5581 or fax 570-654-5137.
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Save the Date - Ryan Allis, "Zero to One Million" featured speaker at NEPA Alliance 5th Annual Regional
Economic Forum on Entrepreneurship - Thursday, January 18, 2007
NEPA's 5th Annual Regional Economic Forum - Entrepreneurship will be held
on Thursday, January 18, 2007 from 8:30am-1:00pm at the Hilton Scranton & Conference Center, Adams Avenue, Scranton.
Ryan P. Allis is an international speaker, author and syndicated columnist on the topics of
entrepreneurship, personal development and web marketing. At the age of 22, he has been a keynote speaker and panel participant at conferences from
Chicago to
Nigeria. As a student at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and successful entrepreneur, he is able to deliver a
unique message that connects with young audiences and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Ryan is the CEO of Broadwick Corporation, the developers of the
IntelliContact email marketing software; CEO and President of Virante, Inc., a North Carolina based web marketing consulting firm; the Chairman of
the Carolina Entrepreneurship Club at UNC-Chapel Hill; founder of The Entrepreneurs' Coalition, a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching
entrepreneurship in developing nations and the founder of www.zeromillion.com, an online community of and resource for entrepreneurs and business
people.
He is also the author of the book Zero to One
Million. The book is a detailed guide for aspiring entrepreneurs on how to build a company to a million dollars in
sales.
Thanks to our sponsors: PNC Bank, PPL Electric Utilities,
First Liberty Bank & Trust, Quandel, Pennstar Bank, Marywood University, Penn State, The Law Offices of Lawrence P. Zale, Eleven Moons, Jennell
Enterprises, LLC.
Watch for your
invitation!
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NEPA Alliance Regional Entrepreneur of the Year
Award Committee
Accepting Nominations for 3rd Annual Award
Entry deadline for the 3rd Annual Regional Entrepreneur of the Year Award is
Friday, December 22, 2006. Entries should be sent to:
L. Zale Patent Law Offices
334 South Franklin Street
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18703-0113
570-820-7845
The Law Offices of Lawrence P. Zale will award this year's grand prize of a free U.S. Patent Filing or
equivalent Copyright, Trademark, Trade Secret or Business Consulting Services. First Liberty Bank & Trust will present the Regional Entrepreneur of the Year Crystal Award to the First Place
Winner. Jennell Enterprises, LLC will offer the winner one day of business management consulting services.
For more information, contact Karen Ostroskie, NEPA Business Development
Program Manager at kostroskie@nepa-alliance.org or(570) 655-5581, ext.
244.
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Business People needed to help proctor for the Regional Future Business
Leaders of America, Chapter
16 on January 5,
2007 from 8:30am - Noon at Luzerne County Community
College, Nanticoke, PA.
This is an exciting opportunity for our future business leaders. There will be over 400
students attending. For more information, contact Lisa Mikula, LCCC at 570-740-0680.
"Proctoring" is monitoring so students do not cheat and they take the test in the time alloted. There
will be an hour informational session before the day of the
event.
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$485 million is the amount of money the nation’s Christmas tree
farmers received from
tree sales in 2005. Oregon was the top state in tree sales ($126 million), followed by North Carolina, Washington and Michigan. Source: USDA Economic Research Service at
http://www.ers.usda.gov/
$605 million is the value of U.S. imports of Christmas tree ornaments from China
between January and August 2006. China was the leading country of origin for such items. Similarly,
China was the leading foreign
source of artificial Christmas trees shipped to the United States ($65 million worth) during the same period. http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/
One-half is the proportion of the nation’s spuds produced in
Idaho and Washington in
2005. Potato latkes are always a crowd pleaser during Hanukkah. http://www.nass.usda.gov/
For more information, contact Steve Zaricki at (570) 655-5581, ext. 258 or szaricki@nepa-alliance.org.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
Sakae Institute of Study Abroad (SISA) is a
pioneer and well established study abroad agent in Japan focusing on universities in the U.S.A. including many universities in PA. Since its funding,
more than 5,000 students graduated high schools, universities and graduate schools in the U.S.A. SISA is regarded as the premier quality-oriented
academic placement and information service organization in Japan. Since SISA is a strong supporter of the PA Japan Office, SISA is kind enough to
introduce universities in PA at the Study Abroad Fair to be held on January 27, 2007 in Fukuoka, Japan where SISA will give a speech and a have table
to display brochures. SISA is willing to distribute brochures of PA universities to students and people at the fair on January 27th. Brochures should
be sent to the PA Japan Office in Tokyo by Friday, January 12, 2007. For more information, contact Michael Horvath at mhorvath@nepa-alliance.org
TRADE EVENTS
PA DEPT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Export - 2007 Northeast Buyers
Mission
Philadelphia Ritz-Carlton
Monday, January 8, 2007
Gain access to the thriving international food
marketplace…Accelerate your sales plan and broaden your perspectives with overseas
sales. Meet one-on-one with over 20 buyers from 22 countries. Participants
will have 25 minutes to meet with each buyer that they pre-selected. Buyers represent a number of business categories including
importers, retailers, wholesalers, food service and food manufacturing. Participation
Fee: $125, Deadline: December 15, 2006
For more information, please visit http://www.foodexportusa.org/ or contact:
Dale Good, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture - 717.705.2261, dagood@state.pa.us
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA CENTER
FOR TRADE DEVELOPMENT
Trade Mission to MEXICO
March 18-24, 2007
Mexico is the
United States' and Pennsylvania’s second largest trading partner, importing
55% of its goods from the U.S. Join this mission to find business opportunities in the Mexican states of Aguascalientes and Jalisco. You will receive free
of charge: pre-screened one-on-one business appointments; information about each company in advance; hotel identification; in-country market research
and assistance with the follow-up process after the mission. Industry sectors included in this mission are: automotive, food
processing, pharmaceuticals, computer equipment, furniture, waste water treatment, logistics, IT, electronics and dairy products.
Contact: Larry Nelson 717-346-2256, lanelson@state.pa.us Deadline: December 31, 2006
For additional information, contact Michael Horvath at (570) 655-5581, ext.
247 or e-mail mhorvath@nepa-alliance.org.
 GOVERNMENT CONTRACT BID LEADS
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources, Bureau of State Parks, Frances Slocum State Park, 565 Mount Olivet Road, Wyoming, PA requires services for collection and disposal of solid waste and recyclables at Frances Slocum State
Park, Luzerne
County, PA. Interested vendors must be registered with the Commonwealth and have a registered vendor number. To
register and obtain a number, call 1-866-775-2868 or online at http://www.vendorregistration.state.pa.us/ Bid Opening Date/Time: 12/19/2006 @ 2:00pm. Duration: Commence upon receipt of Purchase Order and Notice to
Proceed letter or February 1, 2007, whichever is later and terminate January 31, 2008. Parties may agree to renew 1-2 year term with final termination January 31, 2010. Contact: Steven E. Smith, Phone: 717-783-1896, E-Mail Address: sesmith@state.pa.us
East Stroudsburg University is bidding ESU 405-577C
Miscellaneous Renovations to the Henry A Ahnert Jr. Alumni Center. Work includes General at $75K, HVAC at $15K and ELEC at $15K. Pre Bid is
Jan 9, 2007 at 10:00am Facilities Mgmt Complex. Bid Opening
2:00pm on Jan 30, 2007, Rosenkrans Hall, Room 218. All
responsible firms including MBE/WBE are invited to participate. Call 610-437-1737 for bid package at $50 non-refundable fee to The Architectural Studio,
732 Turner Street, Allentown, PA 18102. Duration: 120
days. ANP Contact: Ann Zaffuto,
Phone: 570-793-3245, E-Mail Address: azaffuto@po-box.esu.edu
For additional information, contact David Kern at 570-655-5581, ext.
260 or
e-mail dkern@nepa-alliance.org.
UPCOMING
EVENTS
NEPA Alliance and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Nonprofit & Community
Assistance Center (NCAC), in partnership with the Pocono Arts Council and S & K Construction sponsoring a FREE grant seeking & grant writing
seminar
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
from 4:00 to 7:30pm (registration begins at 3:30pm) Location: Monroe County Public Safety Center, Snydersville, Monroe County
Check out our Events Calendar for future events!
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