Stop by the Chamber office at 6 Pleasant Street, Taunton, on Monday, May 2nd from 10:00 – 12:00 p.m., and chat with Jay to see how MassDevelopment may be able to assist your business! Contact Jay directly if you're unable to make it that day.

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced last week that certain Private Non-Profit organizations (PNPs) in Massachusetts that do not provide critical services of a governmental nature may be eligible to apply for low-interest disaster loans. These loans are available following a Presidential disaster declaration for Public Assistance resulting from damages caused by a severe winter storm and snowstorm on Jan. 28 - 29, 2022.

PNPs located in Bristol, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk counties including the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts are eligible to apply. Examples of eligible non-critical PNP organizations include, but are not limited to, food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers, schools and colleges.

PNP organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets. The interest rate is 1.875 percent, with terms up to 30 years. Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase up to 20 percent of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA, for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements may include a safe room or storm shelter, sump pump or French drain to help protect property and occupants from future damage caused by a similar disaster.

The SBA also offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs, such as ongoing operating expenses for PNP organizations. Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance is available regardless of whether the organization suffered any physical property damage.

PNP organizations are urged to contact their county’s Emergency Manager to provide information about their organization. The information will be submitted to FEMA to determine eligibility for a Public Assistance grant or whether the PNP should be referred to SBA for disaster loan assistance. Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via the SBA’s secure website at DisasterLoanAssistance.sba.gov/ela/s/ and should apply under SBA declaration # 17404.

Disaster loan information and application forms may also be obtained by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (if you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services), or by sending an email to DisasterCustomerService@sba.gov. Loan applications can be downloaded from the SBA’s website at sba.gov/disaster. Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.

The filing deadline to submit applications for physical property damage is June 17, 2022. The deadline to submit economic injury applications is Jan. 18, 2023.

Join current and aspiring small business owners May 2-5 for the National Small Business Week Virtual Summit hosted by the U.S. Small Business Administration and SCORE.

Access critical federal resources, learn new business strategies, meet other business owners and chat with industry experts! This 4-day, action-packed event will include honoring small businesses around the country, educational sessions, online business resources, and exciting speakers.

What's Included:

• Educational webinars on popular small business topics

• One-on-one mentoring sessions

• Networking opportunities

• Exhibitor booths

• Free business resources

Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with mentors, companies and other business owners to help fuel your success – for free.

Register here.

Learn more and register for the May 17 event, “Find pathways to breakthroughs." You have ideas, drive, and a vision of success, but what steps will you take to make that vision a reality? Learn how to map your way forward from successful innovators who will share hard-earned tips from their own journeys.

Learn more and register for the May 18 event, “Innovating for real-world solutions." Do you see a problem that you know you can fix? Do you want to improve the world with your creativity and drive? Learn from successful innovators how they approach, understand, and solve challenges, and how intellectual property protection has been key to their success.

The Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Innovation and Entrepreneurship program is presented by the USPTO’s Office of Innovation Outreach. For more information, please contact InnovationOutreach@uspto.gov.

The USPTO offers many informative presentations, panels, and chats throughout the year. For more information, visit www.uspto.gov/events.

Mother’s Day is an ideal way to honor the women in your life who have helped you become the person you are today. In recent years, it has surpassed the celebration of one’s own mother and encompassed grandmothers, women we think of as second mothers, mother-in-laws, fur moms, best friends, and even female mentors. Mother’s Day is also a great way to honor women in our world who have made a difference.

Mother’s Day can now be transformed into a time to honor those women who have nurtured us and helped us grow, whether they gave birth to us or not. Keep that in mind in your marketing. Here are some engaging marketing ideas to celebrate this heart-warming holiday.

Taunton Federal Credit Union will be hosting a Business After Hours on Wednesday, May 25th from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Stop by and see their new branch at 403 Winthrop Street in Taunton. Co-hosted by Brownstone Realty Group.

Date: Wednesday, May 11th

Time: 12:00 PM

Location: Virtual - Zoom

Register in advance for this meeting at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEld-6vpjgrGddR8WlQBgOHPK4zfOyZiLWt

WHAT TO EXPECT

All are invited to join the Old Colony History Museum (OCHM) for family-friendly events, both in person and virtually this month. To see everything they have to offer visit their calendar online at www.oldcolonyhistorymuseum.org/events/. Highlight tours with the Curator take place daily at noon, and our regular hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Learn more here.

You are invited to participate in the sixth annual Taunton High School (THS) Career Exploration Fair, which will be held on Thursday, May 19th from 8:00am-10:00am. This year, THS is again hoping to provide students with the opportunity to speak with professionals about career opportunities after High School. Click here for more info.

As a proud community partner Mechanics Cooperative Bank is pleased to share it has committed $5,000 to the 2022 Fundraising Capital Campaign in support of the Taunton YMCA! The funds raised through the 2022 campaign will allow the YMCA to be affordable and accessible to all local community residents. The donations made by Mechanics Cooperative Bank will provide direct financial assistance for thousands of children and their families through YMCA memberships, childcare, camp programs, recreation programs, teen programs, and special needs programs. Read the press release.

Girls Inc. of Taunton is excited to announce Stronger, Smarter, Bolder. A Women’s Workshop! It was designed to bring their mission to women in our community. The workshop will be held on Friday, May 13th from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Learn more here.

Let SCORE business advisors help you navigate the SBA Debt Relief Programs or the start-up and growth of your small business. All services are FREE and CONFIDENTIAL. If you are an existing SCORE client, please send an email to your SCORE counselor to schedule a phone call or Zoom conference. If you are new to SCORE, please complete the Request a Mentor form and someone from SCORE will contact you via email to schedule an appointment with an advisor. Sign up for SCORE webinars here. View upcoming webinars here.

Tues, May 3 | 10:00 - 11:15 AM 

With 3.8 billion smartphone users across the planet and 95% of texts being opened within 3

min, it’s easy to see that text has taken over. Text is the only marketing channel with a 98%

open rate. Yet only 12% of local businesses use text as a marketing tool. Many entrepreneurs

don’t utilize this channel due to difficulty with regulations and logistics.

So how can a business effectively master this channel and overcome these barriers? Join us to learn everything you need to know to get started using SMS messaging.

Key Takeaways:

• Why personalized text messages convert leads to customers and members.

• How to build an opt-in flow to grow your marketing list.

• Tips and tricks to increase response rates and promotional engagement.

• Best practices for providing value to your opt-in list.

Presenter: Amadeu Tolentino, CEO & CO-FOUNDER @Preneur.ai

Register here.

Tues, May 10 | 12:00 - 1:15 PM 

Social Media can be a powerful tool for winning new customers and clients, as well as continuing a relationship with existing ones, but it can also become very time consuming and expensive. We will help keep you focused and get you moving forward.

This webinar addresses the key questions every small business owner has to answer when they embark on an online marketing effort to support their business:

• What do I need to start?

• What Social Media should I use?

• How does it work?

• What does it cost?

Presenter: Frank Camacho, SCORE mentor

Register here.

This year, during an unprecedented national health crisis, small businesses needed help more than ever before. In order to support these business owners when they needed it most, the SCORE Foundation provided funding for SCORE’s Small Business Resilience program. This platform allowed SCORE to pivot their mentoring and educational services onto virtual platforms, where clients could easily access the pandemic-related information, guidance and resources they needed to survive and thrive. Learn more here.

Are you looking for ways to help your small business community? Would you like to grow your network or develop professionally? As a SCORE volunteer, you get it all!

Join the SCORE network of 10,000 volunteers. SCORE relies on volunteers to help small business around the country thrive.

Interested? Visit the volunteer web page to find about the many benefits of volunteering and the right opportunity for you!

·    Blogging Tips

·    New Rules of Marketing in 2020

·    Digital Marketing Rules

·    Cash Management

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