Palm Coast, Fla. – The Palm Coast Business Assistance Center is launching a new program, “Shop Local – It’s a Big Deal,” to promote Palm Coast businesses and help them better market themselves.

 “Shopping locally makes a big difference in the local economy every day,” said Joe Roy, area manager for the Palm Coast BAC. “If every household in our community were to spend just $25 per month at a local business it would generate $1 million a month in our local economy.”

As part of the new “Shop Local – It’s a Big Deal” program, all local businesses now have the opportunity – free of charge – to provide special coupon offers through City of Palm Coast’s Waste Pro Rewards Program. About 8,000 households in Palm Coast have already signed up for the Rewards Program, through which residents who participate in curbside recycling earn special coupon offers they access over the Internet. The program sends an email message to participating households each month to alert residents to new rewards.

 “The City is excited to be able to leverage its Recycling Rewards program to help our businesses reach customers every day of the year,” said Beau Falgout, the City’s economic development planner.

 Through the new Shop Local program, the Palm Coast Business Assistance Center will also give free informational seminars designed to show businesses how their pricing and customized promotions can generate sales for their products and services. The first seminar is scheduled for 8 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, at City Offices at City Marketplace, 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite B-106. Business owners and operators can sign up now by calling the BAC at (386) 986-2499.

 Also through the new program, the Business Assistance Center will work to tap into national “Shop Local” and “Go Green” movements to encourage Palm Coast residents to spend their money in their hometown. In addition to advertising and direct marketing, the BAC is distributing stickers with the “Shop Local – It’s a Big Deal” logo to all interested businesses. The new program will also tie into American Express’s national Small Business Saturday initiative each November.

 “Palm Coast has 3,516 businesses, and the Palm Coast Business Assistance Center is very excited to launch the new ‘Shop Local’ program to help strengthen our businesses and our local economy,” Falgout said. “We encourage everyone to join us in supporting local businesses – it really is a big deal!”

 Businesses that would like to offer coupons through Palm Coast’s Waste Pro Rewards Program for recyclers should contact Joe Roy at the BAC at (386) 986-2499 or jroy@palmcoastgov.com.

 To participate in the Waste Pro Rewards Program, Palm Coast residents can register by calling (888) 234-8211 or sign up online at www.wasteprorewards.com.

Recognizing the energy set forth by small businesses in our community to create jobs and drive our economy, the Palm Coast Business Assistance Center will be celebrating National Small Business Week with several unifying events:

• Tuesday, May 15th – Social Media Marketing Training, 6:00 p.m. at City Offices, 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite B-106. Come to this impactful FREE seminar and learn the best tips, techniques and strategies you need to know to make a difference using Social Media Marketing and Constant Contact. For more info and to RSVP visit: www.PalmCoastBAC.com.
• Tuesday, May 22nd – Small Business Start Up Workshop, 8:00 a.m. at City Offices, 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite B-105. Come to this FREE seminar and learn the basics to starting and owning your own businesses. For more info, contact the BAC at 986-2499.
• Thursday, May 24th – Business Assistance Center First Anniversary Celebration, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Business Assistance Center, 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite B105. Enjoy delicious refreshments, camaraderie and celebrate with us.
• Tuesday, May 29th – Palm Coast Entrepreneur Night, 5:30 p.m. at Europa Lounge and Bistro in European Village. Join your fellow Palm Coast and Flagler County startups, business-people, those who invest in new businesses and folks who provide services & support to entrepreneurs.  Free to attend.  For more info and to RSVP visit: www.EntrepreneurNight.com.

If your business needs a boost; if you’re looking for assistance to grow in our community, Small Business Week in May is the perfect time to stop by the BAC to seek help. Consulting is free of charge. For more information, call the Palm Coast Business Assistance Center at 386-986-2499.

Business owners can join four different training sessions in February, each unique in its topic and technique and each presenting thought-provoking concepts for small business success. Plan to attend any or all of the following:

- Google Performance Series – Four week seminar designed to help you utilize all of the Google tools to help grow your business. Check Training Page for dates and times.

- Sales/Marketing, Keys to Success – Five components of an effective marketing plan; ten marketing techniques you need to know; tips for increasing sales in difficult times; fitting social media into your marketing plan. Check Training Page for dates and times.

- Meet with fellow local businesses to informally discuss and better understand issues that Flagler County businesses face; learn how the Palm Coast Business Assistance Center can help; Wednesday, March 14th at the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce and Affiliates; Wednesday, March 21st at 105 S. Second St. at the Flagler Beach City Hall, 105 South Second St.; Friday, March 23rd at Coquina City Hall, 200 S. Church St. in Bunnell. Each begins at 8:00 a.m. and each are free of charge.

Monthly classes for this brand new local Business Success Series are sponsored by the Center for Business Excellence, Palm Coast Business Assistance Center ,Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida, City of Flagler Beach, City of Bunnell, SCORE and the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce. Registration is available at www.palmcoastBAC.com, or log onto www.palmcoastgov.com for more information.

Written By: TOM KNOX, Business Writer / Daytona Beach News Journal, Published February 20, 2012

PALM COAST — Blue Crown Construction was stuck in a rut last summer.

The Palm Coast business had formed in 2006 but wasn’t able to grow its revenues.

Not many new homes were being built in foreclosure-stricken Flagler County, but people still needed renovations done. The business branched out to property maintenance to make up some revenue, but its husband-and-wife owners were being spread too thin.

So, in September, Blue Crown co-owner Anna Nevod stopped by the new Palm Coast Business Assistance Center for help.

With help from the center’s director Joe Roy, Nevod and her husband, Sergey, increased their company’s 2011 sales 62 percent from the previous year.

For Complete Story: http://www.news-journalonline.com/business/local-business/2012/02/20/palm-coast-firm-credits-turnaround-to-help-from-business-aid-center.html

The Palm Coast Observer is offering a special incentive to Flagler County small businesses working with The Palm Coast Business Assistance Center the opportunity to purchase any product or service on a first time contract basis at a 30% discount.

Most small businesses understand the importance of getting their product or service message in front of their customers and recognize that this advertising expense is actually an investmentment in their business. Unfortunately, these same small business onwers face cashflow issues as well. This initiative by the Palm Coast Observer allows small businesses working with the BAC the opportunity to execute their marketing/advertising strategy at a reduced rate while they work on building their brand presence.

For more information, contact the Palm Coast Observer at 386-447-9723

If you’ve never heard of Blue Crown Construction, a home remodeling business located in Palm Coast, we’d like to introduce you to a small but fast growing local company with a big success story.

Meet Sergey and Anna Nevod, owners of Blue Crown Construction. In September, 2011, Anna and Sergey began a series of consultations with the Palm Coast Business Assistance Center, searching for ways to grow their business. For two months, the Nevods worked closely with Joe Roy, Area Manager for the BAC/Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida, committing to making the business work more profitably. Together they addressed many issues affecting a large number of small businesses in Flagler County. Blue Crown Construction was attempting to grow their customer list but felt very constrained with their limited time for new opportunities and customers. Additionally, they had an on-going cash flow problem which prevented the company from expanding. Local market competition, budgets, cost efficiencies and managing growth and profits simultaneously seemed overwhelming.

“Sometimes these topics are difficult for small businesses to face,” Joe says. “Since the Nevods were fully dedicated to making changes, they were able to think more strategically about their business and differentiate their product, service and excellent quality from their competitors. With the help of SBDC at UCF, Blue Crown Construction began to address the business issues preventing the company from moving to the next level.”

The results are compelling. By improving several elements of their business processes, sales grew 62%, backlog decreased and new customers were added. The partnership between Blue Crown Construction, the Palm Coast Business Assistance Center and the SBDC at UCF achieved a strong victory and they have begun to work again towards even more improvement in 2012.

“The Nevods now understand that growing a business’ profitability is an ongoing process,” Joe notes. “And the Business Assistance Center is an ongoing partner.”

Written by Chris / Posted on TransWorld Motocross

New Off-Road Stand Designed to Meet the Real Needs of Off-road Riders

October 3, 2011 (Palm Coast, Florida) – Baxtek (www.baxtekmoto.com) announces the release of its first product, the revolutionary off-road bike stand called the Quikstand. The patent pending design of the Quikstand takes a completely new approach to supporting an off-road motorcycle in a functional way that makes it easy to park or work on your bike. Riders can now simply lean their motorcycle on the Quikstand when they are taking a break from riding or need to work on their bike. The stand can also quickly convert to a normal bike stand if the rider wants to raise the bike off the ground.

An America company, Baxtek invented a totally new way to hold your motorcycle that is fully adjustable and works the way you want it to work, when you want it to work. The stand is easy to use and simple to adjust to your specific needs. The new design means you only need one stand to handle a number of different situations and bikes.

The Quikstand is perfectly designed for working on dirt bikes, it makes changing the oil a breeze and leaning the bike to remove clutch plates is just as easy. Fully adjustable, the stand works with 50cc bikes up to full-size dirt bikes.

The product is made in the United States by Americans and is manufactured with the highest quality standards. The Quikstand is available in white and urban camo and retails for $129.99, a competitive price for an item that is completely made in the USA. Custom graphics are also available for the stand.

The Quikstand can be purchased at select dealers and directly from the company. Baxtek is looking for dealers to carry this innovative product as well as established independent sales representatives in select markets to work with local dealers. All interested dealers and independent representatives can go to the Baxtek web site and contact management to begin selling the stand or they can call Ed Kuhlenkamp at (336) 293-9103.

The company sponsors a number of top riders and teams involved in motocross and off-road racing. Current teams and riders include the TiLUBE Supercross team (www.tilube.com), the Foremost Insurance Spinechillers Arenacross team (www.spinechillersracing.com), the AmPro Yamaha GNCC team (www.amproyamaha.com), XC2 rider and point’s leader Steward Baylor, and motocross riders Colten and Carson Tickle.

About Baxtek

Awesome Products Through Innovation is what BAXTEK is all about. The company was started in order to innovate and manufacture functional, problem-solving products for a variety of industries. Baxtek was founded on the question “Wouldn’t be cool if that product could …?” At Baxtek we look at the potential of a given product and what it could do with some creative engineering. We then take those ideas and make them real. In 2010, Baxtek was born as the founders took their combined experience in fabrication, welding, design, business and marketing and applied them to a couple of new concepts for the off-road motorcycle industry. Baxtek is an American company committed to manufacturing our products here in the USA. We believe in our country and in the ability of Americans to manufacture quality products. Americans are producers and innovators and Baxtek is proud to be doing our part to bring manufacturing jobs back to America.

www.baxtekmoto.com

For Original Story, please see http://motocross.transworld.net/1000116372/news/baxtek-announces-release-of-the-revolutionary-quikstand/

PALM COAST BUSINESSES: YOUR SUCCESS IS IN THE BAG

Thousands of visitors are coming to Palm Coast every weekend, either for special city events or for exciting youth sports tournaments. And each one receives a bag filled with coupons and mementoes that inform them of the extraordinary goods and services available to them while they’re staying in Palm Coast.

Your business can and should be in this bag!! If you have flyers, small promotional gift items or coupons that will sell your business to visitors, please contact Becky Gunter, Palm Coast Recreation Superintendent, at 386-986-2309. She’ll give you all the details about City event schedules and how you can assure your business’ name and service is right up front, face-to-face with thousands of Palm Coast guests. It’s in the bag!