Your future, our focus
POWELL, Wyo. - A quartet of marketing and finance workshops and classes is slated in Cody in late May through Northwest College’s Cody Center for Training and Development (CTD).
The four classes and workshops include topics on marketing and sales techniques, QuickBooks and understanding financial statements.
Two workshops will be offered by nationally known merchandising expert Bruce Baker, who has taught more than 550 workshops over the past 25 years. Both workshops take place on Thursday, May 20. At the morning workshop, Visual Marketing and Merchandising, participants will learn how to pull customers off the sidewalk and into their store. The workshop’s cost is $25.
“He has a ‘change or die’ approach for the survival of small retailers,” says NWC Training and Development Coordinator Kathy Crookshanks. “In his humorous and motivational manner, he gives business owners the tools to thrive in the current economy.”
For no additional cost, participants can benefit from Baker’s knowledge at an evening workshop, Spontaneous Buying: Sales Techniques and Customer Service, from 5:30-7 p.m. that day. Refreshments will be served at 5 p.m. Register for one or both workshops online (click on classes, then search for Wyoming Small Business Classes to sign up) or call Northwest College CTD at (307) 587-3506.
“Bruce will cover what turns customers ‘on’ and buyers ‘off,’” Crookshanks said. “He’ll help you identify body language, both your customers’ and yours, and use ‘edutainment’ to make shopping fun.”
Baker is also offering site visits for businesspersons for $15. During one-on-one evaluation sessions, participants will discover how to improve their store merchandising to attract and keep customers. Persons interested in a site evaluation should call Forward Cody at (307) 587-3136.
On Friday, May 21, QuickBooks - Beyond the Basics will help participants handle exceptions to the every-day transactions, bad debts and various other accounting adjustments. The 9 a.m.-noon class is taught by Jan Kraft, CMA and NWC associate professor of accounting/business management, who has 35 years of accounting and teaching experience. Registration deadline is May 17. The cost is $25.
If participants have specific items they’d like covered in the class, they’re encouraged to submit them when they register so that Kraft can incorporate them for the benefit of the entire class, Crookshanks said.
CTD partners with the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (WSBDC) and Forward Cody to offer another finance-oriented class—Making Sense of the Dollars—Monday, May 24, from 6-8 p.m.
Led by WSBDC Regional Director Bruce Morse, the class includes an overview of basic accounting forms and terms, an explanation of various ratios and how to use them to make better management decisions, spotting trends and introduction to a free, computerized program that can assist in this process.
“If you’re one of those people who simply looks at the bottom line to see if you made money, then puts the statement in the drawer, you should consider attending,” Morse said. “Or if the statement says you made money, but you don’t have any cash and wonder why, the class will cover that, too.”
Class fee is $15 per person, and pre-registration is requested.
All workshops and classes are held in NWC’s Cody Center in the Park County Community Complex. Email the Cody Center for Training and Development for more information or to register, or call (307) 587-3506.