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Tech Behemoths to Take Part in Tester’s Small Business Workshop

By Beacon Staff

A roster of some of the top internet and technology businesses in the world will be on hand for a jobs workshop in Kalispell July 9, held by Sen. Jon Tester. Google, Microsoft and social networking juggernaut Facebook will participate at Flathead Valley Community College offering advice on how to grow jobs through innovation and marketing.

“Folks in the Flathead have been especially hurt by the downturn in our economy,” Tester said. “But Montana has got some of the hardest working people in the country. My goal is to help ignite some innovation and outside-the-box thinking. By giving our small businesses information on the tools available, we’ll get those businesses cranking again and we’ll boost jobs and opportunities for Montanans.”

The “Small Business Opportunity Workshop” won’t be an employment fair, so much as a seminar for those seeking tips on how to grow their business using technology and the internet – but it will be free and open to the public. The workshop, which the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce helped bring to the Flathead, will be geared toward employers, small business owners and entrepreneurs, or as Tester said, “folks who have a good idea and want to make a small business out of it.”

A focus of discussion will also be on ways to access capital through loans, grants and tax credits.

Several Montana entrepreneurs will abe present, including: Tom McMakin, former COO of Great Harvest Bread Company; Bill Payne of Whitefish, “entrepreneur in residence” at the Kauffman Foundation for 12 years; Morrie Schechtman of Kalispell, chair of Fifth Wave Leadership; Anne Marie Quinn with Montana Molecular; Kim Ormsby, the Montana 2010 Small Business Person of the Year; and Larry Hall of Ronan with S&K Electronics.

Other participants include representatives of investor funds, economic and community development associations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Tester has held similar events in Great Falls, Bozeman and Billings over the last year. More than 350 businesses participated in the Bozeman workshop.

The workshop is scheduled to run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Montanans interested in attending can register at tester.senate.gov/workshop.