Business and Industry Services seminars

Business and Industry Services at Beaufort County Community College will offer several seminars in January of interest to local business owners and professionals. Cosponsored by the Washington/Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce, the seminars are as follows:

• How to Write a Business Plan: Starting a small business is often a challenge, but this seminar can make the process easier. The topics to be discussed include writing the business plan, finding the required information, issues to be aware of when writing the plan and how to find help with the plan. The seminar will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 7, in Room 828 of Building 8 on the BCCC campus. Volunteers from SCORE will be the instructors for the course, part of the core curriculum of classes for small business owners and prospective business owners.

• Dealing with Constant Change in the Workplace: Today’s increasing pace of change can create stress in a personal and work life. This seminar will help participants learn to recognize how change affects them and their organizations and how to move on to the new reality. It will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15, in Room 828 of Building 8 on the BCCC campus. The instructor is Mike Collins, president of The Perfect Workday Co. and one of the most frequently featured business seminar presenters in the southeastern United States.

• Financing Your Small Business: This workshop is designed to teach participants ways to finance their small businesses including information on grants and loans available to help. It will also provide information on where entrepreneurs can obtain good, solid and reliable financial advice. The instructors are members of SCORE. The workshop will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28, in Room 828 of Building 8 on the BCCC campus. It is part of the core curriculum classes for small business owners and prospective business owners.

Attendance at any Business and Industry Services seminar is free of charge but preregistration is recommended in order to reserve seating and to allow the college to adequately prepare materials. To register, contact Eva Peartree at BCCC’s Business and industry Services at 940-6375 or by email at evap@beaufortccc.edu.

SCORE is a national non-profit organization of retired business executives with a public service mission. Through its volunteers, SCORE is able to provide free small business counseling and training through a network of their chapters and branches.

 

 

Career and College Readiness classes

Classes will begin Monday, Jan. 7, as part of a program at Beaufort County Community College that will help students obtain their high school equivalency and learn job skills  that will prepare them for college courses or the workplace.

The course, offered through BCCC’s Division of Continuing Education is designed to “put students on a fast track” to achieving their General Educational Development, or GED, and “prepare to enter a career pathway or college program of study,” according to Laurie Weston, Basic Skills coordinator at BCCC.

The eight-week course, Career and College Readiness, will be offered from 8:30 a.m. to noon, Monday through Thursday in three locations — Room 813 and 816 of Building 8 on the BCCC campus or at the Beaufort County JobLink Center, 1385 John Small Ave. in Washington.

The course will also be offered from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at Trinity Episcopal Church on N.C. Highway 33 West in Chocowinity.

There is no fee to attend these classes.

Students in the program will commit to an eight-week intensive course of instruction involving all academic areas of GED study as well as college readiness skills and  career and college preparation and exploration, Weston said.

The course will be particularly beneficial for those students who need to complete all GED tests before new testing requirements go into effect in 2014, she said.

The minimum requirements for the course include a score of Adult Secondary on the Test of Adult Basic Education placement test. Students must be 18 years old or older, but 16 and 17 year-old students may qualify with parental permission. Students are also required to attend class, arriving and leaving at the scheduled times. Those not meeting the attendance goals will be transferred to a traditional Basic Skills class.

Space is limited in the Career and College Readiness Class and enrollment will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

To register for the class, contact Weston at 940-6322, Marion Porter at 940-6299 or Penelope Radcliffe at 940-6325.

 

 

BCCC to offer Employability Lab

The Division of Continuing Education at Beaufort County Community College will offer a class this winter that will help job-seekers hone their skills.

The class will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and 2 to 5 p.m. Thursdays, beginning Jan. 8 and ending May 14 in the Computer Lab at Beaufort County JobLink Career Center, 1385 John Small Ave. in Washington. The instructor is Keisha Jennette.

The registration fee is $175. This fee may be waived for those who are currently unemployed, have received notice of a pending lay-off, are working and eligible for the Federal Income Tax Credit or are working and earning wages at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

The class is open-entry and open-exit, meaning students may attend at any of the above times that are convenient for them.

Class topics include resume writing, job-search techniques, work ethic, communication skills and conflict resolution. Students will also work on their Career Readiness Certification. Other topics may be covered as time allows.

For students wishing to pursue a Career Readiness Certification, a fee of $30 will be charged and is payable at the time of testing.

For more information about this class, interested persons should contact Lou Stout, director of Occupation Extension, at 252-940-6307.

For more information about other Continuing Education classes, visit BCCC’s Website at www.beaufortccc.edu/coned.