If you have been thinking of opening a business — store front or home-based — or you are in the developmental stages, this Starting Your Business workshop could be very beneficial to you.
It is not often that you can get a range of experts in one room to give you advice on how to avoid some of the early business pitfalls and to set things up right the first time.
The class will be held on Friday, Feb. 15, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The workshop will be held in the Chamber of Commerce conference room at 105 Hot Springs Blvd. The cost of the class is only $25 and a light lunch will be served.
We will have professionals from the Small Business Development Center — our co-hosts, accounting, legal, Region 9, banking and the Town of Pagosa Springs to cover items such as building and signage codes, registering your business, licensing and much more.
There will be time to ask questions of each presenter. You will also leave with resource materials to use as reference tools. There are new business tools to work with both at a state and local level, so learn these new tricks of the trade to make opening your business easier. To register for the event, go to the Chamber website, www.pagosachamber.com, and click on the Starting Your Business graphic under Chamber and Community Events or in the Calendar of Events under Feb. 15. You can also call the Chamber at 264-2360 to reserve your space in the class.
Opportunity Zone Forum
The federal government has been working for years on a way for investors to invest their capital gains into qualified economic development projects. While there are still bugs to work out, communities nationwide have been working on developing their “Opportunity Zones.” Pagosa and southwest Colorado are no exceptions. In fact, many investors feel that Colorado is ahead of the curve in developing investment projects throughout the state. The state of Colorado has actually developed a website, www.colorado-invest.com, to attract investors to our state.
On Wednesday, Feb. 20, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. the Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation and Region 9 will host a free Opportunity Zone Training Forum at the Pagosa Lakes Clubhouse. Representatives from the Office of Economic Development and International Trade and Four Points Funding along with Region 9 will be on hand to offer an informational and educational opportunity to learn more about Opportunity Zones.
Who should attend? Basically, it is open to the public. However, realtors, developers, investors, accountants, estate planners and the like would highly benefit. Where is the Opportunity Zone in Archuleta County. How might you put an investment package together utilizing a piece of land or project in an Opportunity Zone? How can you “stack” investment opportunities in our community to give an investor more incentive to build here? What do you have to do with the project to qualify for the tax incentives? How do I find out about qualified projects in Archuleta County? These and so many more questions will be discussed at the forum.
To register for this training session, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-opportunity-zone-info-session-tickets-55164521569. The session is free, but we ask that you register for the event. A light networking breakfast will be held at 8:30 a.m., with the presentations starting at 9 a.m. There will also be plenty of time for questions and answers. For more information, contact Mary Jo Coulehan at the Chamber at 264-2360.
Membership news
We welcome our renewing members this week: Two Chicks and a Hippie, Axis Heath Systems Archuleta Integrated Health Care, Heart to Heart Mobile Massage, Mottivation, the Durango Herald and Voice of Wilderness Inc.
There is still time for you to sign up for the free February Maximizing Your Membership class to be held on Tuesday, Feb. 12, from 9 to 10 a.m. A light breakfast will be served while you learn more about how you can reap the benefits of your Chamber membership. Please call Rick at 264-2360 to hold your spot.
