Southwestern Illinois Business Expo Seminars, May 3

ALL SEMINARS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Seminars

9:30AM – 10:30AM

Embracing technology to control healthcare costs.

Has your business been impacted by rising deductibles and increasing premiums?  Do you wish you could do more to help your employees, but the funds aren't there. With the pace of change in our world today, it's easy to miss new tools that can solve big problems.

Presented by: Katie Johnson is the Territory Sales Manager for Missouri and Southern Illinois for Colonial Life, an employee benefits consulting company. Katie has been with Colonial for over 16 years and is passionate about helping business owners navigate the complexities of healthcare to protect the organizations they have worked so hard to build. She loves the opportunity her role provides her to have a positive impact in the lives of others through consulting with individual employers and in group settings such as the SBW event today. 

12:45PM – 1:30PM
Kickstart Your Business!

‘Calling all small business owners!  Are your profits not where you need them to be?  Are you spending too much time working in your business instead of working on it?  Is the vision that compelled you to become an entrepreneur harder to bring into focus?  Join us for ‘Kickstart Your Business! – a fast-paced workshop filled with low-cost, no-cost ideas for improving your company’s profitability tomorrow!’

Presented by: Hazel Beck is the Director of the Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC@WBDC). She is responsible for the overall management of the VBOC, ensuring that business development services are provided to active duty service members, Guard, Reserve, veterans and military families.  Programs include the SBA's Boots to Business and Reboot.  The VBOC@WBDC’s service area encompasses Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota.  Hazel is a Vietnam-era veteran of the United States NAVY and owned and managed three consulting companies from 1990 through 2006.  With over 16 years of consulting experience, she worked with global manufacturing clients and key suppliers in North America, the UK and Western Europe to improve manufacturing processes and reduce costs.  Major clients included Ford Motor Company, Rolls-Royce Aerospace and Lucent Technologies.

12:45PM – 1:30PM
The Digital Marketing Success Formula - 6 Simple Steps to Master Your Business Marketing Online            

In this seminar, Heather will guide you through the six simple steps to achieve success online with your business. The success formula is laid out in an easy to follow method to reduce stress and avoid being overwhelmed with the digital marketing world.  The formula will leave you with more time, more traffic, more revenue and more freedom.

Presented by:  Heather Crider, formed Heather Crider Business Strategies an internet strategy consulting company after being a veteran of the business and entrepreneur for over 18 years. Heather originally came from the financial world and has successfully started, managed and sold two large corporations. She co-founded a worldwide multi-million dollar internet marketing firm that specializes in search engine optimization and organic traffic, which has given her experience to develop a comprehensive consulting firm where she consults business owners on all the necessary skills and tools to achieve their goals.  She has assisted hundreds of businesses from local startups to large fortune 50 companies.  Her goal is simple: master and grow your business, have less stress, more time, and more freedom.   She has been featured as a success story on John Assaraf’s Brain-A-Thon and has spoken at many events and seminars inspiring entrepreneurs to live full out and obtain extraordinary fulfillment.  
 

1:45PM – 2:30PM

The Benefits of Benefits

The current employee benefits market couldn’t be more confusing; however, it couldn’t be more important to the growth and profitability of your business. Explore the costs vs benefits of providing employee benefits and how to steer through the regulation and confusion and provide the best solutions for your business, your family, and your employees.

Presented by:  Amy Eckhardt is the owner of Legacy Planning, LLC and has been providing the Metro East and St. Louis area with Insurance solutions since 2007. Amy has a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Accounting from McKendree University and worked as an accountant in the healthcare industry before making the transition to becoming a licensed independent insurance agent.  Amy’s background in taxes and the healthcare industry gives her the ability to look at the whole picture when working with a client. Amy is most passionate about educating her clients and navigating them through the everchanging and confusing health insurance market to come up with a solution that is a best fit for the client’s specific situation. Amy specializes in small business planning and assists them in completing a comprehensive analysis to design a health insurance plan that best fits the needs of their business, their family, and their employees.

Susan Morse is a Business Performance Advisor, Susan focuses on understanding and responding to the diverse business needs of small and mid-sized companies in a variety of industries. With over 30 years’ experience, Susan has a proven record of building long lasting relationships and is dedicated to taking companies to the next level.  Susan enjoys working with business owners and executives whose agenda is directed toward continuous improvement through growth and profitability. Her specialty lies in steering them to solutions that provide sustainable results for many years ahead.  Susan represents Insperity, a trusted advisor to America's best businesses for more than 25 years.  Insperity provides an array of human resources and business solutions to more than 100,000 businesses with over 2 million employees. Insperity’s most comprehensive offering is their ‘Workforce Optimization’ solution, which delivers a fully integrated business services bundle designed to meet the unique needs of small to mid-size companies. Erin Woerther – District Manager at Insperity

1:45PM – 2:30PM

Ten Steps Your Business Should Take NOW to Grow and be Profitable            

Enthusiasm is a significant component to business success but is that sufficient?  Overly enthusiastic businesses can be driven to exceed their capability to accomplish goals. This may cause an adverse outcome causing the business financially, reflect poorly on the brand and result in losing customers and key employees.

You will learn ten steps to stand out among your competition, attract clients and increase sales by using cost effective marketing communication tools.

Presented by: Richard Avdoian, CSP is founder & CEO of the Midwest Business Institute, a business consulting and coaching firm, located in Metro St. Louis.  Richard works with businesses and corporations committed to training, and retaining highly motivated productive employees. He is an employee development expert who specializes in enhancing employee potential and maximizing capabilities to provide exemplary customer service, and increase productivity and profitability. Richard is a nationally recognized business expert who offers keynote speeches, workshops, and seminars.  He worked with clients in over forty different industries providing programs and services in the area of teamwork, leadership and employee development.

4:30PM – 5:30PM

Kickstart Your Business!

‘Calling all small business owners!  Are your profits not where you need them to be?  Are you spending too much time working in your business instead of working on it?  Is the vision that compelled you to become an entrepreneur harder to bring into focus?  Join us for ‘Kickstart Your Business! – a fast-paced workshop filled with low-cost, no-cost ideas for improving your company’s profitability tomorrow!’

Presented by: Hazel Beck is the Director of the Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC@WBDC). She is responsible for the overall management of the VBOC, ensuring that business development services are provided to active duty service members, Guard, Reserve, veterans and military families.  Programs include the SBA's Boots to Business and Reboot.  The VBOC@WBDC’s service area encompasses Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota.  Hazel is a Vietnam-era veteran of the United States NAVY and owned and managed three consulting companies from 1990 through 2006.  With over 16 years of consulting experience, she worked with global manufacturing clients and key suppliers in North America, the UK and Western Europe to improve manufacturing processes and reduce costs.  Major clients included Ford Motor Company, Rolls-Royce Aerospace and Lucent Technologies.