Business Glance 2-10-13

‘Good Morning Yuma!'

The Yuma County Chamber of Commerce's “Good Morning Yuma!” will be held at 6:30 a.m. Thursday at the Pivot Point Conference Center, 310 N. Madison Ave. This month's sponsor is Yuma Endowment Project (YEP!).

Guest speaker will be Capt. Rod Hamilton of the Yuma Police Department.

Cost is $15 per person at the door. For more information, call the chamber at 782-2567.

Know Yuma Inside & Out

The next session of Know Yuma Inside & Out will focus on Yuma's agriculture industry. It will meet from 7 to 8 a.m. Feb. 21 in the Yuma City Council Chambers at Yuma City Hall. The free event includes a continental breakfast.

Guest speaker will be Kurt Nolte, executive director of the Yuma County Cooperative Extension and regional vegetable production specialist. He will present an overview of the area's agriculture industry with a recap of the current season. He will also provide preliminary information from the University of Arizona's study on the economic impact of agriculture in Yuma County.

The Know Yuma series provides business people with information about the Yuma area. The meetings are hosted by the Yuma Sun in partnership with Greater Yuma Economic Development Corp., Yuma Visitors Bureau, Yuma County Chamber of Commerce and city of Yuma.

Somerton chamber to meet

The Greater Somerton Chamber of Commerce will hold its next meeting from 11 a.m. to noon Feb. 21 at Taco Salsa Restaurant, 109 E. Cactus St. in Somerton.

The meeting will include a free lunch. Those planning to attend are asked to confirm a reservation by calling 722-7390. Bring your business cards.

For questions about membership, call Dalia Camarillo, membership director, at 246-5682, or Shaun Cassidy, chamber coordinator, at 502-9165.

Government procurement conference

The 2013 Government Procurement Outlook conference will be held Feb. 21-22 at the Yuma Civic Center. The event brings together government officials to discuss upcoming projects in design, construction, facilities management, renewable energy, information technology, communications, electronics and security.

It provides a forum for businesses to identify contract opportunities with federal, state, municipal and local governments and subcontract opportunities with prime government contractors.

For more information, to register, call Sheila Martin at 1-602-300-2682 or visit 
http://2013yumagovprocurementconference.eventbrite.com.

Social media workshop

WebSocial Business Solutions, a social media marketing firm in Yuma, is offering a free workshop for all businesses or individuals wanting to learn about social media.

The event, “How to embrace social media marketing in 2013,” will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Yuma Main Library, 2951 S. 21st Drive.



Profit Mastery workshop

The two-day workshop, Profit Mastery: Get Control of Your Business,” will be presented from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 28 and March 1 at the Arizona Western College Entrepreneurial Center, 1351 S. Redondo Center Drive.

Target audience is anyone involved in nonprofit management whether as a board member or staff person. The DVD-based program includes all the material from the acclaimed program by Business Resource Services, a Seattle-based financial performance company.

Topics will include overcoming common organizational and business problems, understanding your financial position, using tools to take active control and making effective pricing decisions, evaluating cost patterns, making your organization or business bankable, avoiding crash crunches, planning for transition and putting it all together.

Cost is $349. To reserve a seat, call the AWC Small Business Development Center at 317-6151.

Free File available to taxpayers

All taxpayers have a fast, safe and free option when it comes to preparing their own federal taxes. It's called Free File, available at IRS.gov.

Free File offers brand-name tax software to people who earned $57,000 or less in 2012, which is 70 percent of all taxpayers. For those who earned more, there are free online forms. Both options allow people to file returns electronically and use direct deposit, the fastest way to get refunds. There is also a software option that is available in Spanish for those who earned $30,000 or less.

Free File does the hard work for you. The software asks questions; you provide the answers. It picks the right forms, does the math and helps you find all the tax benefits for which you are eligible.

All participating Free File partners have been vetted and use the latest in security technology. Some Free File software providers also offer state tax returns for free or for a fee.