MEMBER MICRONEWS

28th ANNUAL GOVERNMENT SMALL BUSINESS CONFERENCE
Whether your company is already committed to selling to the government or you’d
like to start diversifying your sales, you’ll learn how to optimize your opportunities
through seminars designed specifically to meet your business’ needs and have an
opportunity to meet face-to-face with buyers at the Business Opportunity Expo.
Tentative Agenda:
8 a.m. Registration
8:30 a.m. Opening
9 a.m. Government Contracting
10 a.m. Proposal Writing
11 a.m. How to Survive a Government Audit
12 p.m. Keynote Luncheon and Small Business Awards
1:30-5 p.m. Tradeshow
2 p.m. Joint Venture/Teaming Agreements
3 p.m. Using Social Media to Market Your Business
Tradeshow Expo
We are making selling to the
government easy by bringing
buyers from Federal, state and local
government agencies and prime
contractors to one place. Previous
government respresentatives include:
•Raytheon
•US Special Ops Command
•Tampa Port Authority
• MacDill Air Force Base
• Moffitt
• Department of Veteran Affairs
Interested in exhibiting at the tradeshow
or sponsoring the event? Contact our
representatives listed below.
Nelson Reyes (Sponsors) nreyes@usf.edu
Charlene Bostic (Exhibitors) cbostic@usf.edu
Register at: SBDCTampaBay.com/gsbc2015

KEEP BARTOW BEAUTIFUL - April 11, 2015
Take part in the largest community cleanup event in BARTOW. The Solid Waste Department (SWD) and Keep Polk County Beautiful are partnering to kick-off Bartow's annual Keep Bartow Clean & Beautiful/Great American Cleanup event. Last year, several Bartow citizens and various civic clubs volunteered to keep Bartow clean and beautiful.
SWD has chosen Saturday, April 11, 2015, from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. as the official Keep Bartow Clean & Beautiful/Great American Cleanup Day. What can you do? Bartowans volunteer to improve their communities and beautify public spaces by planting flowers, painting over graffiti, picking up litter along our roadways, ponds, parks and neighborhoods. How can you sign-up? Download the volunteer packet at www.cityofbartow.net/clean-up or request a packet via e-mail at solidwaste@cityofbartow.net, or pick up a packet from our office at 2060 E. HWY 60. Questions? Please contact SWD at 534-0181.

UNPARADE AND FRIDAY FEST
Bartow’s March 20^th Friday Fest, which includes the annual celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, will also include some new activities and vendors.  Friday Fest has always offered something for all ages, and now in addition to kids’ games and face painting, Girls, Inc. will offer kids’ activities, Dodgeball2You will be back for a fun new experience for the kids, and a balloon artist will offer unique balloon creations. Besides the downtown restaurants, which will be open, and the street vendors offering hot dogs, sausage, and the ever popular shrimp and grits, one of the Relay for Life teams will be serving fries with cheese, ranch and bacon. Two new vendors will be in attendance – one featuring homemade wreaths and cakes in a cup, and the other with American and African clothing and jewelry. The OneBlood bloodmobile will be present, offering each donor a free “lucky” t-shirt and a wellness checkup including blood pressure, temperature, iron count, and cholesterol screening. Lilly, O’Toole & Brown, LLP, is the sponsor. The street party will feature live musical entertainment by “The Ladyz & the Boyz”. There will also be an open car cruise-in. As an extra treat, Bartow’s annual St. Patrick’s Un-Parade & Mutt Strut will be held that afternoon, leaving from Nye Jordan Park around 5:45 P.M., going north on Oak Avenue, west on Main Street, and ending at Friday Fest. Parade entrants already signed on include the Citrus Cinderellas, the Irish Bellydancers, the Big Arsh Potater Queens with the “King of the Unparade,” S. L. Frisbie, IV, and the Floral Lakes Irish Golf Carts. For more information, call 863-519-0508.

 
Don't Miss Main Street's New and Improved Farmers' Market
Main Street Bartow has launched its new Wednesday Farmers Market at Fort Blount Park, at the corner of Main Street and Broadway Avenue in downtown Bartow. The market will be held each Wednesday from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM. The vendor fee for a 12’ x 12’ space is $20.00 per Wednesday paid monthly in advance, or $25 on an occasional basis. For further information or a Farmers Market Vendor Form, contact Main Street Bartow at 863-519-0508, or email lsimpson@mainstreetbartowfl.com.

YOU CAN RENEW YOUR DL IN BARTOW!
     The Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles introduces Florida Licensing on Wheels (FLOW), which is available at DMAR Business Centers USA, LLC. DMAR, located at 300 E. Summerlin Street, Bartow, 33830, will play host to FLOW the third Wednesday of each month for the next four months, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. For a list of what documentation you may need, visit www.gathergoget.com or call (850) 617-3995. FLOW 2015 scheduled dates for Bartow are: April 15, May 13, June 17, July 15. For information call (352) 284-0039.
 
2015 CARILLON CLASSIC
     Laying out a new 5K course and bringing additional corporate sponsors on board are among the top priorities of the committee in charge of the 2015 Carillon Classic 5K Run & Walk, a charity fundraiser of the Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA). Now in its fourth year, the Carillon Classic 5K Run & Walk is set for Saturday, May 2, 2015 at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales. All proceeds will go to the George W. Harris, Jr. Runaway & Youth Crisis Shelter in Bartow and the FPRA chapter’s scholarship and professional development activities.www.fprapolk.org/calendar-page/carillon-classic-5k-runwalk/ Information on the 2015 Carillon Classic 5K Run & Walk, including corporate sponsorships, is available by calling Soderstrom at 863-838-9762 (cell) or by sending an e-mail to her at marybeth.soderstrom@careersourcepolk.com.