Business & Tech

Business Owners Receive Lesson in Sustainability [VIDEO]

Windham, Salem agencies co-sponsored workshop.

About 15 local business owners from Windham and Salem gathered on Thursday, Sept. 15 to receive an education in sustainability at the New Hampshire Department of Transportation Field Office.

The guest speaker for the seminar was Andrea O'Brien, a representative from the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center. O'Brien joined Mighel Moralez Jr. of the U.S. Small Business Administration to lead the presentation and discussion.

He offered those in attendance one piece of information he tells all of his clients.

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"if you're going to have any problems with any federal agencies or any state agencies, contact your local representative," said Moralez.

State Rep. Charles McMahon joined the audience shortly after Moralez handed things over to O'Brien. Also in the crowd were business owners with all different backgrounds, from engineers to septic workers. The purpose of the workshop was for the listeners to focus on their businesses and gain an understanding of how to make them successful and profitable.

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O'Brien challenged those in the room to focus on all sorts of different impactful items in relation to their business, such as the environment, their brand and the stakeholders. She then mentioned one last connection that was above the rest.

"Maybe the most important relationship is the one you have with your banker," said O'Brien.

She went on to describe the regulations that a business faces while they are operating as "the stick." Essentially, it means if you don't do it yourself then the government is going to make you do it.

"You can either fear the stick or move past the stick and go for the carrot," she said in reference to a common societal idiom.

In this case, the carrot is your sense of initiative.

"I'm going to look into being energy efficient," said O'Brien. "No one is forcing you to do it. There's no regulation forcing you to do it. You're just going to do it."

According to O'Brien, this will save small business owners a lot of money, especially when they are running small operations

"Five hundred dollars is a lot of money to somebody who owns a small convenience store," said O'Brien. "It's make or break."


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