Allen & Company of Florida will host a live webcast of today’s 25th annual Economic Forecast Breakfast with speakers Brian Wesbury and Dr. Tiny Villamil.

The event begins promptly at 7:30 a.m. at AllenInvestments.com/category/seminar-series

On Thursday, January 26, Florida Technical College located at 4715 South Florida Avenue will host a job fair for students and the general public. FTC offers programs in business, criminal justice, paralegal, computer aided drafting, medical assistant, medical administration assistant, medical billing and coding, and patient care technician.

The job fair is scheduled to take place from 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. The event will open to the general public at 5 p.m.

Tables and chairs are provided to interested participants. For more information or to reserve your space, please contact Rob Evans at (863) 619-6200 or revans@ftccollege.edu

On January 26, 2012 from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., PolkWorks invites you to their annual State of the Workforce Summit.

Attendees can earn HRCI certification hours.

Keynote speaker: Monica Wofford          Make Difficult People Disappear

Make Difficult People Disappear is an engaging and informative presentation designed with each audience member in mind. In this session, participants will experience the awareness of their own preferences in behavior and personality, explore the behaviors of others that make them appear difficult, and practice utilizing this information in real world scenarios back in their office or life. Monica Wofford, CSP, author of Make Difficult People Disappear, to be released by Wiley in April of 2012, is a speaker with 22 years of experience in both corporate America as a leader and in speaking to more than half a million audience members in all 50 states and multiple countries. She’s dealt with her share of difficult people, but also is mindful that some of those difficult people come from the voices in our head!

Choose from 9 Break-out sessions including:

Surveying the new labor law landscape | Keith Hammond, Jackson Lewis

“Ugh…say what you want to say” | Ron Weber, Webster International University

Top 5 Trends in Employment Law | Nicole Sebert , Jackson Lewis

Online registration available at: www.polkworks.org

Wendy Plant of the University of South Florida Polytechnic was recently appointed secretary of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE).

Plant serves as business development manager for USF Poly’s Blue Sky business incubator and accelerator programs. She is responsible for advising business incubation clients and supporting the development of student groups and programs focused on entrepreneurship activities.

“I am honored to accept this appointment and represent Blue Sky and USF Polytechnic in this prestigious organization,” she said. “I’m looking forward to bringing innovative ideas and methods for integrating entrepreneurship education into new venture creation into the work we are doing at Blue Sky.  I’m committed to sharing the benefits of this association with our clients and students.”

Dr. Rebecca White, USASBE’s president elect and the Walter Distinguished Chair of Entrepreneurship at the University of Tampa, commented on her rationale for selecting Plant for this important appointment.

“It is critical to USASBE that we have someone in this position who deeply understands the entrepreneurship education community.  Wendy has been involved in entrepreneurship education at the collegiate level for a number of years and is a perfect fit.  We are very pleased she has accepted this nomination.”

Plant earned a bachelor’s degree from Rollins College and an MBA from the University of Tampa. She has several years of experience teaching entrepreneurship and management and working in business incubation.

The USASBE is the largest independent, professional, academic organization in the world dedicated to advancing the discipline of entrepreneurship.  With over 1000 members from universities and colleges, for-profit businesses, nonprofit organizations, and the public sector, USASBE is a diverse mix of professionals that share a common commitment to fostering entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviors.

USF Polytechnic’s Blue Sky facilities are the first public business technology incubators in Polk County. They focus on attracting and nurturing entrepreneurial businesses in an environment where USF Poly faculty, staff, and students can work with businesses to develop innovative technology. Incubated companies benefit from the proximity to and resources of a national research university as well as the assets of economic development networks.

[Editor's note: This is republished from the Central Florida Development Council's e-Newsletter. Please take special notice that Polk County is unable to register SBE businesses. In order to be eligible for opportunities with the Convention, your SBE must register with Pinellas or Hillsborough County or the City of St. Petersburg or Tampa. I've been assured that current certified SBEs just need to complete some additional paperwork to make it happen.]

Small Businesses throughout Tampa Bay should prepare to take the next step in advancing their business reach as the Host Committee of the 2012 Republican National Convention (RNC) prepares to greet and host dignitaries, delegates and others attending the convention, they want to ensure that Tampa’s small business community benefits from the positive economic impact of hosting such an event. As such, they have established the “Small Business Network.”

To participate in the network, the business must be located and the business owner must reside in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas or Polk Counties. The business must be certified as a Small Business Enterprise (SBE), Service Disabled Veteran Enterprise (SDVE) or Women or Minority Business Enterprise (W/MBE) with the Cities of Tampa or St. Petersburg or by Hillsborough or Pinellas Counties.

The Republican National Convention will convene August 27 – 30, 2012. To prepare small businesses for this opportunity, the host committee will hold the first of two information forums about the Small Business Network in January. At that time, on-line registration for local small businesses desiring to participate in the program will open.

It is anticipated that an On-line Business Directory of participating businesses will be created as a result of the Small Business Network participating businesses.

Polk County’s Small Business Development Center will stay abreast of news about the small Business Network. Business owners may also access information here.