DATE:  Thursday, May 17th

This workshop acquaints attendees with what it takes to start and operate a business.  This is the first of four seminars offered for entrepreneurs interested in learning business basics.  Cost of the seminar is $10 in advance or $15 at the door.  Lunch is provided as part of registration fee.  To enroll in the seminar please call 509-575-1140 or email us at newvision@ycda.com.  You can also click here to register and pay online.

The classes start on Thursday May 17th and run weekly during the lunch hour over the following three weeks.  The first class covers the realities of running a small business and acquaints people with the traits and practices of succesful business owners.  The second class (on May 24th) covers business plan basics.  The last two seminars cover financing and marketing a business.  All seminars start at 11:30 and run until 1:00.  Click here to visit our calendar and learn more about each seminar.  You can register online through our calendar of events OR you can contact our office at 509-575-1140 or newvision@ycda.com to register for one or all of the seminars.  Cost for each class is $10 in advance or $15 at the door.  Registration covers a lunch that is provided during each seminar.

DATE:  Thursday, June 7, 2012

This workshop acquaints attendees with how to market their products or services.  This is the final seminar as part of a lunch series offered by SCORE for entrepreneurs interested in learning business basics.  Cost of the seminar is $10 in advance or $15 at the door (lunch included at this price!).  To register please call 509-575-1140 or email us at newvision@ycda.com.  You can also click here to register and pay online.

DATE:  Thursday, May 31st

This workshop acquaints attendees with how to fund business startups and some of the documentation needed by small businesses if they want to get a loan.  This is the third of four seminars offered by SCORE for entrepreneurs interested in learning business basics.  Cost of the seminar is $10 in advance or $15 at the door (fee includes lunch!).  To register please call 509-575-1140 or email us at newvision@ycda.com.  You can also click here to register and pay online.

DATE:  Thursday, May 17th

This workshop acquaints attendees with why business plans are important and how to put one together.  This is the second of four seminars offered by SCORE for entrepreneurs interested in learning business basics.  Cost of the seminar is $10 in advance or $15 at the door.  Lunch is provided as part of registration fee.  To register please call 509-575-1140 or email us at newvision@ycda.com.  You can also click here to register and pay online.

DATE:  Thursday, June 28

PLANT TOUR:  Washington Fruit

TIME:  7:00 a.m. to 8:30 (coffee, networking from 7-7:30, introductions and then tours)

LOCATION:  Washington Fruit River Road Facility (1007 River Road in Yakima)

RSVP DESIRED: Help us get an accurate count for coffee and light breakfast items.

Three easy ways:  Call 575.1140, email newvision@ycda.com or register online.

The New Vision Business & Industry Roundtable is based on similar groups that have organized in other communities to support local manufacturers and key industries.  Starting in January we will organize meetings every other month to focus on issues of importance to local industry.  On alternate months we will organize plant tours at some of our most interesting local business facilities.  Roundtable meeting will start with e a half hour of networking so participants can learn from one another and share their business experience.

Check out the full 2012 calendar of events.  We hope you can join us for this event or any of the others throughout the year.  If you have any questions about New Vision’s business and industry roundtable, please contact New Vision or Dave McFadden at 509-575-1140.

Over the last couple months we have been quietly working with three companies that are starting or expanding operations in Yakima County.  It is exciting to see these firms move forward on projects that will add significantly to local payrolls.

Amtech Corporation is also growing again.  The company is leasing a building next to their current facility in the Wapato Industrial Park.  As this older 60,000 square foot industrial building gets renovated, Amtech will use 20,000 square feet immediately and has an appetite to fill the rest of the facility.  Amtech is a diversified manufacturer of composite parts and assemblies.  The company makes products for the military including hardtops for Humvees, as well as cargo trailers and covers.  Amtech also manufactures components for trains, buses, lift booms and recreational vehicles (to name just a few product lines).  As the company moves into a renovated building it plans to add 20 employees this year and another 20 in 2013.  This will bring the headcount up to 220 employees at their Wapato headquarters.

We are very pleased with both of these projects.  While some local manufacturers have been adding jobs over the last year, these are the two most significant job generating projects we have seen over the last three years.  Our office is working with a couple other companies poised to expand as well, so hopefully these are all signs of an economic rebound here in our Valley.

Peninsula Packaging Company, LLC, a leading provider of thermoformed plastic packaging products, announced recently that it has acquired the agricultural thermoforming division of Berkley Operations, LLC, doing business as Packaging Plus in Yakima. acquisition strengthens Peninsula Packaging’s position as a leading packaging supplier to the fresh produce and bakery industries. Peninsula Packaging will now serve its customers through four strategic locations located on the West Coast and East Coast.  As part of the acquisition, Peninsula will expand into the former Ace Hardware distribution center on River Road in Yakima.

Ed Byrne, CEO of Peninsula Packaging, said: “The Packaging Plus transaction expands our geographic footprint and increases the breadth of our product offering. We are very excited to be in Yakima and will be adding new equipment and employees to the operation almost immediately.”

Peninsula is a great company and we are pleased to see them expanding in Yakima and creating 25 new jobs.  They are a perfect fit for our area given the magnitude of our agriculture industry.   

More About Peninsula Packaging, LLC
Peninsula Packaging is a leading provider of custom thermoformed plastic packaging products targeting the fresh produce and bakery markets. The Company has fully integrated operating platform, which includes extrusion, thermoforming and labeling at its two production facilities located in Exeter, California and Wilson, North Carolina. Peninsula provides custom tooling design services, responsive customer service and rapid order turnaround to customer group of leading produce growers, bakery companies and grocery retailers. The Company’s products are environmentally friendly, using recycled materials and renewable energy. For information about Peninsula, please visit  www.penpack.net.

January 24, 2012 and March 16, 2012 by Dave McFadden

• New Vision staff proactively contacts 40-50 key companies annually to gauge their health and offer tailored assistance as necessary.
• Staff works with expanding companies to ensure they are aware of any tax credit, workforce development or infrastructure assistance programs.
• New Vision is helping emerging businesses and entrepreneurs.  We work with partners to offer seminars for start-up enterprises.  We also stage the Enterprise Challenge, a business plan contest that helps identify and reward the region’s most promising new ventures.
• New Vision also provides leadership on community issues affecting the regional economy.
• New Vision helps local employers recruit technical and professional employees to the region.  Our talent attraction initiative is anchored by our new websites, www.liveyakimavalley.com and www.workyakimavalley.com.  We also train ambassadors to work with new residents and organize receptions to introduce new residents to local leaders.
• New Vison administers the Yakima County SIED fund that helps fund public utility improvements that support expanding companies and pave the way for new business facilities.
• New Vision is actively involved in redeveloping the former Boise Cascade mill site as well as other industrial/commercial sites in Yakima County

Yakima Valley Toolkit

We can also provide information on:

• Exporting;
• Government-backed loans;
• Industrial revenue bonds;
• Job skills training and education;
• Licensing;
• Relocation;
• Targeted jobs tax credits; and
• Sources of goods/services for manufacturing.

New Vision has helped 18 companies locate or expand operations in Yakima County since 2005.  These companies have invested over $75 million in new facilities and added over 600 new jobs.

DVD Marketing Project - how times have changed

Over the past five years, I was fortunate to work in different capacities for New Vision, getting a quick and steep learning curve on them both.  When I started in Marketing and Recruitment, we dove in full steam ahead with a video project and website redevelopment and then when I moved in to Business Development, we took off with a new entrepreneur initiative and it never slowed down.  I’m proud to have been a part of the team that brought the Enterprise Challenge Business Plan Competition to fruition.  I’m also very pleased to see our Industry Roundtable back in action.  The relationship building and collaboration between our industry leaders is exactly what we hoped to see.

Yakima Craft Brewing

It’s also been an exceptional experience to have been involved with start-up ventures like Yakima Craft Brewing, Liberty Bottleworks and Jenny Mae’s Gluten Free Bakery, to name a few.  In addition to working new companies, it has also been neat to work with expanding companies who choose to stay in the Yakima Valley in large part because of the business climate and people.  Finally, working with entrepreneurs and local industry on workforce training and business development has been very rewarding – over the past three years, we have held numerous classes and workshops to help our local businesses.

When I first moved to the Yakima Valley in 1994, I had planned to stay a year or two, a common saying among transplants.  What I found is that many of the same attributes that make this a wonderful business climate were also key factors for me in staying here.

• The weather and abundant sunshine!  I will miss the heat, even 100+, the Indian Summers and the mild (except this year) winters.
• Farm country.  I love the drive to the lower valley where the fields are laid out like a patchwork quilt.  There is nothing like the first sign of spring when you see a herd of cows and new calves.  And of course the wineries and being able to visit with the proprietors on a lazy summer wine tasting day.
• Proximity to Seattle, Spokane and Portland.  No more quick day trips to the Mariners.
• Quality of life.  This is a great place to raise a family!  I also love how you can be in the mountains in an hour or fishing.  There are so many gems in this community like the Yakima Symphony, the Museum, the Greenway, the Warehouse Theater and more.  I would disagree with people who think there isn’t anything to do here because it’s not a large metro.
• Traffic…or lack of.  It really is true that in Yakima, we think a traffic jam is if there are three cars in front of you.

Thank you New Vision and the Yakima Valley for a lifetime of experience and fond memories. It’s been a great ride.

1.  Don’t buy things you can’t afford;

This seems like such a simple statement but look at how many companies (and people) get into hot water because they overextend their credit or get in over their heads.  Many an entrepreneur has planned on not taking a salary until they get the business up and profitable…a great concept, but unless money is not an issue, you somehow have to be able to live and pay bills.

2.  Don’t borrow money you can’t pay back;

There is NO such thing as FREE money!

Same simple idea as the first one, but also important to remember.  Some entrepreneurs are so desperate to get their businesses up and running they run into challenges, whether revenue is slow to take off, payments come in late, customers don’t pay or they have to purchase inventory to start selling and making money.  I can’t tell you how often I’ve had people calling because they need a loan to start their business.  This is one reason we strongly encourage entrepreneurs to do a business plan, or at least if not a full plan, figure out how much start-up capital they will need, and prepare a month to month cash flow projection for at least two years.

3.  Don’t do deals you don’t understand; and

Whether it’s setting up a business structure, borrowing money from a family member or leasing a building, make sure you clearly understand what you are getting into.  If your great aunt offers to loan you some money and says pay it back when you can, she might mean, when you can…starting next month or with 20% interest.  It is also important to conduct your due diligence when it comes to business structure, building improvements and equipment leases.  If you are not sure of what something means or how things work, it is wise to contact a business advisor, your accountant or attorney.  A fee up front can save you in the long run.

4.  If it doesn’t seem right…it probably isn’t.

Likewise, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

We appreciate Mr. Johnson’s insight into how Horizon has stayed true to its guiding principles and taken advantage of opportunities as they have risen.