As we start this New Year, it is imperative to look ahead with optimism. With many changes occurring nationwide keeping a positive outlook for the coming year is key. At the recent annual NYS SBDC Director's Meeting, current legislative changes and overall economic outlook were discussed. I am hopeful that the small business developments on Staten Island will continue to grow in a positive direction. With blossoming partnerships such as the Brooklyn Public Library and CSI Tech Incubator, to mentoring programs with both high school and college students, we here at the SBDC help bring entrepreneurs to the SME community to strive for their goals and successes through our world-class business expertise.

As you will notice, we’ve made some changes to our newsletter to highlight client achievements and become more user-friendly.  Keeping your marketing platforms fresh and modern will help build your outreach to the community. Our blog and social media outlets are also full of current news and are great ways to network with other businesses. Through our Business of the Month initiative, we feature our 1 Year Anniversary of outstanding small businesses throughout the Staten Island community. We are extremely proud of all their success and look forward to featuring other entrepreneurs in the coming months.

One of our major highlights last year was achieving re-accreditation with four commendations under the New York State SBDC, part of the National America's SBDC Network.  More recently, we hosted a number of seminars including Tax Law Updates in the beginning of January and Email & Social Media Seminars in both Brooklyn and Staten Island. These seminars were a huge success and we look forwarding to hosting more in the next several months. Future seminar topics include finance, marketing, business planning, and much more! If there are seminar topics you would like to see featured, please contact us.

Looking ahead, it is also important to keep your goals in mind and focus on consumer trends in 2017. In this edition, you will find some helpful resources to guide you.

As always, we appreciate the support of our clients and resource partners. We look forward to hearing your new ideas for this upcoming year and we hope to see you at an upcoming event!