Chamber set schedules

■ The Soldotna and Kenai Chambers of Commerce will host a joint luncheon at noon on Tuesday at the Kenai Visitors Center. A forum with candidates for lt. governor is planned. RSVP to 262-9814 or 283-1991.

Alliance holds annual meeting, board elections

The Alaska Support Industry Alliance held its Annual Meeting and Board Elections Oct. 2 evening at the Hotel Captain Cook.

In addition to electing new board members, founding Alliance member Joe Mathis presented the first Chuck Becker Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr. Becker for his dedication to the Alliance over its 35 years.

Outgoing President Dave Lawer with First National Bank Alaska passed the gavel to the Alliance’s new President, Kevin Durling of Petroleum Equipment and Services, Inc. (PESI). PESI is a 35-year-old Alaskan company serving the oil and gas industry’s drilling product needs.

Four incumbent board members were reelected to three year terms: Bryan Clemenz, CH2M Hill; Krista Gonder, Alaska Tags & Titles; Mark D. Nelson, ASRC Energy Services; and Pete Stokes, Petrotechnical Resources Alaska. The membership also elected three new board members: Adam Crum, Northern Industrial Training; Wyche Ford, Fluor; and Ben Schoffmann, Kakivik Asset Management LLC & CCI Industrial Services, LLC.

The Kenai Chapter of the Alliance also voted to make Scott Davis of Davis Block and Concrete their representative to the statewide board.

The Alliance is an oil, gas and mining trade association with 500 member companies representing 30,000 employees in Alaska. Our mission is to promote responsible resource development in Alaska.

SBA accepting Small Business Week Ward Nominations

The U.S. Small Business Administration – Alaska district office has announced the opening of SBA’s online portal and is ready to accept nominations for its 2015 National Small Business Week Awards, including the annual Small Business Person of the Year award.

SBA has been following the mantra – Smart, Bold and Accessible in the way the agency conducts business. This is now the third year SBA has been using the online portal submission process, a great and smart improvement from years past. The improved dedicated web portal http://awards.sba.gov provides all the guidelines and has made it much easier to submit and track submissions of nominees for National Small Business Week.

All nominations must be submitted online, postmarked or hand delivered to the SBA no later than 3 p.m. EST, Monday, Jan. 5, 2015. In addition to the portal, nominations can also be sent directly to SBA’s Alaska District Office. For contact information and other District Office information visit online at www.sba.gov/ak, call 800-755-7034 or visit in person at 420 L Street, Suite 300, Anchorage, Alaska.

Agricultural equipment for rent

The Kenai Soil & Water Conservation District has a wide variety of agricultural equipment for rent, including manual and mechanized tools for soil preparation (Meri Crusher), tillage, re-seeding, planting, pesticide and fertilizer application and bale wrapping. For information, see the “Equipment Rental” page at www.kenaisoilandwater.org or call 283-8732 ext. 5.

ASBDC plans seminars

Starting a Business Seminar — If you want to put your idea to work, attend a free 2-hour “Starting a Business” seminar on Oct. 14 from 10 a.m. to noon p.m. in the Red Diamond Center, Suite 12, where Bryan Zak will answer your basic questions and offer helpful resources to give you tools to start your own business on the Kenai Peninsula. Bryan will prepare you for a productive relationship with Alaska Small Business Development Center and its partner programs, and explain the value of SBDC’s free counseling services. For more information or to register, visit www.aksbdc.org or contact Bunny at 907-260-5629.

Job Center hosts training

The following job skills workshops will be offered at the Peninsula Job Center the week of Oct. 13:

Monday, Oct. 13 — 9:30 a.m, ALEXsys Job Leads; 10:30 a.m., Introduction to ALEXsys and the Job Center; 2:30 p.m., Interviewing Skills

Tuesday, Oct. 14 — 10:30 a.m., CareerReady 101 Lab

Wednesday, Oct. 15 — 1:30 p.m., WorkKeys® Testing

Thursday, Oct. 16 — 9:30 a.m., Resumer Writing Workshop

Friday, Oct. 17 — Peninsula Job Center closed in observance of Alaska Day

All workshop are free of charge to the public

Those interested in attending any workshops offered at the Peninsula Job Center can reserve space by clicking on the “Schedule Workshops” option located on the main screen in your ALEXsys account (www.jobs.alaska.gov ), call 335-3010, or visit the job center located in Kenai at 11312 Kenai Spur Hwy., Suite #2. Business hours are Monday – Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm excluding state and federal holidays.

Business workshops offered

Six small business workshops will be offered weekly in Fairbanks and by videoconference in Soldotna. The series is hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service and the UAF Community and Technical College.

Kathryn Dodge, Extension economic development specialist, said the workshops will offer guidance to small business owners interested in starting or expanding their businesses. Participants may attend one or all of the workshops. The topics include:

■ Starting a small business, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today

■ E-commerce and web-based tools for businesses, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 17

■ Writing a business plan, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 23

■ Legal forms of business, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 30

■ Record keeping and taxes for mining, 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Nov. 6

■ How to get a small business loan, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 13

Each class costs $25. Register online at http://bit.ly/ces-workshops. See more information about the classes and videoconference locations at www.uaf.edu/ces. Instructors will include Fairbanks attorney John Burns; accountant Paul Robinson; Scott Swingle of the Small Business Administration; Russ Talvi of the Alaska Small Business Development Center; Paul Bauer of the Spirit of Alaska Federal Credit Union; and Adam Krynicki of the UAF Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization.

For more information, contact Dodge at 474-6497 or kdodge@alaska.edu.

What’s new in your business?

Have you opened a new business, moved to a new location, hired a new person or promoted an employee?

Send us your information at news@peninsulaclarion.com, fax it to 907-283-3299, or drop it by the Clarion at 150 Trading Bay in Kenai. Questions? Call 907-335-1251.

Business announcements may be submitted to news@peninsulaclarion.com.