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KINGSPORT – November 8, 2010 – In recognition of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce and KOSBE have teamed up to put on the Fall 2010 Small Business Night School, on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 16 & 17, from 5:00 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce in Downtown Kingsport.

Primarily, the Small Business Night School provides free training, peer-to-peer networking, collaborative problem-analysis and problem-solving, and access to financing to small business owners and entrepreneurs.

On Tuesday, November 16th, attendees will learn:

*Networking Skills
*Networking No-Nos
*How to meet new people and expand your network
*How to take the focus off of yourself and put it where it belongs-on other people
*The Secret to Creating Agreement:‚  Using Matching and Mirroring to Build Rapport
*Learn how the principles behind rapport-building helped one small business land the contract of their dreams
*Basic QuickBooks for Small Business
*Why use QuickBooks?
*How to track expenses, create invoices and sales documents, manage your tax-related entries, and pull financial reports
*Get Back on Track:‚  What to Do When the Ship Is Going in the Wrong Direction
*How to stay focused on the things that matter
*How to get outside of your business (its harder to solve your own problem when you are immersed in it)
*Not to underestimate the size of a problem

On the 17th only, registered attendees will have the chance to apply for the SBA Community Express Loan for $5,000 to $25,000, during a group live loan application process facilitated by Sue Malone, the leading SBA Community Express Loan lender in the nation. Before the live loan event begins, attendees will hear from other lenders about other sources of capital for their small business.

Loan applicants must be 18 or older.‚  Loan program presenters will include representatives from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Areawide Development Corporation, the State of Tennessee Economic & Community Developments Business Enterprise Resource Office, Pathway Lending, and Superior Financial.

The Small Business Night School is designed with business owners and entrepreneurs in mind (including home-based), however, upper class high school and college students are encouraged to participate.‚  There is no cost to attend, but seating is limited.‚  Therefore, advanced registration is required.‚  Anyone interested can register online at WWW.KOSBE.ORG or call (423) 392-8811 for more information.‚  A detailed program schedule is available online.

About KOSBE
KOSBE is a nonprofit economic development organization that represents a partnership between the City of Kingsport and the Kingsport Area Chamber of Commerce, and a proud Strategic Resource Partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

About Global Entrepreneurship Week
For one week, millions of young people around the world join a growing movement of entrepreneurial people, to generate new ideas and to seek better ways of doing things. Countries across six continents come together to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity. To think big. To turn their ideas into reality. To make their mark.

From November 16 – 22, 2009, Global Entrepreneurship Week connected young people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. Students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees, non-profit leaders, government officials and many others participated in a range of activities, from online to face-to-face, and from large-scale competitions and events to intimate networking gatherings.

Through this initiative, the next generation of entrepreneurs are inspired and can emerge. In doing so, they will begin to acquire the knowledge, skills and networks needed to grow innovative, sustainable enterprises that have a positive impact on their lives, their families and communities.

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KINGSPORT – The end of daylight-saving time on November 7th can be a life saver. The Kingsport Fire Department reminds you the time change is a convenient reminder to change the batteries in your home smoke alarms. The KFD would also like to remind you that other than home sprinkler system, smoke alarms are one of you best defenses in a home fire.

Over 3,000 people die in house fires in the United States every year. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that nearly half of those deaths occur in the 4 percent of homes that do not have working smoke alarms. The NFPA also says that 20 percent of home smoke alarms do not work because of dead or missing batteries.

The importance of smoke alarms is underscored by a statistic from the Consumer Product Safety Commission: your chance of surviving a house fire doubles if there is working smoke alarms in your home.

Although smoke-alarm batteries might last as long as a year, the experts say they should be changed twice yearly: at the return of standard time on the first Sunday in November, and then again when clocks are changed to daylight-saving time on the second Sunday in March.

Even if your smoke alarms are “hard wired” into your home electrical system, they probably have backup batteries to make sure the alarms work during a power failure. It’s also important to use the right kind of batteries. Ordinarily alkaline or lithium batteries are best. Rechargeable batteries designed for high-tech electronics are not suited for smoke alarms.

Besides changing the batteries twice a year, it’s also important to check smoke alarms monthly by pressing the test button. The NFPA recommends that smoke alarms be replaced every 10 years.

There are two kinds of smoke alarms available for home use: Ionization alarms are more responsive to flaming fires, while photoelectric alarms respond more quickly to smoldering fires. Although either type will eventually react to most fires, the NFPA says it is best to use both types in your home. Some manufacturers offer dual-sensor alarms combining ionization and photoelectric sensors in one unit.

There should be one smoke alarm in every bedroom, along with an alarm outside sleeping areas. Make sure you have at least one alarm on each level of your home. To increase the level of protection, consider installing wireless smoke alarms that are interconnected, so all alarms sound as soon as one detects smoke. Because smoke rises, install smoke alarms high on the wall or on the ceiling.

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Smoke Alarm Safety Quick Tips from the KFD and NFPA

1.‚  An ionization smoke alarm is generally more responsive to flaming fires and a photoelectric smoke alarm is generally more responsive to smoldering fires. For the best protection, both types of alarms or combination ionization and photoelectric (dual sensor) alarms are recommended.

2.‚  Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. For the best protection, interconnect (hard wired or wireless connection)‚  all smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.

3.‚  Test alarms at least monthly by pushing the test button.

4.‚  Smoke rises; install smoke alarms following manufacturers instructions high on a wall or on a ceiling. Save manufacturers instructions for testing and maintenance.

5.‚  Replace batteries in all smoke alarms at least once a year. If an alarm chirps, warning the battery is low, replace the battery right away.

6.‚  Replace all smoke alarms, including alarms that use ten year batteries and hard-wired alarms, when they are ten years old or sooner if they do not respond properly when tested.

7.‚  Alarms that are hard-wired (and include battery backup) must be installed by a qualified electrician.

8.‚  If cooking fumes or steam sets off nuisance alarms, replace the alarm with a photoelectric type alarm or an alarm that has a hush button. A hush button will reduce the alarms sensitivity for a short period of time.

9.‚  Smoke alarms are available for people who are deaf. These alarms use strobe lights. Vibration equipment is required with these alarms. This equipment is activated by the sound of the smoke alarm.

10.‚  People with mild to severe hearing loss can use a device that will make a mixed, low-pitched sound. This device is activated by the sound of a traditional smoke alarm.

11.‚  When you do shop for a smoke alarm, look for units with the Underwriters Laboratory label, typically the letters “UL” in a circle.

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The US Fire Problem:

In 2009, there were 1,348,500 fires reported in the United States (down 7% from 2008). These fires caused 3,010 civilian deaths, 17,050 civilian injuries, and $12.5 billion in property damage.

•‚ ‚ ‚  480,500 were structure fires (down 7% from 2008), causing 2,695 civilian deaths, 14,740civilian injuries, and $10.8 billion in property damage.

•‚ ‚ ‚  219,000 were vehicle fires (down 7% from 2008), causing 280 civilian fire deaths, 1,610 civilian fire injuries, and $1.4 billion in property damage.

•‚ ‚ ‚  649,000 were outside and other fires (down 7% from 2008), causing 35 civilian fire deaths, 700 civilian fire injuries, and $328 million in property damage.
The 2009 U.S. fire loss clock

•‚ ‚ ‚  A fire department responded to a fire every 23 seconds.

•‚ ‚ ‚  One structure fire was reported every 66 seconds.

•‚ ‚ ‚  One home structure fire was reported every 87 seconds

•‚ ‚ ‚  One civilian fire injury was reported every 31 minutes.

•‚ ‚ ‚  One civilian fire death occurred every 2 hours and 55 minutes.

•‚ ‚ ‚  One outside fire was reported every 49 seconds.

•‚ ‚ ‚  One vehicle fire was reported every 146 seconds.

For more information on home fire safety, or to request assistance with checking smoke alarms and batteries, please contact Barry Brickey Public Education Officer for the Kingsport Fire Department at 423-224-2820 or at brickey@kingsporttn.gov

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KINGSPORT ‚¬ A segment of Chestnut Ridge Road will closed to thru traffic through Friday, November 5, 2010, between Aberdeen Trail and Old Stage Road to allow for tree removal.‚  Road closures will begin at 11 a.m. and continue until sundown. Motorists are asked to seek alternative routes in the interim.

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KINGSPORT ‚¬ The Dobyns-Bennett Counseling Office would like to remind parents that all Dobyns-Bennett High School tenth graders will take the PLAN assessment on November 9, 2010 during Blocks A and B.

The PLAN Assessment is one of the three assessments required by the State of TN to gauge college and workforce readiness. The other related state-required assessments include the Explore test in 8th Grade and ACT test in 11th Grade.

Taking the PLAN Assessment can:

•stimulate thinking and planning for life after high school •assess status of academic preparation for postsecondary education •support meaningful high school course selection for junior and senior years •relate personal characteristics to educational and career options •help focus test preparation to improve ACT scores •provide an estimated ACT Composite score

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The PLAN Assessment consists of:

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Students are encouraged to explore the ACT Online Prep site:

https://actonlineprep.act.org/ePrep as a means of preparing for this assessment.

All students received usernames and passwords to this site in homeroom/ advisory period on Sept 29th.

To find out more about the PLAN Assessment go to:

http://www.actstudent.org/plan/

PLAN Sample Questions can be found at:

http://www.act.org/plan/pdf/sample.pdf

Testing room Assignments will be posted outside of the cafeteria several days prior to the assessment.‚  The make-up test date for students absent on test day will be November 10th. Students will complete pre-coding information regarding their interests, current coursework, plans after high school, etc. the week prior to the assessment.

For more information, contact Dobyns-Bennett Graduation Coach/Testing Coordinator Melissa Horner at (423) 378-8400.

-KCS-

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