Business Briefs

What's new in your business?

Have you opened a new business, added a new product, moved to a new location, hired a new person or promoted an employee? The community wants to know, and so do we.

Send us your information at news@peninsulaclarion.com, fax it to 283-3299 or drop it off at the Clarion at 150 Trading Bay in Kenai.

Photos will be considered, as well. For more information, call Nan at 335-1241.

Chambers set schedules

* Nikiski Chamber of Commerce will meet at noon today at the Nikiski Recreation Center at Mile 23.4 of the Kenai Spur Highway. The featured speaker will be Trent Dobson with CIRCAC. For more information, call Judene at 776-5551.

The chamber will not meet Nov. 22.

* The Soldotna Chamber of Commerce will meet at noon Tuesday at Froso's Restaurant. The featured speaker will be Wayne Stevens, director of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce. For more information, call Michelle at 262-9814.

* The Kenai Chamber of Commerce will not meet Wednesday. It will meet Nov. 28 at the Kenai Merit Inn. The featured speaker will be Donna Peterson with the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. For more information, call Tina Baldridge at 283-7989.

* The Anchor Point Chamber of Commerce will meet at noon Wednesday at the Anchor River Inn.

Cold Stone collecting for food bank

For every Cold Stone Creamery Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie in a graham cracker crust with cinnamon frosting and handcrafted chocolate maple leaves purchased, the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank will receive $3.

To preorder pies, call 262-7736 or stop by Cold Stone Creamery on the Kenai Spur Highway in Soldotna. For more information, call 262-3111.

Soldotna seniors open gift shop

The Soldotna Senior Center's Sitka Rose Gift Shop will open at 1:30 p.m. today. A variety of handcrafted items and gifts will be offered. For more information, call 262-2322.

Kenai chamber announces Christmas celebration

The Kenai Chamber of Commerce's annual Christmas Comes to Kenai celebration will be held Nov. 23.

* Santa will arrive aboard a city of Kenai fire truck at 11:30 a.m. at the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center. He will be available for photos, and cocoa and cookies will be available.

* The Electric Light Parade will begin at 6 p.m. The route will begin at the Uptown Motel and end in the chamber parking lot. A bonfire next to the chamber cabin will be lit after the parade.

* Fireworks will begin at 7:30 p.m.

For parade entry forms, call 283-7989.

Small business workshops slated

The Small Business Development Center will hold the following workshops at its office in the Red Diamond Center, Suite 12, on Kalifornsky Beach Road.

* A business recordkeeping workshop will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. The fee is $25 per person. Preregistration is required no later than Friday.

* A budgeting workshop to learn how to establish budgets, monetary amounts or percentages and how to evaluate successes and failures will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Nov. 29. The fee is $15 per person. Preregistration is required by Friday.

For more information or to preregister for workshops, call Bunny at 260-5629 or e-mail her at inblk@uaa.alaska.edu.

Enstar United Way fundraiser continues

Enstar Natural Gas Co. will raffle off a natural gas Weber barbecue for its United Way fundraiser. For every dollar donated to United Way, participants will receive a raffle ticket for the barbecue. Donations may be dropped off at the Soldotna Enstar office at 36225 Kenai Spur Highway.

The drawing will be held Nov. 30. Community members don't have to be a customer to participate. For more information, call Becky McCord at 262-9334.

Seafood processing institute open to applicants

Alaska Seafood Processing Leadership Institute, or ASPLI, a program that aims to promote the professional development of future leaders in the seafood processing industry, is taking applications through Dec. 15.

The program includes three training segments (in Anchorage and Kodiak) and a five-day field trip to the 2008 International Boston Seafood Show and Northeast seafood processors and reprocessors. The training sessions will cover technical aspects of seafood processing, seafood logistics, HACCP/plant sanitation, leadership, personnel management, plant management, regulatory requirements and global seafood marketing.

Participants will have the opportunity to interact with leaders in the seafood processing field and work closely with a professional mentor in their place of employment.

The institute is sponsored by the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks and is funded in part through a grant from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development's State Training and Employment Program (STEP).

For more information or to apply, call Angela Camos at (907) 274-9699, e-mail fnasc2@uaf.edu or visit www.marineadvisory.org/aspli.

Children's cooking workshops offered

Children ages 6 to 12 may attend pint-size workshop cooking classes at 10 a.m. Saturdays at Allen and Petersen Cooking and Appliance Center in Kenai. Admission is two cans of food or a $2 donation to the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank. A parent must remain during the 30-minute workshops. For more information, call 262-3111.

Food safety leadership award offered

NSF International announced a second call for nominations for its 2008 Food Safety Leadership Awards Program. The program recognizes key individuals and organizations that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in food service safety.

The nominations will be divided into seven categories: technology breakthroughs, research advances, education, equipment design, product development, packaging innovation and systems improvements. Nominations for a special lifetime achievement award also are being accepted. Food service operators, manufacturers, researchers and members of academia are encouraged to submit nominations.

The 2008 award recipients will be announced at the Food Safety Summit on March 19 during a luncheon at the Washington, D.C., Convention Center.

The summit attracts more than 2,000 food manufacturers, food processors, restaurant executives and food retailers.

Additional information is available at www.nsf.org/business/newsroom/fs_awards_nomination.asp or by calling (734) 827-5627. Nominations will be accepted through Friday.

Manufacturer of the Year nominations sought

Nominations for Made in Alaska Manufacturer of the Year are being accepted. Made in Alaska permit holders are eligible to nominate another permit holder or self-nominate by Jan. 12. For more information, call (907) 272-5634 or e-mail madeinalaska@anchoragemarkets.com.

Fisheries business assistance available

Alaska Business Development Center Inc. renewed its Fisheries Business Assistance contract with the state of Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development and Division of Investments.

The contract enables the center to provide free or low-cost business counseling and assistance to commercial harvesters and small businesses in the Alaska fishing industry.

For more information, call (800) 478-3474.