My Two Cents: Free SEWEDA class provides value

Mike Neves

Gazette staffer

SEWEDA is a familiar acronym to many folks in Whitman County. It stands for Southeast Washington Economic Development Association. The organization is a 501c3 non-profit, with funding provided at the state level. Its purpose is to help people with their businesses, whether they are existing, or only existing in the minds of would-be entrepreneurs. They focus on helping business startups or already established owners locate funding, grant opportunities and tax incentives. They also offer assistance with business planning, expansion/relocation, program-project development, licensing, permits and more.

On Thursday, April 27, I attended a class at Whitman County Library’s event space, The Center, adjacent to its Colfax branch. The four-hour class was well attended, very informative and would be helpful to nearly any business seeking to improve or establish an online presence.

The subject was blogging with WordPress, led by successful Spokane businessman Josh Wade. Blogging is a style of web posting in which the most recent entry appears at the top of the page, but attendees learned that much more is possible with WordPress. The class was billed as “great for beginners,” which was true, but a multi-million dollar company could be created and supported with this technology without ever advancing much beyond this skill level.

In addition to learning how to create a blog, add creative design touches and enhanced functionality, the class touched on techniques and best practices to improve search rankings and relevance to help drive the desired clientele to a business.

A tasty free lunch was provided, catered by Events on Main of Colfax. The class was possible due to SEWEDA receiving an $18,000 USDA Rural Development Grant. The library also donated the use of The Center to host the event.

To see how SEWEDA can assist you and your business, visit http://www.seweda.org, or contact Sarah McKnight, their Whitman County managing director, at 509-288-1317.