**FREE** Basics of Starting a Business:
October 10th from 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Writing a Winning Business Plan:
October 11h from 1:00-4:00 p.m. - $25/person

Does Your Marketing Make “Cents”?:
October 19th from 1:00-4:00 p.m. - $25/person

Starting a Restaurant or Food Business:
October 24th from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
$40/person for two-session workshop **Limited seating**

For more information on the above seminars and programs, please call the Aurora BDC at
(303) 326-8690 or visit http://www.aurorabdc.com.

New Analysis of Data on Women in Business

The number of women-owned firms increased by nearly 20 percent over the 1997-2002 period, according to a new analysis of Census data from the Office of Advocacy. According to the report, Women in Business: A Demographic Review of Women's Business Ownership, women owned 6.5 million or 28.2 percent of nonfarm US firms in 2002. More than 14 percent of the women owned firms - 916,768 - had employees: these firms employed 7.1 million workers and paid 173.7 billion in annual payroll. They are responsible for about 86 percent of the receipts of women-owned firms.   Most women-owned businesses are very small - more than 79 percent had receipts of less than $50,000 in 2002. The receipts of these small firms totaled about 6 percent of all women-owned business receipts in both 1997 and 2002. The 7,420 women-owned firms with 100 employees or more accounted for $275.0 billion in gross receipts of women-owned employer firms in 2002.  The largest shares of women-owned business receipts were in wholesale and retail trade and manufacturing in both 1997 and 2002. The report is full of data not only about demographic, industrial, and geographic characteristics of women-owned businesses, but also about women in the work force, their self-employment, and the economic well-being. Women constituted 51 percent of the American population and nearly 47 percent of the labor force in 2004, the reports note. To view the full report, click here

The Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority has approved a 30-year development agreement with Forest City Fitzsimons, Inc., a subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises, to develop the bioscience park adjacent to the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center campus at the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora. This 160-acre private-sector development project will take approximately 25 years, with the potential for attracting 10,000 high-paying jobs.
 
Under the agreement, Forest City will lease land on a phased basis from the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority (FRA) to develop life sciences-oriented facilities in the bioscience park, including major office and laboratory facilities for biotechnology companies and supporting services. In return, FRA will receive fixed annual payments as well as an equity share of net cash flow from the buildings to be constructed. The agreement also includes requirements and restrictions for how the facilities will be used, to ensure that the mutual goal of creating a critical mass of life-sciences companies in the bioscience park is achieved.

Southlands Main Street Opens

TA four-block main street and community plaza at Southlands Mall at E-470 & Smoky Hill Road will open to the public on Friday, October 20.  Main Street, with first floor retail and second floor office space, will encompass some of today’s leading retailers and restaurants including Coldwater Creek, The Gap, Banana Republic, Old Chicago, Ted’s Montana Grill, McCabe’s and many more. The plaza will be a great place to gather with a twice-weekly farmer’s market and other events throughout the year including a holiday tree-lighting, featured entertainment and an annual fireworks display. Southlands Mall is home to more than 40 retailers and restaurants, a United States post office, and a 16-plex cinema.  For more information, click here     The Aurora Business Development Center (BDC) offers free one-on-one counseling, low-cost seminars, financing programs and technical assistance for entrepreneurs and    existing small business owners.  www.aurorabdc.com   The Aurora Business Development Center’s (BDC) e-newsletter, BIZ BEAT, contains our upcoming events and programs, valuable business tips and trends, City of Aurora news and other small business resources. If you do not wish to continue receiving this e-newsletter, please email us at info@aurorabdc.com.

For a print friendly version of this newsletter click here