Lunch and Learn: 5 Ways to Use ChatGPT (AI) for small business
2025-10-31 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago) | Online Event
AI (Artificial Intelligence) can make you a more efficient marketer. Learn to use ChatGPT (AI) for marketing your small business, starting with your own information for:
1. Condensing/Expanding Messages: ChatGPT assists in summarizing complex ideas for social media/email, and elaborating on brief concepts for blogs/newsletters/presentations.
2. Understanding Consumer Problems: By analyzing vast online data, ChatGPT aids in consumer research, identifying sentiments/preferences, and simulating customer interactions.
3. Filling Branding Gaps: ChatGPT helps you strengthen your branding by ensuring consistency in tone/messaging, suggesting refinements, and generating ideas for unique selling propositions.
4. Technical Quick Reference: ChatGPT provides step-by-step instructions for technical tasks, eliminating barriers to technical competency.
5. Social Media Post Generation: ChatGPT can automate social media post creation, streamlining marketing efforts for solopreneurs and small businesses.
Faculty: KIm Beer. Kim is a multi-talented Growth Facilitator, national speaker and advocate for small business. She is cohost of the popular podcast “The Business Animal” and the author of “The Little Book of Big Sales Moves.” Her mission is to inspire and educate entrepreneurs to create results-oriented tactics that will carry their business and their creativity to the next level. Kim’s seminars and workshops on entrepreneurial strategy, marketing, and personal development are honest, enlightening and packed with great action steps and technical instruction garnered from over 30 years of entrepreneurial experience. She offers experiential opportunities for personal development and growth through her Synchronicity Sessions. Kim is also an award-winning writer, graphic designer and photographer. She holds a certification as an Equine Gestaltist from Touched by a Horse and is a certified Hypnotist through the International Association of Counselors and Therapists.

November WIBA Women Luncheon 2025
2025-11-04 11:00 - 13:00 | The Ninth Floor Club + Venue, 100 North Broadway, Suite 900, Wichita, KS, 67202, United States
Our WIBA Women’s Luncheon is a great time to network with other like-minded women and leaders.

Hear from WIBA member, Anita Greenwood, Founder, CEO & Executive Coach at Powerhouse Leaders.
Anita will tell her story, talk about her career journey and share what she learned on a month-long business trip that she took to Africa. She will also talk about how to leverage partnerships and relationships to generate business.
Anita Greenwood is a British-born CEO and Executive Coach who’s lived in three countries and led teams across many more. After a 20+ year global career growing billion-dollar brands, she founded Powerhouse Leaders, her Wichita-based company that helps game-changing leaders elevate their executive presence and influence in today’s complex world.
A master of turning discomfort into growth, Anita has built relationships that landed multimillion-dollar deals, unforgettable adventures, and—no joke—saved her own life.
Known for her straight talk, wit, and fearless approach to growth, fresh back from a solo trip to Africa practicing what she teaches, Anita aspires to inspire leaders to challenge norms, lead bolder, create impact, and have fun doing it—because serious impact doesn’t have to mean taking yourself seriously too.

Location
The Ninth Floor Club + Venue

Parking is available on the upper levels of the parking garage located west of Broadway.
Any space not marked RESERVED is available for your use.
Access the building through the covered walkway on the 3rd level of the garage.
There is a $1.00 parking fee (cash only) when exiting the parking garage.

Pricing
$25 Members
$50 Non members
*Tickets are non-refundable or transferrable

Contact Information
Wichita Independent Business Association
Name: Jennifer Willits
Phone: (316) 201-3264
Email: jennifer@wiba.org

eMail Marketing
2025-11-07 10:00 - 12:00 | Online Event
eMail marketing, driven by your CRM (customer relationship management) software is the most cost-effective tool in your marketing kit. In this class we will cover how to utilize email to turn prospects into customers and how to utilize your CRM to tailor the customer journey from inquiry to sale.
Faculty: Kim Beer. Kim is a national speaker and advocate for entrepreneurship and small business marketing. She has been an entrepreneur for over 25 years, soon to celebrate her 20th year as president of the small business marketing firm Midnight Productions, Inc. Kim’s mission is to inspire and educate entrepreneurs to create results-oriented marketing tactics that will carry their business to the next level. Her seminars on marketing are honest, enlightening and packed with great action steps and technical instruction. Kim is a Certified Authorized Local Expert and Platinum Solution Provider with the online marketing software company Constant Contact.

Small Business Success: Mastering the Essentials
2025-11-10 18:00 - 20:00 | Online Event
Running a business requires more than just a great idea—it takes strategy, financial literacy, and operational know-how. This workshop will provide new and existing entrepreneurs with an understanding of what is needed to build a sustainable business. We’ll cover essential topics such as business planning, marketing, and financial management to ensure long-term success.
Key Takeaways:

Learn how to create a business model that works
Understand branding and marketing fundamentals
Discover key financial tools for profitability
Identify common challenges and how to navigate them
Understand how to develop a strategy for long-term business growth

This is the first Workshop in the three part series Small Business Success: Mastering the Essentials. Session 2 – Polishing Your Business Idea, Marketing Strategy & Social Media Marketing and Session 3 – Demystifying Financial Foundations, Funding Your Businesss Dream & Creating Realistic Financial Projections.

Content that Connects: Planning for Performance & Success in 2026 Workshop
2025-11-17 13:00 - 14:30 | WSU Woosley Hall, 2060 N Mid-Campus Drive, Wichita, KS, 67208
Learn tactics that help you thoughtfully execute on your 2026 social media vision!

Join Wichita State University and NXTUS for a FREE workshop on “Content that Connects: Planning for Performance & Success in 2026″, led by Angela Breer with Dot Strategies.
In this interactive session, learn tactics that help you thoughtfully execute on your 2026 social media vision from generating ideas and planning content to analyzing performance with data metrics and refining your approach. This workshop will help you structure your social media to fit what you can realistically manage for your startup.
Free parking is available in the lot outside of Woolsey Hall.

About the Speaker: Angela Breer
Angela Breer is a strategic communications and marketing professional. As the Founder and Chief Dot Connector for Dot Strategies, she helps clients connect the dots with a strategic and creative focus in the areas of marketing and communications. She applies her empathy and organizational skills to the many community causes she is involved with. She graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism with an emphasis in strategic communications. She enjoys reading, finding the perfect treasure, time in nature and binging a good show!

Grant Writing Basics
2025-11-17 13:30 - 16:30 | Online Event
The Grant Writing Basics course is suitable for people who have never written a grant (more than 50% of our students), and those who have a lot of experience and want to take a fresh look at their current practices.
More than 3,400 Kansans have been trained and found confidence and writing skills, resulting in more than $100 million of successful grants written in the first 18 months after they took this class. They wrote grants to support park improvements, walking trails, building restoration, leadership programs, arts, programming, festivals, and other community infrastructure.
Consisting of two (3-hour) online live sessions with many additional resources, this format allows writers to formulate their grant ideas into a grant proposal. Participants are encouraged to bring their grants or grant ideas to share. Time for interaction with other participants is an important aspect of the class; even experienced grant writers pick up tips and are reenergized after consulting with peers.
You will learn:

Sources of data for community needs
Where to find grants
Elements of a great grant proposal
Practicing the grant elements: Problem, Outcome, Activity, Evaluation, Budget

Additional information:

This online course has two synchronous classes. The class resource materials are available the week before and several weeks afterwards.
Enrollment is limited for each class, but we want to meet all needs; if the class is filled, please register on the waiting list.
Classes are recorded for later reference or classes missed.

For more information, please contact:
Nancy Daniels
nkdaniels@ksu.edu

Webinar-Food Security, Access, and Health Outcomes in Rural America: Challenges and Policy Pathways
2025-11-19 13:00 - 15:00 | Online Event
This webinar will focus on the everyday challenges rural communities face in accessing healthy and affordable food, and how these challenges affect health and well-being. We will discuss the impact of policy reforms, unique challenges such as food deserts, and strategies to strengthen rural food systems through partnerships, education, and innovation. Presenters: Bhagyashree Katare, Berdine Martin Food Economics Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University Krystal Hodge, Assistant Professor, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign NCRCRD webinars are open to all participants. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate or need an interpreter or translator, please contact Mary Breidenbach (mabreide@purdue.edu) no later than 5 days prior to the event. Purdue University is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access University.

Accessing Capital for Small Business
2025-12-16 10:00 - 12:00 | Online Event
Join Brande Stitt, Program Director for the Women’s Business Center, as she walks us through where entrepreneurs get their money. Learn what types of businesses are launched, and how they were funded.
You will learn to ask yourself these important questions:
How much money do I need?
What type of business do I have?
What type of capital is most appropriate?
You will learn how to prepare to raise debt (borrow money) or equity capital (give up a share of your business.)
Brande Stitt currently serves as Program Director for the Women’s Business Center in Fairway, Kansas. The WBC helps develop, mentor and fund women led businesses. She previously served as the Network Builder for KCSourceLink and Director of Small Business & Entrepreneurship for the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. Brande received her Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Drury University in Springfield, Mo., and a Masters of Education in community/agency counseling from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Please connect at least 5 minutes in advance to be sure you have a good connection. The webinar begins promptly at 10:00 AM CT/ 9AM MT/ 8AM PT and concludes by 12:00 PM CT/ 11AM MT/ 10AM PT.

Rural Grocery Specialist
2026-01-19 10:00 - 12:00 | Online Event
Supporting rural grocers in business transition planning is essential to keeping the benefits of hometown grocery stores in rural communities. The Rural Grocery Transition Specialist program trains and deploys resource professionals across the country to better serve rural grocers through business transitions.

Who: This course is designed for Extension professionals, economic developers and other resource providers who support rural grocers and rural community vitality across the country.
Participants will gain: Strategies for building relationships with grocery store owners and managers, understanding of transition planning and business valuation concepts, and tools to support grocery store transitions. In addition, participants will join a national network of professionals dedicated to supporting rural communities.
Format: This course contains seven online modules that include homework assignments and interactive discussion boards, paired with guided learning through four required 1.5 to 2-hour synchronous virtual meetings.
Taught by: Composed of 18 professionals from across the country, the teaching team has a wide a range of expertise related to business transition planning and rural grocery.
