The first of a series of Business Building Breakfasts took place last week with the focus on financial planning.

Jason Barnes of Revanta Financial was in charge of the first program, March 25, and introduced Joe Kuhr of Capital Streets Financial as the speaker. Kuhr pointed out that many issues are out of the control of business owners, making it more essential to control what is possible.

He said financial planning is a controllable component and pointed out that the first step for a business owner is to keep track of what their business is worth. Kuhr said planning for the death or disability of key people is as important to the business as the owner having life insurance.

Planning for retirement and tax liability should also be part of a business plan.

“Make time to visit with financial planners,” Kuhr said.

The Business Builder sessions are part of the Entrepreneur Friendly initiative of the State of Georgia. Jones County was designated as the 71st Entrepreneur Friendly Community in the state last year.

Jones County/Gray Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Pam Christopher said one of the goals of the Entrepreneur Friendly program is to enhance relationships with state and federal resource providers and educate the community about the benefits of supporting local businesses.

One of the first steps of entering the program was to survey a cross section of the business community to obtain information about their business experience, pitfalls, wants and needs.

“From the survey we learned that businesses overwhelmingly are in need of educational workshops and seminars on how to run their businesses more efficiently,” she said.

She added that she also learned that business owners are willing to help and mentor new entrepreneurs to help guide them.

The Business Building Breakfast series will enable busy business owners to use the hours before business begins to learn more about best practices from experienced professionals.

The next session will be April 22 at 7:30 a.m. in the W.E. Knox Civic Center. Christopher will be the speaker and the topic: How to keep the competitive edge with customer service.

Vonnie Angelo, Department of Labor, will speak May 20 on the topic: Come learn how ‘Georgia Works’ for you.

For more information or to suggest future speakers or topics, call the Chamber at 986-1123.