SOLANO COLLEGE SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER is offering workshops to help local companies increase commerce and understand financial statements, Director Charles Rieger said.

A course on marketing on the Web will take place from 6-8:30 p.m. Thursday at the SBDC office, 360 Campus Lane, Suite 102, Fairfield.

Business owners may learn to generate leads through their website, how to get their website ranked in major search engines, how to use social media effectively and other skills “so you can focus on what you do best,” Rieger said.

Cost of the class is $30.

The second class, “Understanding Your Financial Statements,” will be taught from 10 a.m. to noon Dec. 12 at the same place.

Those attending will learn the importance and benefits of tracking their money, how to decipher a balance sheet and cash flow statement, and how to increase net profits by using financial statements as a guide for deciding how a business should be run.

Cost of this class is $25.

Registration can be made online at www.solanosbdc.org. The Small Business Development Center can be reached at 707-864-3382.

Benician opening Artis Coffee Roasters in Berkeley

A Benicia resident and two classmates are turning an award-winning senior project into a gourmet coffee roaster business in Berkeley.

Elvis Lieban is a Benicia resident, former Benicia High School student and graduate of Solano Community College and the University of California-Davis. He is a senior at Babson College, Boston, where he’s enrolled in the master’s of business administration program for entrepreneurs.

Lieban and two other Babson students, James Gutierrez and Alex Lowe, will have the grand opening of Artis Coffee Roasters on Friday and Saturday. Customers may choose coffee beans, watch them being roasted and in six minutes have coffee ready to take home. The business also sells cups of coffee, pastries and coffee equipment.

The project won the EDENs Retail Challenge at the Smart: The Art of Retail Conference 2013, when they competed against college students throughout the nation, and were awarded a $10,000 grand prize, an additional $3,500 for the concept and the opportunity to turn their concept into a real business.
Artis Coffee Roasters is at 1717B Fourth St., Berkeley. Its phone number is 510-982-6063.

New carpet store opens in Vacaville

Harry Sellers, who has worked in Solano County for more than 20 years, has opened Harry’s Carpets, a flooring store, in Vacaville.

After the past economic downturn, Sellers said, “Business is booming. It seems Solano is finally on the rebound, and the future is looking bright.”

The new store is at 42 Union Way, Unit C, Vacaville.

Submissions to The Herald’s weekly Benicia Business Beat column need to answer the questions who, what, when, where, why and how, preferably in the body of an email, and provide contact information.
Deadline is 3 p.m. Friday for news items that will appear in the next Tuesday edition. Please email news releases and accompanying high-resolution photographs and logos to beniciaherald@gmail.com, and put “Attn. Business Beat” in the subject line, as well as the name of the business.

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— Donna Beth Weilenman