KIMBALL – A chance for local businesses to learn how to establish themselves as a “Destination Business” was hosted by City of Kimball Economic Developer Kent Worker on Wednesday Feb. 11, at City Hall.

Despite a low attendance, worker went through with his hosting of a webinar presented by Jon Schallert of the Schallert group. Schallert, the presenter of the webinar, was broadcasting live from Longmont, Colo. via the internet.

Schallert worked for 12 years with the Hallmark company before becoming an Destination Business consultant 10 years ago.

With the economy resting in the ditches of despair, Schallert said businesses must be proactive instead of reactive.

“Businesses need to go through a huge reinvention process,” he said, “Those businesses that survive (these times) are the ones who reinvent themselves.”

He said businesses must analyze their current tactics and figure out which ones work and which ones don’t. Those that don’t, dump them.

“Businesses must step out of the (hamster) wheel that they have been on,” he said.

People must reposition themselves in the eye of the consumers, said Schallert.

They do this by creating multiple points of contact, such as direct mailing, e-newsletters and so on.

These “points of contact” allow business owners to notify consumers within certain demographics and also those who are further away than their immediate 15-minute radius.

After discussing a business boot-camp that Schallert offers, he then fielded questions from viewers of the webinar.

One of the first questions he answered was “How long do you foresee the recession lasting?”

The first thing Schallert said was that he is not an economist and could not predict when the recession would end. What he could say is that not all businesses are posting losses.

He said those businesses that think outside the “wheel” are the ones who are showing gains instead of losses.

“Focus on those things that are controllable,” he said, “ and get aggressive and proactive.”

In total the webinar lasted one hour. The webinar was archived and is viewable later for those that are interested.