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August 2019
Your Logo’s Great, But How’s Your BRAND?
This icon denotes an event or class that is free for West Side residents. Please click on the event listing for registration instructions and to learn more.
When you hear the word "brand", what comes to mind? Is it a logo, a color, a name? The most impactful and successful brands consider elements far outside this basic scope. In this seminar, we'll pull back the curtain to look at what the big brands know about activating loyal customers. Discover how to fully capitalize on your brand and how you can effectively communicate your brand identity to customers, buyers, and investors by using crafty and affordable methods. Attendees…
September 2019
Starting a Food Business
This icon denotes an event or class that is free for West Side residents. Please click on the event listing for registration instructions and to learn more.
Follow your dreams of starting a food business with our help. The Hatchery's cornerstone curriculum course will help you launch a successful food and beverage company. Learn all about the food entrepreneurship space as well as required licensing, certification, financing, and branding. Each attendee will receive our Starting a Food Business checklist, taking you through each license and certification you need to consider, so you'll get started on the right track. An experienced business attorney will also cover the many…
Labels & Claims: Legal and Regulatory Review
Every aspect of your packaging can be reviewed by the FDA. As more consumers carefully examine packaging copy, new FDA regulations are emerging to insure that these claims are in fact true. Join specialist attorneys from Schiff Hardin LLP and VP, Chief Counsel, Brands at Kellogg Company, Jane Jeannero, to learn about the language needed to ensure your food industry product meets FDA regulation requirements and satisfies customer inquiries. About the presenters Jane Jeannero joined Kellogg Company in July 2011. Jane…
Growing a Food Business in Chicago: A Discussion to Facilitate City Support
Food entrepreneurs have to figure out a lot of rules and regulations, from licensing to inspections to taxes. We want to work together with entrepreneurs to have a productive discussion about the City of Chicago's regulatory systems and how they can be improved to make Chicago an easier place to grow a businesses. With the help of small business owners we will create a report that highlights the legal barriers they face and lays out practical solutions, which we will…
How To Not Suck At Pitching Your Startup
Ever thought about the great product you have but when you talk about it you find that you're either too technical, too in the weeds, or just say too much to get investors, customers, and stakeholders to listen? In this workshop, Startup Hypeman Founder and pitch expert shares how to craft an elevator pitch that turns heads and gets people to say, "wait, tell me more!" Learn the principles of building storytelling into your pitch deck to get investors to…
Time & Task Management for Entrepreneurs
This icon denotes an event or class that is free for West Side residents. Please click on the event listing for registration instructions and to learn more.
Effective time management results in greater productivity and efficiency, better professional reputation, less stress, and greater opportunities for growth and advancement. Join MassPay HR for this interactive workshop, and leave with new time management tools in your strategy kit! *This event is free for residents of the West Side communities (Garfield Park, Austin, North Lawndale, West Humboldt Park). To register, email dani@thehatcherychicago.org or call (312) 283-5732 with your address!* About the presenter: MaryJane Steward, SPHR, SHRM-CP MaryJane is a Human Resources Advisor…
Decoding the Health & Nutrition Buzzwords of Food and Beverage
In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s tempting to use any and all of the health and nutrition buzzwords to entice consumers to buy your product and to showcase an ownable point of difference. From free range, sugar free or hormone free to all natural, locally grown or organic, some descriptors have formal definitions and others do not. How do brand marketers and product innovators effectively leverage the food and beverage lexicon of the day, while maintaining truthfulness and credibility? This talk…
Hatchery Networking – September 2019
Join us for another exciting #HatcheryNetworking event! Our monthly Hatchery Networking events are a great place to meet entrepreneurs and other members of our community! You'll always learn about an interesting trend or topic in the food industry, meet a member of The Hatchery team, and get to sample products from our Hatchery Entrepreneur members! Exciting speaker(s) to be announced very soon!
October 2019
Trademarks, Trade Secrets, & Copyrights: Protecting Special Features in Your Food Business
This icon denotes an event or class that is free for West Side residents. Please click on the event listing for registration instructions and to learn more.
Have you come up with a creative name, slogan, or logo but don’t know how to protect it? Or are you not quite sure what gives a trademark strength? What are trade secrets? How can you use them to make your food business more successful? What steps must you take to protect a trade secret? Are there any aspects of your food business that are protectable by copyright? Cheryl Balough, an intellectual property attorney, will review trademark basics, give you…
Accounting & Finance for Startups
This icon denotes an event or class that is free for West Side residents. Please click on the event listing for registration instructions and to learn more.
In this introductory course, we will take a look at the basics of accounting, financial statements and financial analyses - specifically as it relates to food & beverage companies. We'll go through accounting methodology for important aspects of the business, as well as key KPI's to track as you grow. Time and again, incredible companies with amazing visions are unable to scale because they lack a good handle on their finances. Don't let this happen to you! Let's take a…