PR Newswire:

Thirteen years ago, mother of two Laura Kelly stood in the doorway of a kindergarten class and watched as a group of three-, four- and five-year-olds baked bread and hand-sewed little animals. Kelly was prospecting schools for her own children, and to a mother who was nervous about choosing the right one, “this felt like love.” Completely entranced by the idea that kids would sit quietly and joyfully working on these kinds of projects, Kelly reminisces, “It just felt warm, loving and safe.” At that moment, she knew this is what all kids should be doing. “When I saw the pride in their faces and how patiently they worked on their projects, I knew I wanted this for my kids.”

Kelly was determined to bring the warm, caring environment she saw that day in the classroom to her new business, which she named The Handwork Studio. After two years of teaching classes at her kitchen table, she took a chance and opened a storefront in Narberth, PA in 2003 and in 2005 incorporated summer camp into the curriculum, all while balancing motherhood and her own family life with her budding business. Almost ten years after opening her first location, Kelly has expanded the Handwork Studio to 21 camp locations across the country, making certain each of these locations has been built around her original vision of a warm, safe and educational environment for children. “To me what we do has always been about the psyche of the child,” explains Kelly, “and teaching crafts is really just a medium to do that. I wanted the kids to come to a place that felt safe for them to explore their creativity, a place where they would feel proud of their work, where they could make mistakes and have fun and over time and with practice would get better and learn more and more skills as they got older.”

The following is a guest post by Kevin Bowen.

To understand how federal technology grants can improve the bottom line of a small business, we need to revisit ancient times - those days when primitive technology still forced sleepy people to move one hand when brushing their teeth.

It was a barbaric era. The nation's computer users were still oppressed by floppy disks. And the Internet had not yet eliminated our need for memory. It was also an era of rampant gingivitis and tooth decay.

Where people saw rotting teeth, the federal government saw a market to advance technology, make money and improve lives. When the company GemTech applied for a grant from the Small Business Innovation Research program, it received a $50,000 grant in 1990 and a $500,000 grant in 1992 for a ''sonic toothbrush.'' The result was the device that so many people use today - a stronger, cleaner toothbrush.

Thanks to an influx of federal research dollars, we entered an era of whiter teeth and happier dentists. Even happier were the company owners. The company changed its name to Optiva in 1995 and was later sold to Phillips. Sales have reached 1.5 million worldwide, while the company now has a $300 million value and more than 500 employees.

Collaboration and public-private partnerships are a current trend in business and government circles. Small companies that offer innovative technological solutions can seek federal grant funding under the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer program. STTR in particular looks to support collaboration with government or university researchers to commercialize technological discoveries. Here are four reasons that an innovative small business should consider collaboration:

Uncle Sam Funds It - The federal government funds innovative technological companies through its SBIR program and business-academia collaborative research through its STTR program, run through the Small Business Administration. These programs issued $172.8 million in 2011 and have issued more than $2 billion in past years.

States Fund It - Following the lead of the federal government, some states have developed their own programs for business-academia collaboration. For instance in 2005, Texas developed the Emerging Technology Fund. The program makes state funding available to companies working with academic research institutions to develop technology that can be commercialized. Through 2011, ETF reported investing $163.9 million in 133 high-tech companies.

Loosening Rules - An October 2011 Presidential memorandum instructs federal departments to increase the pace of technology transfer of federal patents to the private sector. One result is the December 2011 decision by the U.S. Department of Energy to create a pilot program to give businesses and entrepreneurs greater access to its unlicensed patents, including the ones owned by its system of national laboratories.

Gold in Them There Hills - Companies have had success bringing cutting-edge products to market using federal funds. Products include a GPS system that helps position satellites. SBIR/STTR products include the sonic toothbrush, a GPS system that helps position satellites, and many high-tech projects.

These federal avenues might be unfamiliar to some small business owners. However, if you have the talent for technological innovation, the government is likely looking for you.

Kevin Bowen is a writer working with OppMetrix, based in Dallas, Texas. The OppMetrix smart software solution connects users to federal contracts, federal grants, private grants, federal agency procurement forecasts, and market intelligence and analytics. The system delivers the right federal opportunities to large enterprises, small businesses, non-profits, local and state governments, foundations, non-profits, universities, hospitals, medical facilities, research institutions, and other organizations.

With 21,000+ blog posts on this site, weird posts from the past sometimes suddenly attract a lot of attention. This http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2008/10/28/6-ways-to-attract-customers-and-keep-them-coming-back/">old post) of Angela’s from 2008 most be even more relevant today than when it was first published.

6 Ways To Attract Customers And Keep Them Coming Back

No matter what area of business you are in, if you don't have customers than your business will eventually fail. That's why it is so important to present yourself and your product in a way which will not only attract the demographic you seek, but inspire them to come back again.

Here are 6 examples of things you can do to ensure you will not only attract new customers, but create a regular customer base.