Published: January 29, 2008 10:44 am            

TIM PRESTON: A place for the little ones 01/27/08

It’s always exciting to hear from someone who is pursuing a business opportunity they’ve long dreamed about, and that is certainly the case for Lisa Stevens as she prepares to open Gym-Tastic Children’s Play and Fun Center on Argillite Road near McDonalds in Flatwoods.

Stevens, who earned a degree in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Development at Morehead State University, said she was motivated to start the new business partially due to a personal fascination with the development of youngsters. She also wanted to provide a special place for young ones, from birth to 5 years old, which will be beneficial to them and provide high-quality play and music programs.

“Gym-Tastic is an interactive environment which emphasizes parental involvement,” Stevens said. “Classes meet once a week for 45 minutes. We believe that parent involvement is essential to any quality program, so our programs are designed to meet the needs of both parent and child alike. Our desire is to enhance each child’s ability and skill level throughout each stage of development. Children will have a safe, clean, healthy place to play. They will make friends and learn new skills. Gym-Tastic will enhance your child’s physical, emotional, intellectual and social development.”

The business will be open for scheduled classes from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information about Gym-Tastic Children’s Play and Fun Center call (606) 834-1842.

Go global

Many local business people tell me they would like to have an Internet site, but don’t know how to go about getting one.

If you are in that category, call (606) 327-1915 by Friday to reserve a seat for the eBusiness Workshop for Ashland Business Owners. Your investment will be $10 and a little more than two hours, and the potential rewards are impossible to estimate.

The workshop’s focus will be intensely local. So you won’t be listening to someone talk about how they do business in Shanghai. You will hear from local business owners who’ve made the Internet work for their operation, as well as the challenges they faced in the process.

You’ll also receive some interesting statistics about the buying habits of customers in this region. The consumer information alone could be worth the price of admission.

The workshop will begin at 10 a.m. Feb. 5, at Elite Catering in the G.B. Johnson Building at 1401 Winchester Ave. The workshop will conclude with a question and answer session, a chance to network with other local merchants and enjoy lunch — a pretty good deal for a $10 bill.

Credit where due

If you know of an outstanding small business owner or small business advocate who deserves a little recognition for their efforts, nominations are currently being sought for 2008 Northeast Kentucky Small Business Awards.

Organizers are looking for good examples in Boyd, Carter and Greenup counties. All nominees will be honored during a May 22 awards breakfast.

Nominations can be submitted online at www.nekysba.com or by calling 606-329-8011.

Judgment money

Tony Workman of Ashland is opening a new business, Professional Judgment Recovery, which could be a valuable resource to many in the area.

“The main objective of this company is to assist people by helping to enforce their court-awarded judgments,” Workman said, noting statistics show 80 percent of court- awarded judgments are not collected because the defendant either moves away or ignores the court’s decision. “We at Professional Judgment Recovery enforce these judgments by using various methods such as bank levies, wage garnishments, property seizures, liens and many other tools of the trade. We also do skip tracing, employee background checks, people searches and more.”

For more information visit their Web site at www.EnforceMyJudgment.com or call Workman at (606) 327-1795.

TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2651.

        

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