The Kent Chamber of Commerce “Find It In Kent” event is scheduled for Wednesday, September 28 from 3-7 p at ShoWare Center, 625 W. James St. in Kent.

This is a great opportunity for local businesses to showcase their services.  There are multiple sponsorship opportunities available.  Please log onto http://www.kentchamber.com/ for more information.

The Taste of Kent Reception will feature 12 local restaurants with samplings of their finest cuisine from 5 to 7p, the closing of the Business Expo.  Interested restaurants are invited to register.  It’s a wonderful way to market your restaurant!  Please log onto http://www.kentchamber.com for information.

The cost of the Taste of Kent Reception is free for those participating in the passport program and you can do this by picking up a free passport at the Kent Chamber booth.  The passport also entitles you to be entered to win great door prizes.  The Taste of Kent is $10 admission for those that don’t want to participate in the passport program.

Come to ShoWare Center on September 28 to experience all of the things Kent offers!

Crime Stats for the Week of 9/1 – 9/7/09 provided by Kent PD along with this service message to Kent Businesses:

Last week, we saw an increase in burglaries to businesses. In most of these burglaries, cash from the cash register was taken. If you handle cash in your business, consider doing these basic steps to prevent the criminal from choosing your business:

· Drop cash at close of business and leave cash register empty.

· Leave cash register “till” door open so it is obvious that there is no cash in it.

· Post signage in and around your business of cash handling practices, ie. “Only $50 cash on hand at any time”.

· Install security film to your windows and any glass doors. Smashing windows continues to be one way criminals gain access to businesses.

We are also seeing an upswing in metal theft in the Valley area. If you deal with metal or copper at your business, now is the time to secure it and inventory what you have.

Call me naive but it never ceases to amaze me what some people are capable of doing when faced with a little healthy competition. Through a client who I prefer not to name, I’ve learned that another local business is trying to sabotage my client’s good name and reputation. The other business has “shopped” my client, causing an unnecessary scene during the visit and raving about the competitor’s business instead, reporting my client to the state for violations that didn’t exist, and posting a series of bad reviews online. The other business is doing everything possible to make my client look bad.

My client asked me how she could counter bad press, albeit false. Sadly, in a situation like this, there is little a business owner can do except to hold herself to the highest standards and to “play nice” even when others refuse to do so. I know this is frustrating for my client, and she doesn’t deserve this kind of negative attention. Getting into the mud with this other business owner won’t help the situation though, so we’ll hold our heads high and let them give us all they’ve got. We will continue to “play nice” and, at the end of the day, we’ll rest peacefully knowing we put in an honest day’s work.

Dana Neuts