Beginning Oct. 30, income-eligible small business owners in northwest Minnesota will have access to free 30-minute consultations with business attorneys as part of a joint effort between the Northwest Small Business Development Center and LegalCORPS.

LegalCORPS, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit organization, has arranged free, statewide transactional legal assistance for small business owners and nonprofits since 2004. In addition to providing full-representation assistance to qualified small business owners and nonprofits, LegalCORPS operates six free, in-person brief-advice clinics.

LegalCORPS’s mission is to assist low-income owners of small businesses and small nonprofits, especially those that strengthen Minnesota’s low-income communities, by providing individuals and organizations with business law services they could not otherwise afford.

Through the program, volunteer attorneys will provide free legal consultations to small business owners in Minnesota via video conferencing. This will give small business owners the opportunity to ask experienced business attorneys questions about business formation, leases, employee issues and similar business law topics.

Monthly virtual clinics will be held at Bemidji’s Headwaters Regional Development Commission, connecting clients with business lawyers located at the U.S. Bank headquarters in St. Paul, Minn. To participate, interested business owners must pre-register for 30-minute sessions. Registration information, along with time and schedule details, are available from the Northwest Small Business Development Center.

Should a business owner have an issue that requires more than 30 minutes to answer or resolve, and the client meets certain income-eligibility guidelines, the client can apply for full representation assistance, arranged by LegalCORPS.

To learn more, contact the Northwest Small Business Development Center, (218) 755-4255, http://www.offuttschoolofbusiness.org/nwsbdc.

ABOUT THE SBDC

The Northwest Minnesota Small Business Development Center is one of nine regional offices throughout the state of Minnesota providing free, confidential, one-on-one business consulting services to existing and start-up businesses on a variety of business topics. The centers are a federal, state and locally funded program.  The centers are hosted by Concordia College Offutt School of Business; the Northwest Minnesota Small Business Development Center has an office on the campus of Northwest Technical College in Bemidji. For more information, visit cord.edu/sbdc.

LINKS

• NW Minnesota Small Business Development Center
• LegalCORPS
• Northwest Technical College on Google Maps

About Northwest Technical College

Northwest Technical College, located in northern Minnesota’s lake district, is an open, inviting technological learning organization. For more than 40 years, the college has valued life-long learning and the worth and dignity of all people. Its open-enrollment policy, affordable tuition and high-quality education have attracted a diverse group of learners; today, the College serves more than 1,600 learners.  The college offers more than 40 degree programs in areas such as business, health, human and protective services and environmental and industrial technology career programs. Classes are offered on the Bemidji campus, online, or as a combination of both. NTC is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. For more, visit http://www.ntcmn.edu.