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H&R Block Business & Career Center
To succeed as an entrepreneur: surround yourself with support
Once you have your vision of what you want your business to be, how do you get started? I am often asked this question and my answer is clear-cut and straightforward, yet it requires a tremendous amount of perseverance and work – surround yourself with great teams who truly believe in you, see your vision, and want you to succeed.
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The H&R Block Business and Career Center staff is seeking your feedback on how well we are meeting your needs, and how we can improve our services. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey.
Welcome to the new H&R Block Business & Career Center
The H&R Block Business & Career Center, located on the 3rd floor of the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St., is a dedicated service center that helps customers to:
Become successful entrepreneurs.
- A comprehensive collection of business books, including FORTUNE'S top 75 business books
- Proprietary databases. For example:
- Reference USA is a resource for investigating suppliers, competitors, and markets.
- Business Source Premier provides up-to-date information on the financial health of specific industries, changes in technology, and consumer trends.
- The Newspaper Nook has over 900 national and foreign newspapers
- Three monitors in the Center display current business news from Bloomberg, MSNBC, and the Fox Business Network
- Business Plan Pro is useful for outlining business plans.
Find jobs and develop careers.
- Local, customized job searches powered by Simply Hired.
- Career Insider contains videos on specific careers; information on education, training, and occupational certifications; and tips for résumés and interviews.
- To format your résumé, use WinWay Résumé Deluxe on the Center’s computers.
- LearningExpress (Library card is required to access from outside the Library) offers practice tests for standardized tests, such as the General Equivalency Diploma (GED) and Law School Admission Test (LSAT), civil service exams, the U.S. citizenship test, and occupational licenses, including practice tests for nurses and paramedics.
My 9-year job as a graphic designer was outsourced to India in August, 2008. In the current job market, I decided to seek a position as an administrative assistant, but my experience with Microsoft Office was 13 years out of date. Not to worry. At the Westport Branch, I searched and applied for jobs online. I set up my résumé and cover letter. Library software classes refreshed my skills in Excel, Word, and Access. Within two months, I had a new job. Good luck happens when preparedness meets opportunity. Library resources helped me be prepared.—Doris Yonker
Organize personal finances.
Check out the Library’s extensive collection of books, e-books, and audiobooks on thrifty living, sticking to a budget, getting out of debt, saving for retirement, or buying and selling a home.
- Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage (Library card is required to access from outside the Library). Check S&P ratings on stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, read weekly stock “picks and pans,” access corporate annual reports and other company data, and use the Stock Screener to identify the right investments for your financial planning strategy.
- For additional independent analysis, the weekly print publication Value Line covers 3500 stocks and 1900 mutual funds on a quarterly basis.
Establish and sustain non-profits.
The Kansas City Public Library is designated a “Cooperating Collection” of the Foundation Center, a grants-research organization based in New York. It is one of 380 Cooperating Collections across the country, providing access to essential research databases.
Youth financial literacy.
The Center is a local focal point for lifelong financial literary and entrepreneurship, starting with future business leaders—children and teens. Ask a librarian for book recommendations to teach young adults to manage money, understand the stock market, or how to start a small business.
Consultations, computers, and classes.
Call 816.701.3717 to set up an appointment for a personal consultation with a business librarian to discuss your business, career, or financial concerns. Computers and laptops are available for Center customers, and the Library provides free high-speed wireless access to the Internet.
The Library gives free classes, such as GED study skills, résumé creation, Internet and software basics, and job search strategies.
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