A Hiring Workshop Built for Spokane's Small Businesses
When the Spokane Independent Metro Business Alliance went looking for someone to walk small business owners through the real cost of hiring wrong, they called on King's Dream Business Consulting's Jawan Harris.
On February 6, 2024, King's Dream partnered with SIMBA — the Spokane Independent Metro Business Alliance — to present "How, When, and Where to Hire (Without Breaking the Bank)," a free workshop for Spokane-area small and micro business owners, held in person in Spokane and streamed live over Zoom.
The Cost of Getting Hiring Wrong
Small businesses rarely set out to break employment law — but it happens anyway. The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division recovered $149.9 million in back wages for more than 125,000 workers nationwide in fiscal year 2024 alone, the large majority tied to overtime violations most employers never meant to commit. For an owner juggling every role in the business, the gap between what's legal and what's costly often comes down to not knowing where the line sits.
A Workshop Built for the Whole Hiring Process
Jawan Harris, King's Dream's Principal Consultant, built the session around five stages small business owners actually face: knowing when a business can afford to hire, preparing a compliant hiring process from job description through onboarding, finding cost-effective ways to bring on help, avoiding the fines employers most commonly face — wage-and-hour violations, worker misclassification, and wrongful termination among them — and the lessons King's Dream has learned supporting small businesses with HR directly, from writing employee handbooks to navigating Washington's at-will employment and minor-labor rules.
A Partnership With SIMBA
The workshop came together through SIMBA, which works to connect Spokane's small business owners with practical, affordable support and technical assistance. SIMBA secured the venue, arranged the Zoom broadcast, and cross-promoted the session with StartUp Spokane to widen its reach across the region's small business community.
Want King's Dream to bring a hiring, HR, or compliance workshop to your own business community? Talk to King's Dream about booking a Neighborhood Business Advisor for your next event.
Sources: U.S. DOL FY2024 FLSA back-wage data, via HRMorning; Spokane Independent Metro Business Alliance (SIMBA)
About King's Dream Business Consulting: Founded in 2019, King's Dream Business Consulting is a small business consulting and management firm established initially in response to Seattle's gentrification and displacement of its minority business communities. To date, King's Dream has served over 400 small businesses nationwide. King's Dream Business Consulting is a leading provider of business advisory services, offering strategic planning, marketing strategies, financial management, operational efficiency, and human resources consulting. Committed to the success of small businesses, King's Dream Business Consulting provides tailored guidance and support to drive sustainable growth.
The Local Mogul is King's Dream Business Consulting's blog, covering news, wins, and insight from our work with public agencies, Tribal governments, and community partners across Washington State.
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