On August 24, 2011 Chippewa County Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC) hosted small business management teams from Gordy’s County Market, Citizens Telephone Cooperative, Chippewa Falls Main Street and Prepaid Legal Services/Identity Theft Shield gathered at the Northwestern Bank in Chippewa Falls to create a better understanding on the topic of crime prevention for their business.  Detective Sgt. David M Johnson of the Chippewa Falls Police Department gave the presentation for the workshop entitled Crime Prevention for Your Small Business.  Johnson spoke on the different types of business crimes that typically happen in small business environment and the best practices to take when protecting your business, employees and customers.  “Crime cost billions of dollars each year and can be particularly devastating to small businesses, which lack deep pockets to overcome significant or ongoing crimes” state Johnson “creating the foundation for prevention is the best tool to fight back.”

Attendees were given information and resources for best practices when it comes to the physical environment of the work place, surveillance and alarm systems, employee theft, retail theft, worthless checks, credit card fraud, counterfeiting, burglary, robbery and workplace violence prevention.  “Putting a solid crime prevention plan in place will save businesses money, resources and assist with employee retention” stated Charlie Walker, President/CEO of CCEDC.

This and other CCEDC workshops are part of the CCEDC business Retention & Expansion program which was created to provide businesses with tools needed for success!

CCEDC would like to thank Detective Sgt. David Johnson of the Chippewa Falls Police Department for putting together the presentation and Northwestern Bank for providing the location for this informative workshop.