Restaurant Small Business Management

Want to Grow Your Food Business?

The Restaurant Small Business Management Program is for people already in the food business and looking to grow, either by improving their operation or making significant changes to their business model. For example: moving from a catering business to a food truck, expanding from a food cart to a brick & mortar, or adding another location. In general, they are looking to improve their business to increase their income and have a better work/life balance.

The Restaurant SBM Program has been engineered from the ground up to deliver relevant, robust content specifically for restaurant operators in Lincoln County and smaller Oregon communities. It features Oregon experts with deep roots in the restaurant industry. The nine powerful workshops — plus monthly one-on-one advising sessions — are all geared to make the participants’ operations as successful as possible, and to make their work more enjoyable and rewarding.

Beginning October 12th, we meet once a month for a three-hour class on the 2nd Monday of the month, 9 am to noon, for nine months. Designed as an in-person class, we bring together a small cohort of Business Owners, Executive Chefs, & General Managers. They encourage and learn from each other, as well as from our highly respected instructors, allowing a rich opportunity for personalized instruction and networking.

This year’s program is based at the Oregon Coast Community College in Newport.

Tuition: $200
(a $900 value, thanks to the generous support of our sponsors: the City of Lincoln City, Lincoln County, and NW Oregon Works)

If you have questions, or are in the start-up phase, contact our program manager, Leslie Hildula at HildulaL@gmail.com or call/text at 503-939-8648. You can also contact the SBDC Assist. Director Kelliane Parker at kelliane.parker@oregoncoast.edu

RSBM Schedule
All classes are 9am to Noon at the Lincoln City OCCC campus.

Session 1, October 12, 2026
Bar Management & Remarkable Customer Service
Ken Henson, Consultant, Former Executive Chef, Pelican Brewery

Session 2, November 9, 2026
Financial Fluency for Business Owners
Tracy Bech, 60 Minute CFO

Session 3, December 14, 2026
AI That Works for Small Business
LearnAIR

Session 4, January 11, 2027
Essential Digital Marketing
Jen McFarland, Jen McFarland Consulting

Session 5, February 8, 2027
Managing Your Money for Sustainable Profits
Kurt Huffman, Managing Partner, ChefStable

Session 6, March 8, 2027
Small Business Legal Clinic
Susan Felstiner, Small Business Legal Clinic

Session 7, April 12, 2027
Attracting & Managing Employees
Chef Lisa Schroeder, Executive Chef & Owner, Mother’s Bistro & Bar, Portland

Session 8, May 10, 2027
Revising Menus to Attract Customers & Control Food Costs
Chef Cory Shreiber

Session 9, June 14, 2027
Financing, Managing Debt, & Exit Strategies
Arnie Hendricks, CMA, CFBA, CEPA, CM&AA, Financial Management Resources

Graduation Celebration
TBD