Bluffton Center for Entrepreneurs offers a free workshop on branding, at 8:30 a.m., Friday, April 14, in the Bluffton town hall.

The workshop follows the April Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce breakfast.

Marathana Prothro, Bluffton University assistant professor of communication, leads the workshop.

About branding, she says:
Branding can seem like a daunting task for small-businesses and entrepreneurs who know something needs to be done.

But what? When? How? Do you have to have a huge budget to make it happen?

This interactive workshop will answer these questions as well as offer practical tips for developing your brand, regardless of where you are in the process.

Before moving to Bluffton from Kansas in 2015, she was director of marketing and communications at Hesston College where her team won multiple awards for their digital and print communication work.

Marathana has served as identity director for Mennonite Church USA and news editor for a small-town daily newspaper in Kansas where she covered business, government, and agriculture.

She has a passion for branding and believes that small businesses and non-profits actually have a leg up on the big dogs with big budgets when it comes to building authentic and engaging brands.

She earned her master’s degree in communication from Wichita State University and a bachelor’s degree in mass communications and film from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas.