Small businesses suffering through the current economic upheaval in Snohomish County may be able to survive and thrive by getting back to basics.

Speakers at the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Survival Conference at the Everett Holiday Inn yesterday recommended dusting off old marketing plans, creating new product reviews, tightening budgets and seeking sound advice from experts.

Co-sponsored by First Heritage Bank, The Herald and the Snohomish County Business Journal, the conference emphasized ways for small businesses to find hope, stability and new options during times of national and global financial turmoil.

Stability and innovation in local government operations helps small businesses by providing a sense of normalcy in abnormal times, said Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson, who opened the half-day program with panelist Bob Drewel, executive director of the Puget Sound Regional Council, and Louise Stanton-Masten, president and CEO of the Everett chamber.

“Everett is one of the few cities in the region that has weathered current economic storms without having to lay off employees or make major budget cuts,” Stephanson said. “By running the city well and maintaining services as well as police and fire priorities, we lessen negative economic impacts on businesses in the city.”

The city has little debt and it has managed expenses well, he said, which is paying off in a new era in which tax revenues are shrinking and anticipated development projects that could produce new revenue are stalled or slowed, he said.

“The Port of Everett’s waterfront project is being deferred because of the slack in the current housing market but I believe the project will still happen,” Stephanson said. “The Everett Riverfront development is still moving ahead as a public and private project that will bring retail, hotel, entertainment and, later, housing to the area. Infrastucture work will continue during 2009 and the project will be done at the appropriate time.”

Drewel said the four-county region he oversees at the PSRC in Seattle is also “facing a time of significant challenges that is going to take as much work and positive approach as anything we’ve encountered in the past, but most mayors and county executives are making adjustments to their budgets to stabilize their operations at a time of declining revenues.”

As federal government actions tend to put more money into the economy, help for small businesses will be a part of that, he said, noting that the PSRC announced Mar. 12 it has $214 million for public transit and federal highway projects.

That leveraged money will help complete work representing a $4 billion transportation investment in the region. In Snohomish County, the funds will also buy more Community Transit buses and 73 vehicles for Everett Transit, plus finishing Sound Transit’s new $4.6 million Mountlake Terrace Freeway Station construction.

The conference also included a panel of small businesses offering advice on economic survival, including refocusing on customer needs, building customer loyalty and paring budgets through a fresh set of priorities.

Christine Heckert, senior vice president and head of Small Business Administration lending for First Heritage Bank, said new financing programs and funds are coming and businesses should be looking into them.

Travis Snider, president of BETS Consulting in Mill Creek, said “businesses that can re-evaluate and adjust their operations and finances to get through this period will be ready to grow again when the economy picks up.”

Shannon Kavanaugh, president of Go-To-Market Strategies told the conference “this is the time to let people know you’re still alive and what you have to offer, to promote yourself and build loyalty with the customers you have.”

Attorney Vickie Norris, with Everett’s Hunter Law Firm, said it’s also important to make sure your business complies with employee termination procedures and that business owners “clearly communicate probation periods and other employment standards to employees to help avoid lawsuits” if a company has to reduce its staff.

Glenn Middleton, chief executive of Xcarab Inc., offered ideas for technology and Internet marketing and Web site development, citing the Internet as home to a growing variety of marketing and information tools for small businesses.

The program closed with a presentation by Andrew Ballard, president of Marketing Solutions, who provided an in-depth overview of ways to maximize sales, reduce operating costs, re-evaluate business products and create new marketing strategies.