When school is in session, it can be good news for a business owner. Colleges and universities are a superb resource for finding part-time workers and for professional development and networking.

The Better Business Bureau has advice on how you can work together with local colleges to help build your company and expand your expertise:

BUSINESS CONSULTING: Many business school departments actively work with local businesses to help develop specialized plans, models and marketing campaigns. In many cases, a whole class will work together under the guidance of the professor on researching and creating a plan to help your business succeed.

GRAPHIC DESIGN: If you need help with creating a logo or designing a new ad or Web site, the graphic design department is a great place to start. Professors are always looking for real-life opportunities for their students to work with clients. Not only will you get many great design options, but you'll get them much cheaper than you could from a graphic design firm.

CAMPUS CLUBS: Aside from working with professors and their classes, there also are many student clubs that focus on business issues who would be willing to partner with local businesses. Although the clubs might lack the supervision of a professor, the members might have more dedication and interest in business.

TAKE A CLASS: Taking a refresher course can help you stay on top of emerging trends and business theories. Business schools offer many highly specialized classes, so peruse the course catalog for offerings that could have the most impact on how you do business. You can often pay per credit, which, in many cases, is tax-deductible.

SIT IN ON A LECTURE: Colleges often have industry leaders as guest speakers to share their stories of success and offer students advice for getting ahead in business. Guest lectures are often open to the public and provide you a great opportunity to get advice and potentially meet with influential business leaders.

GIVE A LECTURE: As a local business leader, you have a lot of knowledge that you can share with students to help them become successful in their careers. Your "real world" experiences can personalize much of what their textbooks are telling them, making the information more relevant and useful. Not only that, you'll get to meet many students, and this exposure could provide you with a good source of interns or new employees come spring.

JOB FAIRS: If you're scouting for fresh young talent, college job fairs are a good place to start. Potentially, you'll find a lot of diamonds in the rough that could use a little polishing; job fairs are a quick and easy way to bring attention to your company and discover new talent.

Kelvin Collins is the president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Central Georgia & The CSRA Inc., which serves 41 counties stretching from Augusta to Macon. Contact the Augusta bureau office at (706) 210-7676 or www.csra.bbb.org.