LI entrepreneurs set biz master classes

Spring is right around the corner, and so is school!

That makes sense because we're talking about an unusual series of classes for businesspeople that are to take place in separate spots on Long Island in late March, April and May.

Hauppauge-based IQ Strategy Group and the Melville Chamber of Commerce have put together a program in which business leaders Frank Boulton, owner of the Long Island Ducks minor league baseball team, KathleenKing of Tate's Bake Shop of East Moriches, and chef Tom Schaudel, owner of the Jewel restaurant in Melville, will share their business expertise in two- to three-hour "master classes" at locations on Route 110, at the Ducks' Bethpage Ballpark in Central Islip, or at Jewel.

King's class will be April 18 at Walt Whitman's Birthplace in Melville; Schaudel's, April 23 at Jewel; and Boulton's, May 8 at Bethpage Ballpark. Additional workshops with other business leaders are planned for March and April at Whitman's Birthplace. The master classes cost $50 to $75, depending on who the speaker is and whether cooking or baking is involved. The workshops are $50 to $60. Cindy Smith, IQ Strategy's president, said she and her colleagues at the firm "have been out in the business world for such a long time, we feel there's another level to be learned, and that [comes from] speaking with people who have been there and have done it."

Melville chamber president Mike DeLuise said some of his members requested broader, more in-depth educational programs. Details can be found at excelforalifetime.com.