Providing small and emerging business owners with the innovative skills, tools, and contacts needed to create and grow their enterprises and better engage in job creation activities are the goals of the 2023 Northwest Arkansas Rural Business Development Conference, with a theme of “Breaking Barriers: Engaging Minds, Empowering Success,” to be held next week in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
The hybrid conference will be held Friday, October 27, 2023 from 8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. via Zoom. In-person participation will be limited to seventy-five (75) at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Center for Economic Development at the Bakery District, (Room BY103/105), 70 South 7th Street, Suite D., Fort Smith, AR 72901. Topics will include, but are not limited to, building strategic partnerships, securing capital, selling goods and services to the government, social media for small businesses and acquiring the many services offered by the ASBTDC to start, stabilize and grow your business.
A “Breakfast with the Lenders Roundtable,” where conference participants will network with local, regional and statewide traditional and micro-lenders, will kick off the day at 8:30 a.m. Lenders currently confirmed to participate include Capital CDC, Communities Unlimited, First National Bank of Northwest Arkansas, FORGE Community Loan Fund, USDA Rural Development-Business and Cooperative Programs and U.S. Small Business Administration. The Lenders Roundtable will be facilitated by Mr. Christian Pennington, Lender Relations Specialist, U.S. Small Business Administration. Ms. Adriene Brown, District Director, U.S. Small Business Administration, will be the luncheon speaker.
Funded by the Arkansas Small Business & Technology Development Center (ASBTDC) and Arkansas Business Navigator Program, with support from the U.S. Small Business Administration, FORGE Community Loan Fund and Arkansas Human Development Corporation (AHDC), the conference will bring together approximately twenty (20) private, state, federal, non-profit organizations to provide conference participants with needed resources to grow their existing businesses or develop new business endeavors.
Partners confirmed to participate include Arkansas Small Business & Technology Development Center (ASBTDC), Arkansas APEX Accelerator, City of Fort Smith, U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Sebastian County Chamber of Commerce, and University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.
Don’t miss the opportunity to help your community create needed small businesses and JOBS by acquiring the resources to help your small business GROW and INNOVATE!
THERE IS NO COST TO ATTEND EXCEPT THE INVESTMENT OF YOUR TIME, BUT REGISTRATION IS ENCOURAGED.
You may register by calling Arkansas Human Development Corporation at (800) 482-7641
or online at https://t.ly/MFCV9