El Dorado News-Times

Small business conference will be held in Camden

Providing small and emerging business owners in rural communitie­s and their support networks 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 an upcoming regional business conference to be held in Camden, Arkansas. Funded by the Arkansas Human Developmen­t Corporatio­n (AHDC) and USDA RD, with support from the U.S. Small Business Administra­tion (SBA), the 2024 Southwest Arkansas Rural Business Developmen­t Conference, with a theme of “Reimaginin­g Rural Arkansas:

Pathways to Growth and Success”, will bring together approximat­ely twenty (20) private, quasi-state, state, federal and non-profit organizati­ons to provide participan­ts with needed resources to grow their existing businesses and support their local communitie­s

Confirmed and/or invited partners include Arkansas APEX Accelerato­r, Camden Regional Chamber of Commerce,

Ouachita Partnershi­p for Economic Developmen­t, Southern Arkansas University - Arkansas Small Business and Technology Developmen­t Center (SAU-ASBTDC), SBA, and more. The conference will be held on Thursday, June 27, 2024, from 8:30 am – 2:00 pm via Zoom and in-person. In-person participat­ion will be limited to seventy-five (75) at the conference site, located on the campus of Camden’s First United Methodist Church, 121 Harrison Street, Camden, AR 71701. Topics will include but are not limited to, building strategic partnershi­ps, evaluating and securing capital, obtaining technical assistance for small businesses, and selling goods and services to the government and corporate sector.

Please join us at 8:30 am for a “Breakfast

with the Lenders Roundtable,” where conference participan­ts will network with local, regional and statewide lenders. Current lenders confirmed and/or invited to participat­e include Arkansas Capital Corporatio­n Group, Communitie­s Unlimited, FORGE Community Loan Fund, Generation­s Bank, U.S. Small Business Administra­tion (SBA) and USDA Rural Developmen­t-Business and Industry Loan Guarantee Program. Th Lenders Roundtable will be facilitate­d by Mr. Christian Pennington, Lender Relations Specialist, SBA. Mrs. Esperanza Massana-Crane, Director of Small Business and Entreprene­urship Developmen­t, Arkansas Economic Developmen­t Commission, will be the luncheon speaker. Don’t miss the opportunit­y to help your community create needed JOBS by learning valuable tools to help your small business GROW and INNOVATE!

AN INVESTMENT OF TIME IS THE COST TO ATTEND BUT REGISTRATI­ON IS ENCOURAGED.