In it’s 51st year, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) National Small Business Week will take place May 12 to 16 online and across the nation.
Various forums, panel discussions and award ceremonies will occur throughout the five-day event with notable scheduled speakers from companies, such as Samuel Adams, H&R Block, Papa John’s and Twitter.
National Small Business Week will kick off at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters May 12 with SBA administrator Maria Contreas-Sweet. U.S. Rep. and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will be the featured speaker. The morning session will include Adam Bain, Twitter’s president of global revenue, and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. Premal Shah, president of Kiva.org, a nonprofit that has crowdfunded to 1.3 million small business entrepreneurs, will be the keynote speaker. A 10-year-old local girl, who has raised more than $100,000 to help end child slavery through her ‘Make a Stand’ Lemonade business, will provide closing remarks. (As of press time, this event was sold out, but had a waiting list.)
At the Burns and McDonnell World Headquarters in Kansas City, Mo. May 13, local business and civic leaders will discuss making the city “The Most Entrepreneurial City” before H&R Block founder Henry W. Bloch and his son and former H&R Block CEO Tom Bloch share its business’ history. Former NFL wide receiver and motivational speaker Eddie Kennison, who owns a Kansas City small business with his wife, will be a guest speaker. Breakout sessions will include small business matchmaking, getting federal contracts and growing your business.
The SBA will hold a workshop May 15, featuring speaker Allison Saltzer, Microsoft’s business development manager, who will discuss high-tech and innovative business ideas at the Microsoft New England R&D Center in Boston. Breakout sessions will follow with topics including small business mistakes to avoid, how to access capital and best practices to motivate your colleagues. (As of press time, this event was sold out.)
Also May 15, John Schnatter, Papa John’s founder and CEO will lead a panel discussion in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., sharing his take on entrepreneurship, running a business in a competitive marketplace and the challenges of starting and growing a business while Federal Reserve System Chair Janet Yellen will be the featured speaker at the evening reception.
The D.C. event will continue on May 16 at the FHI360 Conference Center, with featured speaker Jim Koch, Samuel Adams’ founder and brewer. The final day also will consist of entrepreneurship workshops, panel discussions, award ceremonies and business matchmaking sessions for small businesses to market goods and services to federal agencies and prime contractors. The week-long event will culminate with the presentation of the National Small Business Person of the Year.
There are also webinars with companies such as Marriott and Visa, the U.S. Postal Service, Colonial Life and Manta scheduled May 12 to 16.
For more information or to register for an event, visit www.sba.gov/smallbusinessweek.
