The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC) is hosting two central Arkansas events in March that will appeal to entrepreneurs.
The first event, entitled “Arkansas, The Land of Opportunity,” is set for Wednesday, March 4 and will start at 9:15 a.m. and be held at the Arkansas Municipal League building in downtown North Little Rock.
The league’s building sits adjacent to Dickey-Stephens Park on that city’s Broadway Street.
ASBTDC communications manager Gwen Green says the event will cover “Opportunity Zones” and how they can, “benefit your Arkansas business of community.”
The event is free and will feature experts in the field, from attorneys to representatives from various federal agencies, and will speak on, “how to leverage Opportunity Zone programs.”
These programs were created in 2017 by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of that year, while Opportunity Zones are, Green says, defined as, “economically distressed communities where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment.”
Among those speaking at the event will be Matt Twyford, the senior manager for community development at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission; Edward Haddock, the Arkansas District Director for the Small Business Administration; and Laura Fine, the state director of the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center.
Some of the agencies on hand will be the United States Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Labor and Winrock, among others.
Registration in advance is encouraged and can be done online here.
The second event is on the following day – Thursday, March 5 and will start at 5:30 p.m. at downtown’s Little Rock Technology Park.
This event, called “accelHERate,” will have speakers sharing “their thoughts on management and growth strategies, commercialization opportunities, startup mistakes and how to avoid them, key skills for entrepreneurial success,” Green says.
The speakers will be:
- Dr. Michele Wright, CEO and founder of My Water Buddy, Inc. and My Learning Buddy, Inc.
- Elizabeth Bowles, president and CEO of Aristotle United Communications
- Kimberly Smith, co-founder of SILO Compliance System
- Janet Jones, owner and president of The Janet Jones Company
And are all, “women who are excelling in research, innovation, and business,” Green says.
Advance registration can be online here.
READ MORE: An Untapped Market: Women and POC Entrepreneurs in Arkansas