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	Business Symposium To Be Held In Overton

	Moapa Valley Progress Submitted May 7, 2008 The Moapa Valley Chamber of Commerce along with the Rural Nevada Development Corporation (RNDC) is presenting a Business Symposium on Thursday, May 8 at the Old Overton Gym on Anderson Street. Brief presentations will begin at 6:00 pm. Immediately following there will be representatives from various agencies that can take time to speak with business-people individually. The event is slated to run until 8:00 pm. The purpose of this symposium is to give existing business owners and potential business start-ups the opportunity to meet with local, state and federal resources that assist rural business owners in the areas of expansion and start-ups. Mary Kerner, a RNDC Lending Administrator, said that it is often surprising to small business owners just how many resources are out there to help them expand or to start up a business in rural areas of the state. “A lot of people just go to a bank or credit union for business loans,” Kerner said. “But with the current economic conditions, most of those institutions don’t want to touch it unless it is golden.” In the past, when the bank turned down a small business loan a person might have resorted to a revolving line of credit on his/her home mortgage to pay for business startup or expansion costs, Kerner said. “There are definitely better ways of doing it than that,” Kerner said. “But with the tightening in the mortgage industry, that isn’t even available very much anymore.” Kerner said that Thursday’s Symposium will provide an opportunity for Moapa Valley businesspeople to get information on all the different options that are available to help in starting and running a rural business. “Right now, if the bank says ‘no’ then most people just go home and give up,” Kerner said. “We want to show that there are programs available to help that they might not have thought about.” Joining the Rural Nevada Development Corporation and the Nevada Microenterprise Initiative will be the Nevada Small Business Development Center, the U.S. Small Business Administration, USDA – Rural Development, SCORE and Nevada State Development Corporation. Local business owners, and/or would-be business owners are encouraged to come take advantage of all of these resources coming together in one place for their business needs. “We hope that this symposium will encourage and assist with the development of local business,” said Moapa Valley Chamber of Commerce President, Vernon Robison. “It is really intended to be, not just for Chamber Members, but for anyone in the community who needs help with starting or running a local business.” This event is being sponsored by Citibank.