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The Small Business Development Center at Lamar State College Port Arthur is hosting the inaugural Small Business Symposium Thursday at Robert “Bob” Bowers Civic Center in Port Arthur from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

LSCPA SBDC’s coverage area includes Port Arthur, Groves, Nederland, Port Neches, Bridge City, Orange and Vidor municipalities.

All southeast Texas area small businesses are welcome to register here.

The Symposium includes morning and afternoon breakout sessions with topics including:

• Small Business TOOL BOX Ready Disaster Planning
• How to Do Business with Government entities (presented by the Procurement Technical Assistance Center – PTAC)
• How to Secure SBA Guaranteed Loans – presented by the Small Business Administration (SBA)
• Business Plan Basics, Cybersecurity for Small Businesses
• Insurance Requirements for Small Businesses
• Marketing 101 and many other sessions.

Some breakout sessions are being conducted in Spanish and Vietnamese.

Keynote speaker Jenn Gregory takes the stage at lunch to discusses “Retail Update: How consumer shifts have created a new playing field for small businesses and cities.”

“It’s an opportunity to find resources and assist you in developing B2B relationships,” said Dana Espinal, executive director of the SBDC at Lamar State College Port Arthur.

“We are excited to host this event to help local, small businesses develop their skills and grow their business at an affordable cost. I am thrilled we will have presentations in Spanish and Vietnamese to welcome a diverse business owners and managers.”

Local, small business owners and managers are invited to attend the symposium for a half-day or all-day sessions.

Organizations that serve small businesses such as banks, lenders and office supply companies are welcome to attend as exhibitors.

“The SBDC would like to thank the keynote lunch sponsor: Motiva Enterprises and Golden Pass LNG for their continued support of LSCPA SBDDC,” Espinal said.

The Lamar State College Port Arthur Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is a business advising and training center of the University of Houston Texas Gulf Coast SBDC Network serving 32 counties in Southeast Texas. The SBDC program is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.