NCET

The SBA’s March 4 Web Chat will highlight assistance to small businesses looking grow or expand in the federal government marketplace, and businesses that need surety bonds to do public and private contracting.  Business owners can find out how to position their business to sell to the government and how to obtain bonding.

WHO: Karen Hontz, Office of Government Contracting and Business Development, and Pam Swilling, Office of Surety Guarantees at the U. S. Small Business Administration will host the February Web chat on “Contracting Opportunities & Surety Bonds.”  Hontz and Swilling will answer questions on doing business in the federal market and how small contractors can get assistance in obtaining surety bonds.

WHAT: SBA’s Web chat series, providing small business owners with an opportunity to discuss relevant business issues online with experts, industry leaders and successful entrepreneurs.  Chat participants will have direct, real-time access to the Web chats via questions they submit online in advance and during the live session, with instant answers. 

WHEN: March 4, 2010, 1 p.m. ET – Hontz and Swilling will answer questions for one hour. 

HOW: Participants can join the live Web chat by going online to www.sba.gov, and clicking “Online Business Chat.”  Web chat participants may post questions before the March 4 chat by visiting http://web.sba.gov/livemeeting/Mar10/ and posting their questions online. 

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Gil and Bea Ferreira said they believe they’re doing their small part to jump-start the region

They have launched Web-based Adam’s Gloves LLC, and this week, the wheels of commerce began turning with their first sale of disposable medical gloves to a local dental office.

It doesn’t get much smaller than that for a small business. But the Reno couple has high hopes they’ve found a niche in an estimated $2.8 billion worldwide market.

"We’re trying to do something," Bea Ferreira said. "All of us Americans are trying to re-invent ourselves to get this economy going. This is our way."

CEO Gil Ferreira, 66, spent nine years in the disposable medical gloves industry after a career in manufacturing and apparel. Read more:

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As many as 1,200 people are expected to attend the fourth annual NCET Entrepreneur Expo in the grand ballroom of the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa on March 12.

That would mark a 20 percent increase in attendance over last year for the event, the centerpiece of a busy slate of activities during the eWeek sponsored by Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology.

Dave Archer, the chief executive officer of NCET, says he expects that attendance will rise as people who have lost corporate jobs — or worry about their future — look for entrepreneurial options.

The free event, which runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., includes about 100 exhibitors. They include government agencies that work with entrepreneurs as well as companies large and small that provide services to start-up companies.

Seminars on subjects ranging from sales to accounting to technology for small businesses also will run through the expo. One of the seminar sessions will focus on the needs of home-based businesses. Read more:

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Finding a hole to race into a defensive secondary was a regular challenge for Mike Waters when he was a running back in coach John Robinson’s offense at UNLV, but that wasn’t nearly as challenging as navigating a course through the intricacies of starting a business.

And understanding the details of Robinson’s X’s and O’s came far more naturally for Waters than developing a business plan.

But a decade after suiting up as a Rebel, Waters has become a seasoned entrepreneur and is helping others find their way in the current recessionary era when far more people are trying to build their small businesses as lenders carefully scrutinize those applying for financial help.

Waters, president of Phase 1 Sports, was one of eight panelists at an ask-the-experts workshop last week at Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology Entrepreneur Expo at the South Point.

Technorati Tags: Richard N. Velotta,In Business Las Vegas,Mike Waters,UNLV,Phase 1 Sports,Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology Entrepreneur Expo,entrepreneurs,Dennis Wengert,U.S. Small Business Administration,David Chavez,Larry Moulton,Desert Community Bank,Fritz Battcher,Holland & Hart LLP,business,NCET,Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

What do you do if you are out of work and can’t find a job?

For some people the answer is starting a business. This is not a trivial endeavor and the odds of making a go at it can be quite slim. But if you have the drive and determination to succeed, it can be a rewarding pursuit.

One way to learn more about getting started in business is to attend the Entrepreneur and Small Business Expo. This free event is produced by Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, and it will be held March 12 at the Atlantis.

It is part of NCET’s eWeek Reno, when a number of entrepreneurial events are scheduled around the city. For more information about the Expo and eWeek Reno, visit the event Web site at www.eweeknevada.com.

I have attended past expos, and this year, I will be speaking at the event. It is a well-attended event, and it is a great place to learn about many aspects of starting and running a business.

With about 100 vendors and a full day of speakers, it is a great resource for those that are navigating the legal, financial and technological details required to start and run a successful enterprise.

The expo also is a good opportunity to interface with government agencies, educational resources and other businesses that support the entrepreneur. Having all of these resources in one place allows you to spend the day discovering ideas for all stages of business development and planning.

It also is a great networking event, and it can provide you access to peers, resources and experts that often are difficult to find and make contact with.

This year, I will be speaking during the Entrepreneur Expo. I will discuss how startups and small businesses can leverage technology to help them succeed. I will be covering the systems, software and strategies we see entrepreneurs and small businesses using with success.

There will be a focus on specific strategies that will help small businesses control the cost of implementing and using information technology solutions. New offering such as cloud computing, application service providers and software as a service will be defined and the pros and cons detailed.

Whether you are thinking of starting your own business or are in the throes of trying to balance all of the tasks of running a small business, this free event has the information you need.

Steve Cerocke, founder/president of IQ Technology Solutions of Reno, can be reached at 4655 Longley Lane, #106, Reno, NV 89502; 775-352-2301, ext. 1001.