Entrepreneur Week, annual Expo to shift to dates in September

Entrepreneur Week, an event that's something like Artown for organizations that help owners of small businesses, is moving to the autumn from its previous time slot in the spring.

The event sponsored by Nevada's Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology is scheduled this year for Sept. 11-19.

The switch from the springtime schedule of the past allows Entrepreneur Week to run in conjunction with Business Week at the University of Nevada, Reno, and removes potential conflicts with an already busy schedule of business events, says Dave Archer, chief executive officer of Nevada's Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology.

Centerpiece of Entrepreneur Week is an Entrepreneur Expo which drew 1,039 owners of small businesses and would-be entrepreneurs this spring. The expo scheduled for Sept. 17 at Atlantis Casino Resort Spa includes educational sessions on subjects such as financing, marketing and government assistance programs along with displays from about 100 businesses and organizations that serve small businesses.

"It was a phenomenal event, absolutely essential," says Dean Hankey, an author and speaker who owns The Dean of Success in Reno and attended this spring's Entrepreneur Expo.

Archer says nearly a quarter of the booth spaces at the September Expo already have been reserved.

Along with the Expo, Enterpreneur Week includes a variety of other events ranging from open houses to intense one-day training events sponsored by businesses and nonprofits that assist small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Among the events affiliated with Entrepreneur Week will be UNR's Business Week, which includes career exploration roundtables and presentations by student business organizations.

The annual Technology Awards overseen by Nevada's Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology also are scheduled during Entrepreneur Week.

"Anyone can do anything they like as long as it's associated with small business," Archer says.

Nevada's Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology helps to market participating events.

Archer says the center also is seeking sponsors for the event. Cash sponsors who have confirmed their support include Bosma Group, Holland & Hart, SilverSky Group LLC and the Nevada Commission on Economic Development.