Forum on ARRA Opportunities

The City of Asheville is partnering with regional business support agencies to host a forum on the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on businesses at A-B Tech’s Enka campus. The forum will take place on Thursday, October 15.

Representatives from various agencies involved in business development will be on hand to provide information on services available to business owners. Participating agencies include the City of Asheville, Buncombe County, the U.S. Small Business Administration, the A-B Tech Center for Business & Technology Incubation, the Small Business and Technology Development Center, Asheville SCORE, Mountain BizWorks, and the Procurement Technical Assistance Counselor’s Office, among others.

In addition to providing information, service providers will take part
in two panel discussions. The first panel discussion, “An Overview of
the Recovery Act and Accessing Contracting Opportunities,” will take
place from 10 to 11 a.m., followed by “Current Loan Opportunities,”
from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

“The city is hosting this event to make sure local businesses
understand how to participate in government contracting and can take
advantage of any opportunities that become available under the economic
stimulus program,” said Brenda Mills, the city’s ARRA project manager.
“We also want to make information about other business support services
widely available, even those that exist outside of ARRA.”

The event will take place at A-B Tech’s Enka campus in the Haynes
Conference Center with opening remarks delivered at 9:45 a.m. The forum
will close at 3:30 p.m. Attendance is free of charge and open to the
public.

For more information, contact Brenda Mills at (828) 259-8050, or [email protected].