The Kanab Area Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Utah District Office hosted a “Resource Roadshow” at the Kanab Center on August 3, from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. The purpose of the event was to put local businesses owners in the same room with important statewide SBA and regional funding and support resources.
Pat Guerrero, Kanab Area Chamber President, welcomed about 40 attendees at the top of the meeting before passing the mic to Kane County Commissioner Celeste Meyeres. A small business owner herself, Meyeres thanked everyone for attending, noting that community events like this are an important part of economic development in the area.
Guerrero next introduced Don McMillan, Deputy District Director of the Utah District Office of the SBA. Mr. McMillan spoke about the SBA’s work in Utah in support of small businesses, including resources for business counseling, contracting and loan programs, noting that current SBA emphasis is on underserved markets, rural business development, cyber security, chambers of commerce and access to funding. A copy of the SBA’s slideshow can be found on the Kanab Chamber’s website at kanabchamber.org/resources.
Don Jennings, wearing his Southern Utah News General Manager hat, presented a 10-minute talk titled “Creating an Effective Elevator Pitch,” which culminated with attendees creating their own draft elevator pitches to use in the next part of the program. A copy of his slideshow can be found on the chamber’s website, as well.
Jackie Hobson, Marketing & Outreach Specialist with the SBA’s Utah District office, next outlined the “speed networking” portion of the program. Representatives from each of the resource partners spoke for one minute about their services before moving from table to table for 15-minute small group networking sessions. Participating entities included Utah Small Business Development Center, Women’s Business Center of Utah, World Trade Center Utah, U.S. Commercial Services, U.S. Small Business Administration, Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, Utah Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Custom Fit Training, Impact Utah and Utah Cyber Initiative.
Next on the agenda was an SBA Lending Panel titled “Access to Capital,” featuring representatives from the Utah Microloan Fund, Zions Bank, Mountain America Credit Union, State Bank of Southern Utah and Mountain West Small Business Finance. After about 30 minutes of questions and answers the event broke for informal networking at participant tables around the ballroom.
Local business owner Christiane Turner said, “I came today for ideas, information, and motivation, and am happy to say I got even more than I expected. It was also helpful to get new contacts and resources that will help me grow my business.”
The Kanab Area Chamber will continue to partner with the SBA Utah District Office and plans to make the roadshow an annual event. Learn more about the Kanab Area Chamber of Commerce at kanabchamber.org. Learn more about the SBA’s Utah District Office at sba.gov/district/utah.
