A celebration of small businesses and burgeoning entrepreneurs lights up the country this month beginning the week of May 1 when both the National Small Business Week and the 2016 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Summit will be in effect. National Small Business Week will be held from May 1—7 and this year’s theme will be “Dream Big, Start Small. The 21st annual Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Summit kicks off Wednesday, May 4th in Miami and runs through Saturday, May 7th. Keynote speakers include Miss Jessie’s haircare CEO Miko Branch, Empowerment Pastor Jamal Bryant, and Operation Hope Founder John Hope Bryant.
[Related: SBA Names Mike Muse My Brother’s Keeper Millennial Champion of the Year]
The National Small Business week is organized by the U.S Small Business Administration. The week will officially kick off in Washington, D.C., where SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet will recognize and award outstanding small business owners from around the country. She will then continue the week with small business events in Atlanta, Denver, Phoenix, and finish up in California with visits to San Jose and Oakland. Additionally, recognition and educational events throughout SBA’s 10 regions and 68 districts will be held throughout the week.
Every year since 1963, the SBA takes the opportunity to highlight the impact of outstanding entrepreneurs, small business owners, and others from across the nation through National Small Business Week.
Event highlights include a celebrity panel to discuss millennial entrepreneurship along with national and local leaders at the world famous Apollo Theater. Broderick Johnson, Special Assistant to President Obama and Cabinet Secretary, and SBA’s My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Millennial Entrepreneur Champion Mike Muse will bring together millennials in New York on Tuesday. On the third day of National Small Business Week they will host a finale of the MBK Millennial Entrepreneurs Video Series and lead a conversation focused on moving millennial entrepreneurship forward. Last year, scores of millennials gathered in New York City for a town hall conversation lead by Muse that focused around entrepreneurship. Muse is a successful music executive and radio personality.
In California there will be a series of free workshops aimed at women in business, minority entrepreneurs, and members of the LGBT+ community. Events will take place at the Oakland City Hall. Since taking office, the president has demonstrated that his vision for a brighter future includes greater equality for LGBT Americans. The president and his administration are dedicated to eliminating barriers to equality, fighting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and engaging LGBT communities across the country.
All other event details for National Small Business Week can be found on the SBA’s website.