Annual America’s SBDC Conference

Atlanta, GA. September 9-13, 2024. Atlanta Marriott Marquis.

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About Our Event

For 45 years, America’s SBDC has hosted its annual professional development conference for its business advisors and SBDC network professionals. This national event brings together over a thousand SBDC professionals and around fifty sponsors and exhibitors for learning, networking, and engagement.

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Check out what our attendees had to say about 2023 event in Nashville, TN.

The SBDC Training Event of the Year

America’s SBDC conference is the premier professional training event of the year for the national SBDC network. Over 430 workshops were submitted this year during the call for papers submission in January. The Association’s Conference Committee, after months of rigorous review, has selected 132 workshops from 118 presenters to be featured at this year’s event. Additional workshops from our sponsors will be added in the upcoming months, and we are thrilled to bring this impressive line-up to Atlanta this September.

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National Sponsors
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Workshops
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Friday, Sept. 6th

8:30am- 5:00pm
Accreditation

Saturday, Sept. 7th

8:30am- 5:00pm
Accreditation

Sunday, Sept. 8th

7:30 am – 8:30 am

Board of Directors Breakfast (Board Only)

8:30 am – 4:00 pm

America’s SBDC Board Meeting

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

America’s SBDC Board Dinner (Board Only)

Monday, Sept. 9th

7:30 am – 5:00 pm

Tradeshow Build-out by Decorator

7:30 am – 3:00 pm

General Session Build-out by Decorator

7:30 am – 8:30 am

America’s SBDC State Director’s Breakfast

12:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Info Desk Open

8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Pre-Conference Workshops

8:30 am – 12:00 pm

America’s SBDC State Directors Meeting

12:00 pm – 1:30 pm

State Director Lunch

1:30 pm – 3:30 pm

America’s SBDC State Directors Meeting

12:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Attendee Registration

3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

General Session Rehearsal

3:30 pm – 5:00 pm

National Advisory Board Meeting

Tuesday, Sept. 10th

7:30 am – 4:00 pm

Attendee Registration

7:30 am – 4:00 pm

Info Desk Open

8:00 am – 10:00 am

Exhibit Hall set-up by Exhibitors

8:15 am – 9:30 am

Associate State Director Meeting

8:15 am – 9:45 am

Workshops

10:00 am -12:00 pm

General Session ­

Airlift for Small Businesses — What Small Businesses Need to Take Off,
Sponsored by Visa

Michael Brown
Principal U.S. Economist
Visa Inc.
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James Rhee
Founder
Red Helicopter
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Denise Press, VP
Head of Small Business, North America, Visa Commercial Solutions
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Lisa Shimkat
Chair, America’s SBDC Board of Directors.
State Director, America’s SBDC Iowa.
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Felipe Arroyave
President, Spectrum International.
Georgia SBDC Client & SBA’s NSBW 2024 International Trade Winner
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12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Lunch in Exhibit Hall

2:00 pm – 4:30 pm

Workshops & Exhibit Hall Open

5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Happy Hour in Atrium Lobby

5:00 pm – 9:00 pm

STAR Reception, Georgia Aquarium (By Invitation Only)

Wednesday, Sept. 11th

7:30 am – 4:00 pm

Attendee Registration

7:00 am – 8:00 am

Morning Refreshments in Exhibit Hall

7:00 am – 9:30 am

Exhibit Hall Open

7:30 am – 4:00 pm

Info Desk Open

8:30 am – 9:45 am

Workshops

10:00 am – 12:00 pm

General Session

Supporting Small Business Digital Transformation,
Sponsored by Verizon

Carrie Hughes
Senior Director of Social Innovation, Verizon
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Sam Berg
Co-CEO, Next Street
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Drew Tonsmeire
Area Director
UGA SBDC at Kennesaw State University
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Anwar Dougsiyeh
Founder and co-creator of Lotus Rosery
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Mike Daniel
Regional State Director of the Orange County Inland Empire SBDC, California
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Carl Brown
State Director of the D.C. SBDC Network
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12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Exhibit Hall Open & Lunch on Tradeshow Floor

2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Workshops

5:00 pm – 6:15 pm

Happy Hour in Exhibit Hall

5:00 pm – 6:00 pm

40 Under 40 Award Event, All are welcome!

2:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Exhibit Hall Open

7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Exhibit Hall Breakdownx`

Thursday, Sept. 12th

7:00 am – 8:00 am

Morning Refreshments in the Foyer

8:15 am – 9:30 am

Associate State Director Meeting

8:15 am – 9:30 am

Workshops

11:15 am – 1:15 pm

Lunch – Sponsored by Google.

1:15 pm – 4:30 pm

Workshops

10:00 am – 11:00 am

General Session

AI for SMBs: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Small Business Growth
Sponsored by Google

Andre Dickens
Mayor
Atlanta, Georgia

Lucy Pinto
Sr. Marketing Manager, Google
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Charles “Tee” Rowe
President & CEO, America’s SBDC
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Robbie Parks
Business Consultant, Georgia SBDC Network
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Alexander Pederson
Director of the Santa Cruz SBDC in the Northern California SBDC Network
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Rachel Rossetti
Instructional Designer, Google
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Nico Aguilar
Chief Executive Officer, Speeko
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5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Closing Happy Hour – Atlanta Celebration

Join Our Event as Exhibitor / Sponsor

We’d love to have your company join us in Atlanta, GA. America’s SBDC can customize your conference experience, or you can select one of the opportunities in our Conference Prospectus.

Keynote & Moderators

Tuesday's General Session
Airlift for Small Businesses — What Small Businesses Need to Take Off
Sponsored by Visa

Michael Brown
Principal U.S. Economist Visa Inc.
James Rhee
Founder of Red Helicopter
Denise Press
VP Head of Small Business, North America, Visa Commercial Solutions

Wednesday's General Session
Supporting Small Business Digital Transformation
Sponsored by Verizon

Carrie Hughes
Senior Director of Social Innovation, Verizon
Sam Berg
Co-CEO, Next Street
Chanda Bell
Founder, Author, Executive Producer, and Director of The Elf on the Shelf
Christa Pitts
Founder and Co-CEO of The Elf on the Shelf

Thursday's General Session
AI for SMBs: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Small Business Growth.
Sponsored by Google

Andre Dickens
Mayor. Atlanta, Georgia
Lucy Pinto
Sr. Marketing Manager, Google
Attendee Rate
$1,125

Workshops

Breakfast Breaks

Lunches

Receptions

Exhibitor Rate
$7,500

Turn-key Tradeshow Booth

2 Attendee Passes

All F&B Functions

Networking

Sponsors Start at
$10,000

Branding

Signage

Speaking Opportunities

Turn-key booth

Multiple Attendee Passes

Networking

All F&B Functions

Sponsors

Explore Atlanta & The Marriott Marquis

Marriott Bonvoy App for Mobile Key

Attendees have the option of leveraging Mobile Key to decrease physical touch. If you provided your Marriott Bonvoy number during the registration process, you will be able to use the app’s mobile key feature to access your room with your mobile phone.

Promotional Toolkit & Logo

Make Your Mark: Free Social Media Graphics for the Event

Download All Social Media Images (.zip)

Download All Logos (.zip)

Stay connected!

Stay tuned for updates on the next edition of the conference.

You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for the latest news and announcements.

We look forward to seeing you again soon!