Small business fair set for April in Fort Smith

Go Ye Employment Services of Fort Smith plans to host a Small Business Development Fair the week of April 24 at the Fort Smith Convention Center.

The goal of the fair is to connect entrepreneurs, owners and small business representatives to resources that will help them start or grow their businesses, said Miles Crawford CEO of Go Ye Employment.

“As most people are aware, over 60% of new job creation in the U.S. is done by small businesses,” he said, in an email newsletter, “and this is just one way that we are working to help increase employment opportunities as well as the causality correlated to quality of life throughout our region.”

Exhibitors are still signing up, Crawford said, but so far the event will include representatives from the Small Business Administration, the Arkansas Small Business & Technology Development Center, Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission, the secretary of state’s office and the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, in addition to the Northwest Arkansas SCORE chapter, Accion’s Arkansas chapter and the Arkansas innovation Hub.

It’s the third year for the fair, which brought in 150 attendees in 2015, Crawford said.

The keynote speaker has not yet been announced. Speakers in previous years have included legal experts discussing the effects of the Affordable Care Act and a U.S. Chamber of Commerce representative discussing complex labor issues, he said.

This year, Crawford aims to bring in representatives from the area’s larger companies and organizations in order to foster potential partnerships and discuss large businesses’ needs.

“We’re hoping to create new opportunities for local business by adding this avenue,” Crawford said. “The goal of this is to introduce larger organizations in our region to local service providers and to help uncover existing potential to spur small business growth opportunities.”