Join the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce for the 4th Annual DeKalb City Summit event on Tuesday, October 21st as DeKalb's city leaders share open, meaningful dialogue within our community on matters that interest both residents and businesses. As the voice of the business community, the Chamber recognizes that the key to our collective success and business strength is to cultivate a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment that reflects the full breadth of our region.
City leaders will serve as panelists to provide a local perspective on the following topics such as Economic Development, Small Business and Transportation & Traffic.
The DeKalb Chamber Small Business Committee assists the Chamber with recruiting, educating, and mentoring small businesses. Create and identify opportunities for growth and facilitate partnerships to improve small business programs. Help identify opportunities in the public and private sector.
This committee meets monthly on the 3rd Tuesday of each month from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM. In this course, you will learn how to effectively position your company to compete in the procurement market.
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This includes creating and executing a strategic growth plan, developing your business's core competencies, building the necessary processes and systems, and ensuring that your business is financially capable of fulfilling contracts.
LEARN HOW TO:
Identify federal contracting opportunities
Position your business as a prime contractor
Maximize your financial readiness
Create and execute a strategic marketing plan
Leverage your socio-economic certification SBDC StartSmart provides the resources, support, and motivation to put your dream within reach.
StartSmart is tailored to be held virtually to facilitate virtual discussion, class engagement, & mastery of content. Participation in StartSmart will also allow access to LivePlan, an online business planning software. The program is facilitated by specially trained SBDC consultants and a long-term relationship with the SBDC and follow-up consulting is available and encouraged following the program.
Whether you are a new business (in business 2 years or less), or are still in the planning phase, building a business takes the right tools?and a lot of hard work. SBDC StartSmart will equip you to be successful!
SBDC StartSmart helps attendees to:
Evaluate & refine your business concept
Improve your knowledge of business concepts
Research markets and competition
Develop a financial forecast to improve chances of success
Develop a thorough, practical business plan
SBDC StartSmart includes 16 hours of instruction delivered over a period of 4 weeks. Sessions will be held twice a week for 2 hours.
LEARN HOW TO:
Evaluate your concept and develop plans to move forward.
Improve knowledge of business fundamentals.
Build an infrastructure for business operations and processes.
SBDC StartSmart graduates acquire:
An actionable business plan and access to business planning software
Access to financial and business resources.
A network of entrepreneurial peers and professionals
Eight modules cover critical issues for new businesses:
MODULE 1: Business Success ? How do we get there?
MODULE 2: Opportunity & Solutions
MODULE 3: Marketing for Success
MODULE 4: Digital Marketing & Online Strategies
MODULE 5: Navigating Human Resources
MODULE 6: Operations & Managing by the Numbers
MODULE 7: Management with a Plan
MODULE 8: Plan, Run, Review, Revise
DeKalb City Summit 2025
Small Business Committee Meeting
Workshop - Doing Business with the Government: Federal
Workshop - StartSmart (8-class series)
