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Small Business Week Events
May 6, 2025 - May 9, 2025
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Central Rhode Island Chamber’s Small Business Week Events
This week of May celebrates and highlights small businesses. In Rhode Island, 94% of businesses are ‘small businesses’ and form the backbone of commerce. From May 5-9, we will be hosting a variety of events to support small business owners and the professionals who lead them by providing education, insights and connections to a powerful network of resources.
We encourage you to sign-up for any and all events that fit with your schedule!
Event Line-Up:
- The Road Map: Creating and Updating Your Business Plan (Tues, May 6, 9:00-10:30am, Central RI Chamber)
- Strong businesses start with sound business plans. This session will address the ‘who, what, when & how’ of a business plan and how to use it as the road map to success for you small business now and into the future.
- Presenters include: Amit Basnet, Director of the Central Region, Small Business Development Center (SBDC); Kristen Cordeiro, Deputy Director of Small Business Services, RI Secretary of State Office
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- Assembling Your Dream Team (Wed, May 7, 5:30-7:30pm, Something Fishy)
- Who are the professionals every business owner needs to have on their team to help them plan, grow and protect their business? This panel will answer that question and provide insights into the many ways they can alleviate your stress, reduce your risk and fortify your business.
- Panelists include: Megan Johnson, VP Commercial Relationship Manager, Webster Bank; Melina Trudeau, Attorney, Lonardo Forte & Trudeau; Zach Padula, Account Executive for Commercial Lines, The Hilb Group
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- Right Channel, Right Customer: Making Smart Marketing Decisions (Thurs, May 8, 9:00-10:00 am, Springhill Suites, West Warwick)
- This workshop will guide business professionals and non-profit leaders through a practical process for evaluating marketing channels and measuring their return on investment (ROI). We will also discuss common pitfalls to avoid when following marketing trends.
- Presenter: Katie Schibler Conn, KSA Marketing
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- Keeping Your Business Safe: IT, Cybersecurity & Scams (Fri, May 9, 12-1:30 pm, Sawtooth Building, Warwick) Lunch provided by Westerly Community Credit Union
- With methods constantly changing and getting increasingly sophisticated, how do you protect your business and employees from falling victim to hackers, scams and computer viruses. This panel will share an overview of the threats to your IT infrastructure, current best practices for reducing these threats and steps you can take when an attack occurs.
- Panelists include: Richard Ptaszek, Lieutenant, RI State Police; Mickaela Driscoll, Elder Justice Administrator, Office of the RI Attorney General; Joseph Stoy, Director of Fraud & Risk Management, Westerly Community Credit Union
- Learn more (will open in a new tab)