Small Business Week: Enjoy a Full Day of Learning and Awards

A group of local small business associations and corporate sponsors are helping to make June 24 a full day of benefits for Hoosier entrepreneurs and small businesses. See the full flyer here, and paid reservations are due June 14:

New Directions for Small Business is the Indianapolis area day of events marking 2011
Indiana Small Business Week from June 19 – 25, 2011. New Directions for Small Business
provides entrepreneurs with new techniques to expand their businesses and to start new ones. It is an opportunity to talk with other business owners and with business counselors about current challenges and how to increase sales. Active small business lenders will be available to meet one-to-one to discuss your borrowing needs. At lunch, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) will present its Small Business Week awards for Indiana.

Business Counseling and Conversations Opens at 8:00 am – available all day

  • Teams of business consultants and former business owners with expertise ranging from manufacturing to franchises and service businesses will be available for private meetings to help you find a new direction for your company or business idea. Feel free to bring your business plan along with your issues and ideas to start the conversation.
  • Talk with exporting professionals who can help you take your products to global markets. Start with Canada; advance to China.
  • Do you need working capital? What about a new building or advanced equipment? Ready to launch a new company? Meet with financial institutions that are lending right now to Indiana small businesses.

Luntz Will Speak; You Should Listen

When people talk, Frank Luntz listens. And then Luntz discusses what he heard and what he wishes had been spoken — and many powerful and influential people pay close attention.

Luntz is a top political pollster and communications professional. But he delivers his message in a very "common man and woman" sense. In fact, when I had a chance to interview him for our BizVoice magazine about 18 months ago, he was munching on a salad after contributing to the state’s economy by dropping a few dollars in one of our riverboats. He said he never could have imagined the opportunities he has had, but then quickly demonstrates why world political leaders and many more have called upon his services.

Luntz returns to Indiana on February 16. An Evening With Frank Luntz, a special dinner program, follows the Indiana Chamber’s annual Legislative Reception. Both are at the Westin in downtown Indianapolis. Luntz’s latest bestseller — What Americans Really Want … Really: The Truth About Our Hopes, Dreams and Fears — will be one of the topics, but expect much more. You won’t be disappointed. Order your tickets or tables today.

Being Frank: Join Well-Known Pollster After Legislative Reception Feb. 16

"When Frank Luntz invites you to talk to his focus group, you talk to his focus group."
–President Barack Obama, spoken on June 28, 2007, to a PBS-sponsored focus group following the Democratic presidential debate at Howard University

Luntz’s new book, What Americans Really Want … Really: The Truth About Our Hopes, Dreams, and Fears, came out last fall and is a New York Times best seller. He’s also drawn some attention regarding the surprising findings of his recent poll of gun owners.

A recent poll found that both National Rifle Association (NRA) and non-NRA gun owners are in favor of legislation designed to keep guns out of dangerous criminal and terrorist hands.

“By overwhelming numbers, they believe that [protecting] Second Amendment rights and keeping guns from criminals are complementary, not contradictory [goals],’ said Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster who conducted the survey.

Luntz asked 832 gun owners (including 401 NRA members) to give thoughts on a wide variety of issues including whether more could be done to stop criminals from getting guns while also protecting the rights of citizens to freely own them.

Of those polled, Luntz found that 82 % of NRA members supported prohibiting people on the terrorist watch lists from purchasing guns; 69% favored requiring all gun sellers at gun shows to conduct criminal background checks of the people buying guns; and 78 % backed requiring gun owners to alert police if their guns are lost or stolen. Among gun owners who did not belong to the NRA, the numbers were even higher.

Luntz will be joining us following the 2010 Legislative Reception on February 16 at the Westin in Indianapolis to discuss issues of both a federal and local nature. Register now for this exciting event. One ticket for both the Legislative Reception and the Frank Luntz Dinner is just $149.