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Opportunities for small-business owners focus of conference

For immediate release: June 14, 2005

DALLAS—Providing vital resources to women starting or expanding a small business is the focus of a conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and Las Comadres Para Las Americas Rio Grande Valley Network. The conference will be held on June 23, 2005, in Harlingen, Texas.

More than 20 entrepreneurs, educators and specialists will discuss the tools and skills needed to build a small business. Speakers will explore such topics as business-plan writing, small-business financing, human resources, marketing and information technology.

“Small Business—Big Dreams: Entrepreneurship in the Rio Grande Valley” will be from 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, June 23, at the Harlingen Country Club, 5500 El Camino Real Route 4, Harlingen. Participants can register for the event at www.dallasfed.org.

"We encourage and support public information programs that emphasize local community-development goals and initiatives," said Gloria V. Brown, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas vice president. "Partnering with Las Comadres to sponsor this conference presents an opportunity to address our common goal of stimulating local economic-development discussions about small-business development and job creation.”

The keynote speaker at the conference will be Yrma Rico, successful businesswoman and author of La Vida Rica: The Latina’s Guide to Success.

“Many high-skilled women are looking for work in the Valley, but few jobs are available to them. They can create their own employment by going into business for themselves if they have the proper information and support,” said Nora de Hoyos Comstock, Las Comadres Para Las Americas national founder and coordinator.

Speakers also include Bárbara Robles, assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs; Sylvia Acevedo, CEO and president of CommuniCard; and Sandra Vasquez, president of Mex-Sales Company, Inc.

Additional information can be found on the Dallas Fed web site at www.dallasfed.org.

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Media contact:
James Hoard
Phone: (214) 922-5307
e-mail: james.hoard@dal.frb.org