Carson City, NV -
July 20, 2017The
Department of Business and Industry will host the sixth annual Governor’s
Conference on Business August 17 at the Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks. The event will feature a Business Resource
Expo, a morning breakout session, a business pitch competition and an
all-conference luncheon. The conference assists entrepreneurs, startups and
established companies get connected to the information and resources they need
to succeed. Conference speakers will
highlight themes of innovation, technology and the state’s flourishing
entrepreneurship climate.
The Business Resource Expo will be open to attendees
throughout the morning. Exhibitors
represent a wide variety of services and resources including lenders, nonprofit
business mentoring, legal services, marketing and branding consultants,
government agencies and more. A list of participating
exhibitors can be found on the conference website. Exhibitor opportunities are
still available for companies looking to establish new leads and make
connections will fellow business owners and entrepreneurs.
A
morning breakout session, IoT:
Transforming Business and our Lives! will feature a presentation by Marty
Skolnick, Account and Program Manager for Siemens Intelligent Integrated
Developments. Marty is Siemens Account Manager for the Sterling Ranch
development in northwest Douglas County, designed to be the most
technologically advanced community of its size in North America. For the past
four years, he has been directly involved in the development of integrations
and real life use cases for the implementation of IoT (Internet of Things)
devices in the consumer, commercial and agricultural sectors. The presentation
will discuss the impacts of implementing the Internet of Things in the real
world, from strategy to technological integration and discuss the ways the IoT
will transform business and our lives.
The Business Pitch Competition will showcase ten finalists, as scored by an independent panel of
judges during the application process. Startup companies, in business for two
years or less with under $250,000 annual gross revenue, were invited to apply
to enter the competition. Each of the ten
finalists will make a two-minute pitch, followed by Q&A with the panel of
judges. The judges will score each of
the presentations to determine the awards for first and second place. An audience vote will determine the winner of
the people’s choice award. Cash and
prizes totaling $31,600 will be given, thanks the generosity of sponsors
AT&T, Microsoft, The Abbi Agency and VAST.
The first place winner will receive $5,000 cash and in-kind professional
services valued at $14,800. The second
place winner will receive $2,500 cash and in-kind professional services valued
at $8,300. The people’s choice winner
will receive $1,000. Winners of the
competition will be announced during the conference luncheon.
Few
would deny that the Reno Sparks area has found it’s footing in the “New
Nevada,” a vision proposed by Governor Brian Sandoval during a time of economic
crisis that has helped fuel Nevada’s economic recovery and growth. A
collaborative effort among state and local economic development agencies and
officials has attracted companies like Tesla, Panasonic, Apple and Google to
the region, and myriad stakeholders have championed the effort to create and
embrace a culture of entrepreneurship. The
University of Nevada Reno is at the center of startup, research collaboration
and economic-development partnership activity. Mridul Gautam, PhD, Vice
President of Research and Innovation will discuss the regional vision and the
model behind the buzz that is enabling this success.
Governor Sandoval, who was recently named as chairman
of the National Governors Association, a bipartisan organization counting
membership of governors from every state, will deliver a keynote address to
conclude the luncheon. His remarks will
highlight Nevada’s current economic standing and the innovation and
technological advancements that are occurring within the state, and his vision
for keeping Nevada ahead of the curve.
Conference
agenda:
7:30
am: Registration, continental
breakfast, networking
7:30
am- noon: Business Resource Expo
8:15
am- IoT: Transforming Our
Lives! Presented by Siemens
10:00
am- Business Pitch
Competition
12:00
pm: Conference Luncheon featuring
Business Pitch Competition Awards, presentation by Mridul Gautam, PhD,
University of Nevada Reno and keynote address by Governor Sandoval
Tickets are $40 if purchased online prior to August 15,
$50 at the door. Advanced registration
is strongly recommended and includes access to the expo, panel discussion,
business pitch competition and conference luncheon. To learn more about the
conference or to register, visit http://business.nv.gov/GCB/Home.
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