Immigrant Entrepreneurs Expo in Fresno on August 29 2024

CVIIC (Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative), the City of Fresno, and partner agencies are scheduling the first ever Immigrant Entrepreneurs Expo in Fresno, an event to be held on August 29, 2024, at the Fresno Convention Center, located in downtown Fresno. Please save the date for this important and unique event. Participating agencies include:

• Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative (CVIIC)
• City of Fresno
• State of California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA)
• State of California DGS Office of Small Business and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Services
• State of California Military Department
• Small Business Administration (SBA)
• CDC Small Business Finance
• Central California Environmental Justice Network
• Central Valley Women’s Entrepreneur Center (CVWEC)
• Centro La Familia Advocacy Services, Inc
• Community Justice Alliance
• CHIRLA
• Education & Leadership Foundation
• EECU
• Fresno Area Hispanic Foundation
• Hmong Business Incubator Center
• ILRC
• Immigrants Rising
• Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
• Oasis Legal Services
• Sequoias Adult Education Consortium
• SIREN
• Small Business Majority
• The Academy of Financial Education
• Valley Community Small Business Development Center

The CVIIC Immigrant Entrepreneurs Expo is designed to bring together immigrant families from throughout the Central Valley who aspire to own a business or wish to learn how to improve an existing one by connecting to resources and services offered by nonprofit, public, and private sector agencies. The Immigrant Entrepreneurs Expo proposes to feature the following:

• Exhibits of immigrant owned businesses
• Exhibits of nonprofit, public, and private sector agencies
• In-person and online entrepreneurial training opportunities
• Thematic panel presentations on the importance of immigrant owned businesses, business development opportunities for immigrant entrepreneurs, access to capital, procurement opportunities, marketing strategies, how to create a business plan, how to set up a food truck business, opportunities for rural entrepreneurs
• Presentations by keynote speakers
• Resources and services offered by local, state, and federal agencies
• Legal assistance to establish an LLC
• Immigration legal assistance (naturalization, DACA renewal, legal permanent resident renewal, attorney consultations, U Visas/T Visas/VAWA, Asylum)

The desire to organize an Immigrant Entrepreneurs Expo derives from the experience that CVIIC has obtained over the past four years since it began to develop what is now its Immigrant Entrepreneurs Program, a feat that was accomplished thanks to the collaboration with local partner agencies. In the implementation of the Immigrant Entrepreneurs Program, CVIIC has learned about the enormous potential that exists in the Central Valley to promote immigrant entrepreneurship. CVIIC has also recognized that many immigrants find it challenging to have access to the diverse resources and services that might be offered by nonprofit, public, or private sector entities. In addition, CVIIC has found it valuable to attempt to promote the development of an immigrant entrepreneurs community in the Central Valley, which links immigrant entrepreneurs with interested agencies. Event information will be updated in the coming days, as the planning process proceeds. When registration information is available, it will be uploaded to the CVIIC.org website. In the meantime, interested individuals may contact CVIIC to request additional information or to indicate a desire to be part of the event. To do so, please fill out the contact form below. Thank you for visiting our website site. We invite you to visit other CVIIC websites: ValleCentral.org | InmigrantesEmprendedores.org