Workshop: Capitalization Strategies for Small and Disadvantaged Businesses

Gary Bojes, Ph.D, (Senior Level Program and Policy Advisor- Rural Utilities Service, Rural Development, USDA) Mr. Bojes will discuss the RUS programs that provide funding for telecommunications ventures.

Sean Green, (Associate Administrator, Small Business Administration) Mr. Green will discuss the SBA’s lending objectives, and how to access funds available to start or enhance a small business.

Maureen Lewis, (Director of Minority Telecommunications Development Program-National Telecommunications Information Administration) Ms. Lewis will discuss the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and the process by which the NTIA is handling applications and making grants.

Frank Montero, (Co-Managing Partner, Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth) Mr. Montero will discuss the decline in valuation of the telecommunications companies that specialize in Spanish speaking programming. Mr. Montero will address various problems that affect the different levels of small telecommunications companies as well as any unique difficulties encountered by companies that broadcast in the Spanish language.

S. Jenell Trigg, (Member, Lerman Senter) Ms. Trigg will discuss the Telecommunications Development Fund (TDF) with regard to qualification criteria and the process by which funding is available to telecommunication companies.

Major Clark III, (Assistant General Counsel for Policy and Procurement, Office of Advocacy, Small Business Administration). Mr. Clark will discuss the SBA parameters for lending to small telecommunications businesses.

SECOND PANEL-PRIVATE FUNDING

Anita Stephens Graham, (Opportunity Capital) Ms. Stephens Graham will offer insight into the lending objectives of Opportunity Capital and its primary investment strategy. She will lay out the subject areas in which Opportunity Capital focuses and the parameters for its investment range.

Arun Gupta, (Partner, Columbia Capital) Mr. Gupta will lay out the goals of Columbia Capital. The Company invests exclusively in the wireless, broadband, information technology, and new media sectors. Mr. Gupta will explain why Columbia is typically one of the first institutional investors in a business and assumes a leadership role in the company and on its board of directors, building close working relationships with entrepreneurs.

Jerry Johnson, (Vice President, RLJ Equity) Mr. Johnson will discuss RLJ Equity’s primary focus in lending. RLJ’s objective is to identify and invest in high-quality companies led by motivated and skilled executives. RLJ Equity then aligns both short- and long-term interests by providing management teams with meaningful ownership stakes in the businesses they lead.

Mark Levine, (Managing Director, Core Capital) Mr. Levine will discuss Core Capital’s primary focus in lending is core technologies. He will also discuss the parameters and qualifications necessary to establish an agreement between Core Capital and potential clients.

Dwight Bush, (Managing Partner, D.L. Bush & Associates) Mr. Bush will discuss the lending parameters for D.L. Bush & Associates as well as some of the pitfalls that entrepreneurs and small businesses encounter as they attempt to capitalize their plans.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

(The breakout sessions are for those individuals who have signed up prior to the workshop with a panelist and provided a business plan or other information in advance.)

There are 6 breakout rooms and each room may have up to six 20-minute sessions. Attendees who signed up prior to the workshop will have someone on the OCBO staff escort them to their respective breakout conference rooms.