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By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
The 10th annual Governor’s Small Business Outreach Summit took place at Live! Casino and Hotel Maryland on Nov. 11, assembling state executives and more than 800 entrepreneurs for networking, resource-sharing and key information on state contracting opportunities.
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This year’s theme was, “Future-Ready: Preparing Maryland Businesses for Tomorrow’s Challenges,” emphasizing the need for forward-looking solutions to help Maryland’s small businesses grow, scale and thrive. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), small businesses account for 48.6 percent of employment in Maryland. In 2022, they also made up the vast majority of the state’s exporters, with 5,806 small firms shipping $4.8 billion in goods.
The summit expanded its programming this year to engage a wider range of Maryland’s small business community, including sector-specific tracks for innovation and technology, emerging entrepreneurs and youth-led enterprises. Workshops at the gathering addressed a variety of topics, like strategies for financial management, registering with the state’s online procurement system and mental health.
In line with National Veterans and Military Families Month, the state’s veteran-owned small businesses also received special recognition during the summit.
133 years ago we were covering Post-Reconstruction when a former enslaved veteran started the AFRO with $200 from his land-owning wife. In 2022 we endorsed Maryland’s first Black Governor, Wes Moore. And now we celebrate the first Black Senator from Maryland, Angela Alsobrooks!
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Megan Sayles is a business reporter for The Baltimore Afro-American paper. Before this, Sayles interned with Baltimore Magazine, where she wrote feature stories about the city’s residents, nonprofits… More by Megan Sayles AFRO Staff Writer
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The AFRO knows what it’s like to endure challenging times. John H. Murphy, Sr., a former enslaved man founded the AFRO in 1892 with $200 from his wife, Martha Howard Murphy. Together they created a platform to offer images and stories of hope to advance their community. The AFRO provides readers with good news about the Black community not otherwise found.
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