7 Free Events and Webinars Entrepreneurs Can Take Advantage of During National Small Business WeekHere's how you can get involved in the Small Business Administration's week-long celebration of the American entrepreneur.

ByKim Lachance Shandrow

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

SBA.gov

America cherishes -- and deeply depends on -- its 28 million small businesses, and the thinkers, doers and dreamers who own and work for them. Producing close to half of our national goods and services, and creating approximately two out of every three new jobs each year, they're the backbone of our economy and the cornerstones of the American dream.

That's why, every year since 1963, to honor and uplift entrepreneurs from California to New York, the National Small Business Administration (SBA) declares one week a yearNational Small Business Week(NSBW). This year, the special week takes place from May 1 through May 6.

To honor, elevate and celebrate the entrepreneurs behind our small businesses, the SBA is hosting many free, inspiring and educational events throughout its 10 regions and 68 districts during NSBW. Several companies and organizations will join the SBA in applauding the entrepreneurial spirit of our nation's small-business owners, offering free workshops, webinars and other events throughout the week, the theme of which is once again "Dream Big, Start Small”。通过社交媒体传播消息,hashtag is#DreamSmallBiz

Related:Cash Crunch: What's the Best Loan for Your Small Business?

For all the hard work you do, day in day out, "contributing to our collective American story," we think you deserve to take a break, kick back and dream big. Here's a list of free, inspiring events, webinars and more for entrepreneurs to take advantage of during NSBW:

1. Attend an inspiring SBA-hosted NSBW event near you.

SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet will travel across the country in a week, co-hosting NSBW events in the following cities: Washington D.C., Atlanta, New York, Denver, Phoenix and San Jose, Calif. She'll be talking with local business leaders, presenting awards and sharing helpful business tips and trends. To attend one of these events, registerhere

2. Watch the SBA NSBW action unfold via livestream all week.

If you can't make it to one of the NSBW events in the above-listed cities, you can still watch the action happen via livestream. Head over towww.sba.gov/nsbw/starting at 7:30 p.m. E.T. on Sunday, May 1, to tune in. You can also follow Contreras-Sweet at @MCS4Biz onTwitterorInstagramfor updates on the fly all week. Follow the SBA's official Twitter feedhereas well.

Related:An Entrepreneur's American Dream in 5 Quotes

3. Learn how to grow your business online with Google.

Google is teaming up with small-business-focused organizations in towns and cities across the country to host free workshops on how to grow your company's reach online. Head over towww.gybo.comand click on the U.S. map to find a Google workshop near you.

Google says attendees will learn how to manage their business information as it appears across Google Search and Google Maps. They'll also brush up on how to use Google AdWords Express, Google Analytics and Google Apps for Work to better boost online visibility and to optimize internal workflows.

Related:Google Launches Program to Help Small Businesses

4. Expand your business acumen via a NSBW webinar.

The SBA hosts a series of informative small-business webinars, starting Monday, May 2, and ending Thursday, May 5. Topics to be covered include: demystifying voluntary employee benefits; recent payment technology innovations; cloud, mobile and social apps for growing your business; business-loan-application best practices and how to use Intuit Quickbooks. To see the complete webinar schedule, clickhere

5. Attend a Facebook "Boost Your Business" networking event.

In honor of NSBW, Facebook will host fourBoost Your Businessevents in cities throughout Texas next week. If you happen to be in the Lone Star State and want to attend, the networking events will unfold inCorpus Christion May 2,Houstonon May 3,San Antonioon May 5 andCollege Stationon May 6.

Each offers a day of connecting with local community and small-business leaders and fellow entrepreneurs and business owners. Lots of tips on how to use Facebook and Instagram to amplify your business's reach will be shared. Breakout sessions will hone in on using both popular social platforms for marketing and for sharing video content. For more information on these events, head overhere

Related:What's Missing From Your Facebook Ad Strategy

6. Get social with Twitter's "#TweetHour" on scaling your business.

Kicking off on Thursday, May 5 at 7 a.m. E.T., Twitter will put on a #TweetHour focused on tips for scaling your small business. The scheduled host for the hour is Simon Walker, a marketing manager fromIFTTT,a San Francisco-based tech startup that automates web services. Walker will also be tweeting about how to save time and money, and how to boost productivity, all things most entrepreneurs and small-business owners can get behind.

To join the hour dedicated to doling out and swapping business growth advice, log on Twitter and search for and use the hashtag #TweetHour.

7. Learn how to access loans and capital through Sam's Club and Accion's webinar.

Having a healthy cashflow is key to staying in business. For many small companies and entrepreneurs, business loans and capital are essentially the lifeblood of their operations. To find out more about how to access finance options such as these, tune in to Sam's Club Giving, Small Business Majority and Accion International's hour-long webinar on Wed., May 4 at 4 p.m. E.T.

Related:Has Access to Capital Really Improved for Entrepreneurs? (Infographic)

The free online event, titled "Access to Capital and Business Loans: Best Practices," coincides with Sam's Club's announcement of $8.8 million in grants for veteran, women and minority small-business owners. Webinar attendees will learn how to identify the right financial products for their particular business needs. To take part, registerhere

Wavy Line
Kim Lachance Shandrow

Former West Coast Editor

Kim Lachance Shandrow is the former West Coast editor at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was a commerce columnist at洛杉矶CityBeata news producer at MSNBC and KNBC in Los Angeles and a frequent contributor to theLos Angeles Times.She has also written forGovernment Technologymagazine,LA Yogamagazine, theLowell Sunnewspaper, HealthCentral.com, PsychCentral.com and the former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Coop. Follow her on Twitter at@Lashandrow.你也可以跟着她Facebookhere

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