The City of Charleston’s Business Services will host the 2024 Small Business Opportunity Expo on Thursday, March 28th from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Gaillard Center at 95 Calhoun Street, Charleston, SC 29401. Registration is required for this free event.

The event is for organizations and municipal partners to showcase their services, contractual needs and upcoming opportunities to small businesses with a particular focus on outreach to under-represented, disadvantaged, veteran, minority and women-owned businesses. Free workshops on marketing, access to capital, legal basics and more, as well as presentations by successful business owners, government agencies and municipal partners will be available to attendees.

“Last year was such a success and we are pleased to bring this free, informative expo back to help exceptional small businesses access valuable resources,” said Ruth Jordan, minority and women-owned business enterprise manager for the city of Charleston. “If you are looking for more in ‘24’ to grow your business this is the Expo to attend!”

This year’s attendees and exhibitors include Charleston Mayor William S. Cogswell, Jr., city leaders, municipal partners, nonprofit resource partners and local business owners.

There will be morning and afternoon small business workshops, such as: “Cutting the Red Tape to get the Money: Access to Capital,” which will cover where to start when you need access to capital and the benefits of pre- and post-loan consulting to cut through the red tape; “Legal Basics for Small Businesses”; and a bi-lingual session specifically addressing Hispanic businesses called “Legal Basics for Hispanic Businesses.” Both legal basics workshops will address registering businesses, obtaining necessary permits and licenses, and understanding tax obligations and a Digital Marketing workshop to help businesses find effective ways to grow their businesses. All workshops are free and on a first come, first served basis.

Registration is required and now open at https://charleston-sc.gov/smallbizexpo for this free event.