Extension’s webinars, town halls to focus on innovation

University of Nevada, Reno Extension continues its online town hall and webinar series to assist small business owners, this week focusing on innovation.

Wednesday’s town halls, at 9 a.m. in English and 2 p.m. in Spanish, will introduce entrepreneurs to the AngelNV, https://startupnv.org/angelnv/, a 2020-2021 start-up accelerator program that prepares both aspiring entrepreneurs and investors. Organizations in the business community, including StartupNV, Nevada SBDC and SCORE, have come together to sponsor AngelNV.

The entrepreneur part of the program, https://startupnv.org/download/4879/, involves 10 weeks of free training in start-up topics. In early December, participants may pay $149 to sign up for the final pitch competition March 25, where the top six finalists compete for the chance to win their business $200,000. The investor part of the program, https://startupnv.org/angelnv-investors/, involves paying $6,000 to become a part of the pooled $200,000 investment, and in doing so, help create a network of investors, gain exposure to different industries and learn the evaluation of companies at different stages.

In the English-language webinar, at 9 a.m. Friday, Raj Tumber, mentor from SCORE, will discuss “Creative Thinking in Processes and Innovation.” During the Spanish-language webinar, at 11:30 a.m. Friday, independent consultant Oceania Silva will discuss “Breaking Customs to Improve Quality.”

Both the town halls and the webinars are free and are part of a series of town halls and webinars for small businesses, “Coping With COVID-19,” that the Extension is offering each week.

The town hall, “Introducing the AngelNV Startup Competition” is 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30 for English speakers and at 2 p.m. for Spanish speakers. Panelists include StartupNV Executive Director Jeff Saling (9 a.m.), Small Business Administration Deputy District Director Saul Ramos (9 a.m.) and outreach/marketing specialist Alfredo Cedeno (2 p.m.); Tumber (9 a.m.); Extension business development instructors Reyna Mendez and Juan Salas and research associate Mike Bindrup; and Silva.

The English-language webinar, “Creative Thinking in Processes and Innovation,” will be held 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2. Tumber and Bindrup will discuss business innovation during COVID-19, finding and using new ideas to keep your business safe, innovation beyond incubation and choosing adaptation over big, next-level discoveries.

The Spanish-language webinar, “”Breaking Customs to Improve Quality,” will be held 11:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2. Silva will discuss: identifying and breaking old habits, defining processes and functions, implementing improvements and evaluation; and aligning mission and vision during Covid-19.

“Innovation and forcing yourself to think out of the box is always important in business,” said Buddy Borden, economic development specialist with the Extension’s Business Development Program. “But, in today’s rapidly changing business environment, it is more important than ever. This week’s sessions hope to spark our small business owners and entrepreneurs to take creative and innovative approaches to help them be successful.”

Both the town halls and the webinars usually run about an hour.

To register for the Sept. 30 English-language town hall, go to https://unrextension.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LbytUWaSRP2VPQZkWnrDcg

To register for the Sept. 30 Spanish-language town hall, go tohttps://unrextension.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NiN3Xf4uSj21WxDevSEc8A

To register for the Oct. 2 English-language webinar, go to https://unrextension.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1jAszvb_Q3W8yMxMOaoY-A

To register for the Oct. 2, Spanish-language webinar, go to https://unrextension.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UfwsmNH6RTumF-BUICESZA

For more information, go to the Extension Business Development Program website at extension.unr.edu/busdev. There are also other resources at the website to assist businesses during the COVID-19 crisis. For more information, email Borden at bordenb@unr.edu