Workshop planned for minority/women-owned firms

The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade is pleased to announce that the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) will conduct a workshop for minority- and women-owned businesses in Denver, Colorado on October 14, 2010 at the Grand Hyatt. Expanding Horizons is the latest in a highly-successful series that has to date educated more than 1,000 small and medium-size business owners around the country about OPIC products and services.

 In an addition to customary sessions on OPIC products such as political risk insurance and financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, the upcoming workshops will feature a special session on OPIC support for renewable energy and clean energy technology projects, an important area of focus for the agency. Also at the workshops, a session will be held on "Local & Federal Resources" that will include members from the Export Import Bank of the U.S. (EX-IM); U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA); Small Business Administration (SBA); and the Department of Commerce's U.S. Commercial Service and the Minority Business Development Agency.

Since 2006, OPIC has held Expanding Horizons workshops in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, Houston, San Francisco, Boston and St. Louis. This year, Denver will be the 10th stop in the series. For more information about the workshop, including the agenda and instructions on how to register, please visit http://www.opicevents.com/.

 OPIC was established as an agency of the U.S. government in 1971. It helps U.S. businesses invest overseas, fosters economic development in new and emerging markets, complements the private sector in managing risks associated with foreign direct investment, and supports U.S. foreign policy. OPIC's political risk insurance and financing help U.S. businesses of all sizes invest in more than 150 emerging markets and developing nations worldwide. Over the agency's 39-year history, OPIC has supported $194 billion worth of investments that have helped developing countries to generate over 842,000 host-country jobs. OPIC projects have also generated $74 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 274,000 American jobs. For more information, please see http://www.opic.gov/.

 The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade offers a host of programs and services tailored to support business development at every level. They include business retention and relocations service, a bioscience and emerging industries program, business finance programs like the Venture Capital Authority and CAPCO, the Colorado Tourism Office, the Colorado Council on the Arts, the Colorado International Trade Office, the Colorado Small Business Development Centers, minority-and women-owned business services and economic research. For more information or to sign up for OEDIT's free e-Newsletter, visit http://www.advancecolorado.com/.