Area expo helps people seeking to start their own business in shrinking job market
Saturday, February 28th, 2009Expo helps people seeking to start their own business in shrinking job market
By JENNIFER ROBISON - LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
People stroll the aisles at the Small Business and Entrepreneur Expo on Friday at South Point. The expo is projected to nearly triple its attendance from last year, an official said.
Local civil engineer Bill Bolduc has lost his job twice in the last year.
Rather than fret about his fate, though, Bolduc decided it might be the perfect time to launch his own company. Bolduc said he’s eyeing an engineering niche that few others serve, and working for himself could be his best opportunity to jump back into the labor force.
"I’ve never owned a business. I’ve thought about it often, but I’ve always had someone offer me a great job," Bolduc said. 
"Why take the risk and not make any money for that first year if someone’s offering you a job? But no one is offering me anything right now, so I have to make business for myself."
His interest in opening a startup led Bolduc to the Small Business and Entrepreneur Expo on Friday at South Point. Bolduc had plenty of company: The free show, a production of Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology, was set to nearly triple 2008’s expo attendance through Friday night, said Dave Archer, chief executive officer of the center. Early registration numbers indicated that as many as 1,500 visitors might attend the expo, which also featured educational sessions on raising capital, marketing, networking and writing business plans. That’s up from 600 in 2008. The number of exhibitors jumped from 62 a year ago to 100 Friday.
