Local events tied to national Small Business Week

The Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, the City of Vancouver and SCORE are presenting local events and promotions tied to the national designation of May 12 -16 as Small Business Week. The city of Vancouver has found that over 95 of the city’s businesses are considered small, with 50 employees or less.

Some 63 percent of Vancouver of businesses have less than 5 employees. The chamber says that 85 percent of its 1,100 members represent small businesses.

Here are the week’s major events:

o Wednesday: The Greater Vancouver Chamber’s resource network training workshop. 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at ESD 112 building, 2500 N.E. 65th Ave, Vancouver. This is an opportunity to meet the mentors of SCORE, a network of retired professionals who work one on one with local businesses in a focus field such as marketing, bookkeeping, HR management, outreach and other issues. SCORE services are free to local entrepreneurs and small business owners.

SCORE chairman Bill Ruttledge will outline what SCORE offers and how it can help small businesses of Southwest Washington. Mentors will be available. Please RSVP at vancouverusa.com, $5/person.

SCORE chairman Bill Ruttledge will outline what SCORE offers and how they can help small businesses of Southwest Washington. Mentors will be available. Please RSVP at vancouverusa.com, $5/person.

o Thursday: A small-business ribbon-cutting event with the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce’s Red Coat ambassador team, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at TigerStop, 12909 N.E. 95th St,, Vancouver. TigerStop will celebrate 20 years in business with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting. The company is a U.S. manufacturer of products for the construction, furniture, cabinet, electronics, plastics and metalworking industries.

o Friday: Government contracting Meet the Buyer event, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Riverview Community Bank, 17205 SE Mill Plain Blvd, Vancouver. The free class for Southwest Washington small businesses will focus on optimizing Small Business Administration profiles to attract buyers such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which will have a representative at the session. RSVP at www.vancouverusa.com or govevents.com.