Submitted PhotoThe Navigating and Adjusting to the New Normal Road Show will be conducted statewide 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m., June 22, and focused on assisting minority business enterprises that survived the COVID-19 pandemic. Valdosta will serve as a co-host location supported by the BridgeBuilder Education Foundation.

VALDOSTA — The Black Business Alliance Valdosta has partnered with the Georgia Minority Business Development Agency Business Center at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute to co-host the Navigating and Adjusting to the New Normal Road Show statewide.

The event is scheduled for 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m., June 22, organizers said in a statement.

The NANN Road Show is focused on assisting minority business enterprises that survived the COVID-19 pandemic. It will promote programs to help businesses recover, scale and support economic stabilization and job growth beyond the pandemic, organizers said.

The virtual program will be broadcast live and virtually from Atlanta and virtually across six additional Georgia cities, including Albany, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, Savannah and Valdosta. Rachel Shanklin, the Small Business Majority’s Georgia director, will be the keynote speaker.

“Shanklin has a wealth of experience in creating change for minority business enterprises,” organizers said.

Joining her will be featured speaker, Miguel Estién, acting national director of the U.S. Department of Commerce – Minority Business Development Agency, who is leading federal government efforts to strengthen and grow minority business enterprises.

“The NANN Road Show concludes a year of technical assistance to minority business enterprises, which focused on assisting businesses through their transition from the pandemic into business growth,” said DeWayne Johnson, co-host and lead facilitator of the Black Business Alliance and founder/CEO of the H. DeWayne & Amanda Johnson BridgeBuilder Education Foundation.

“The Road Show was important for me to support as I serve as a core member of our city’s ARPA Small Business Committee in order to help ensure we are creating equitable processes and opportunities that place Valdosta’s underserved small business owners as a priority,” he said.

According to NANN organizers, the NANN Road Show was funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce MBDA Coronavirus Response and Relief award and it will highlight federal state, and local resources and provide essential training for small businesses.

Multiple government and academic studies show MBEs suffered serious hardship and loss during the pandemic. While financial losses remain under study, preliminary research suggests losses are likely in the billions of dollars, organizers said, adding “the NANN Road Show will help MBEs identify key funding sources and opportunities to help their businesses thrive.”

The NANN Road Show is supported by the Minority Business Development Agency Business Agency as presenting sponsor, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as supporting sponsor and Georgia MBDA Business Center program sponsors Comcast, Ebco and Trane Technologies.

The Georgia MBDA Business Center helps minority business enterprises obtain capital, increase profitability, scale operations, and access domestic and global markets.

The Enterprise Innovation Institute, the Georgia Institute of Technology’s economic development unit serves all of Georgia through a variety of services and programs that build and scale startups, grow business enterprises and energize ecosystem builders.

The Black Business Alliance Valdosta advocates for Black business owners who may not have the resources to keep their voices heard and it delivers programs that provide technical assistance, business education, and funding resources.