March 30, 2006

Conference addresses small business issues

Business and legal leaders from across the country will gather at a conference hosted by the School of Law’s Small Business Opportunity Center (SBOC) to discuss such issues as social entrepreneurship, financing a small business and developing new ideas.

Offering the latest on entrepreneurship and small business issues, the Small Business Opportunity Conference will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 8, at the School of Law, 357 E. Chicago Ave.

Randall Kaplan, president and chief executive officer of JUMP Investors, a Los Angeles-based private equity and venture capital firm, will deliver the keynote speech. Kaplan also is a co-founder of Akamai Technologies, Inc. An Internet infrastructure company with a market capitalization exceeding $4 million, Akamai serves nearly 20 percent of the world’s Web traffic.

Organized by SBOC’s student board, the conference  speakers, panels and workshops are expected to attract 300 attendees from around the country. Participants will include CEOs, prominent venture capitalists, aspiring entrepreneurs, distinguished thought leaders, and business and law school students.