Registration is still open for the Small Business Development Center’s (SBDC) 2011 Dream and Discover Entrepreneurs Conference, with all current and future small business owners, students and community members invited to attend.

The 2011 Dream and Discover conference will take place from 1 to 6 p.m., Thursday, May 5, in the Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook University Center, located on the College of the Canyons Valencia campus.

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Featuring a lineup of inspiring keynote speakers and interactive workshops, the Dream and Discover conference will provide tips for business owners and entrepreneurs alike, while informing attendees about the wide range of available SBDC services and programs, including the Young Entrepreneurs Program (YEP).

College of the Canyons Chancellor Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook will open the conference with a welcoming address, before introducing keynote speaker and serial entrepreneur Larry Twersky, former president of 1-800-DENTIST.

Twersky’s presentation will discuss how attendees can be more effective, not just more efficient, by simply feeling good about themselves and striving to do more with their lives.

“Mr. Twersky has more than 25 years of leadership experience and is an industry expert in customer relationship management and office automation,” said Steve Tannehill, SBDC Director. “More importantly, from his time at 1-800-DENTIST to his founding of 1-800-SLEEP-MED, he has continually worked to build a successful business model around a product or service that provides a social good.”

Throughout the conference SBDC business advisors will be on hand to lead a series of interactive workshops providing tips for business owners and current/future entrepreneurs alike.

Topics will include how to finance your business, the utilization of marketing tools and key success strategies for entrepreneurs, while also focusing on how the SBDC can help achieve those goals. The success strategies will also include key tactics for attendees involved in the SBDC’s Young Entrepreneur Program (YEP).

Targeting young people between the ages of 14 and 27, YEP offers free business counseling and business training programs to help guide and encourage young people to consider careers in self-employment and small business ownership.

This year’s conference will also serve as a venue to showcase some of the recent accomplishments of YEP students, during the annual Marketing and Business Plan Contest awards.

To conclude the conference, the SBDC will present a networking reception and trade fair designed to allow entrepreneurs to meet and mingle, and discuss business with potential “angel investors.”

“Obtaining the start-up capital to launch a small business can be problematic for many entrepreneurs,” said Nina Grooms-Lee, SBDC Senior Business Advisor and YEP program manager. “Having the opportunity to present your business venture to a group of angel investors could be the beginning of a profitable partnership.”

Key sponsors of the 2011 Young Entrepreneur Program and the Dream and Discover Entrepreneurs Conference include College of the Canyons, the California Community College’s Economic and Workforce Development program (EWD), the Business & Entrepreneurship Center at Cuesta College and AMS Fulfillment.

For more information about the 2011 Dream and Discover conference, please call (661) 362-5900 or visit www.cocsbdc.org. To register to attend this event, please visit http://tinyurl.com/3dubap6.