The Ames Small Business Resource Forum will be held from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Aug. 10 at the Memorial Union in the Gallery Room.

Local senators Herman Quirmbach, of Ames, and Rich Olive, of Story City, encourage local business owners to attend.

The seminar will include panel discussions on topics such as business resources, access to capital and local foods. The discussions are designed to bring federal and state agencies together to best serve small businesses in the Ames area.

Representatives from the Small Business Administration, USDA Rural Development, Iowa Foundation for MicroEnterprise, Farm Service Agency, Leopold Center, Small Business Development Center and Iowa Department of Economic Development will all be included on the panel.

“This is a great opportunity to learn about the support and resources available to small business owners,” Quirmbach said in a news release. “You can, for example, use Iowa’s Small Business Development Centers’ consulting services or the Save Our Small Business Fund’s low-interest loans to help grow your own small business.”

Olive said, “We’ve created these initiatives because Main Street businesses are the key to Iowa job creation and economic recovery. I see this event as sort of ‘one-stop-shop’ for small business leaders seeking to explore the new opportunities available to them.”

The senators encourage business owners to register online for the seminar at http://www.sba.gov/ia/desmo.