Every spring, the U.S. Small Business Administration hosts National Small Business Week—a time to celebrate everything that independent entrepreneurs do for our communities.

Here’s a quick roundup of resources to help you mark the occasion:

Small Business Week Celebration

The Women’s Business Center is teaming up with Mo-Kan Development and Northwest Missouri State University’s Small Business and Technology Development Center to host a mini-conference from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, May 7, at the Green Acres Building, 3500 N. Village Drive in St. Joseph.

There will be a luncheon saluting Alan Doan and Sarah Galbraith of the Missouri Star Quilt Co., who have been recognized as this year’s Missouri State Small Business Persons of the Year. Registration deadline is Tuesday. You can sign up here.

Doan and Galbraith, by the way, are in the running for the national Small Business Person of the Year Award, which will be announced on Friday. They were among a handful of finalists invited to the White House for a special ceremony.

31 Finds and Flavors

KCSourceLink is sponsoring 31 Finds and Flavors—a series of blog posts about 31 interesting local companies. Be sure to check out each one: All of the featured companies are offering a special “Deal of the May.”

Time to Think Bigger

Learn more about how the SBA can help you start and grow your company. We’ve got useful articles about the 8(a) Business Development Program, which helps disadvantaged businesses compete for federal contracts, and SBA’s network of resource organizations, which offer free and low-cost training and mentoring. And get the latest on some of the SBA’s newest initiatives here in Kansas City.