Business owners, entrepreneurs invited to hear state SBA director

The Churchill Economic Development Authority is inviting all business owners and entrepreneurs, along with CEDA members, to attend its monthly breakfast meeting Wednesday to meet the state’s new Small Business Administration’s district director.

Joseph Amato will discuss his plans for the state’s entrepreneurs and small businesses. Originally, his planned visit to Fallon earlier this year was postponed because of a short three-day government shutdown.

This month’s Churchill Economic Development Authority Business Council breakfast featuring Amato is Wednesday at 6:45 a.m. in the Stockman’s Steak House.

CEDA Executive Director Nate Strong said many small and large business owners and representatives from Naval Air Station Fallon and the Fallon Tribal Development Corporation may be interested in attending. He also welcomes anyone who may be thinking about starting a business.

Amato will then spend the rest of the morning talking to representatives from both Churchill County and the city. He will meet with county representatives at 8 a.m. directly after breakfast and with the City of Fallon at 9:45 a.m.

Strong said he heard Amato speak at an October event and was impressed with what the director offered.

“He was very successful in the business world, and this is his first foray into government,” Strong said.

A former executive and business leader with more than 30 years of experience in small business development and commercial lending, Amato started a small business which he later sold to a major financial institution. He was recognized as SBA Financial Services Advocate of the Year for his work assisting small businesses.

Amato oversees Nevada’s SBA services in Nevada, and his upcoming road trip is intended to visit as many communities in Northern Nevada. He will talk to business owners in Hawthorne on Monday and then in Minden on Tuesday before coming to Fallon.

“He has a fresh outlook,” Strong said. “He does not bring a history of a bureaucrat to the SBA.”