Law firm Rational Unicorn plans to bring back a small business summit to replace a similar event that disappeared as a networking event for local entrepreneurs.
Rational Unicorn's owner and principal attorney, Michael Jonas, said he started the Better at Business Together Summit after the Oregon Small Business Fair stopped holding annual summits a few years ago.
“We saw a need for an event like this but knew it had to be built back up in a different, exciting way,” said Jonas, who is running as a Democrat for Oregon’s Third Congressional District, in a press release.
The event will take place April 26-28, and start with a kick-off happy hour at the Midtown Beer Garden, a downtown food cart pod that was relaunched last year by software company Expensify and restaurant group ChefStable. The rest of the summit’s events will take place at The Factor Building in inner Southeast Portland.
The Better at Business Together Summit will include events on topics such as boosting SEO and web presence, small business funding opportunities and how to build a values-based business. It will also have live music from local musicians Rainezra and Amber Russell and Tamale Boy’s food cart. The summit will also include several speakers, including artist Mike Bennett, Jaime Soltero of Tamale Boy, Elsy Dinvil of Creole Me Up and Sarah Shaoul of Bricks Need Mortar and Small Shops, Big Hearts.
Local business groups like Bricks Need Mortar, Oregon Entrepreneurial Network and Business for a Better Portland have been rallying support around small businesses in recent months. Business for a Better Portland also hosts educational sessions to help members understand new tools or business strategies, and OEN plans to relaunch its business essentials program this year in its new offices downtown.
Rational Unicorn and Jonas specialize in working with BIPOC, woman and LGBTQIA+ owners and founders and partners with culturally specific business assistance groups. Jonas also was awarded Oregon’s 2023 Small Business Champion of the Year and is a Portland Business Journal 40 Under 40 recipient.
Individual tickets to the Better at Business Together Summit are $100, with a “pay it forward” option available for $200 to purchase an individual ticket plus an additional ticket for a business owner in the community to attend.
