Author: nvgrow

Come and enjoy light hors d’oeuvres, witness the ribbon-cutting ceremony, explore our NV Grow Small Business Expo, and be a part of a significant announcement regarding the $3 Million MBDA Capital Readiness Program Award.

A group of refugees escaping the war between Russia and Ukraine arrived in Las Vegas to receive a life changing training for one week hosted by the local refugee resettlement non-profit and NV Grow client, Land to Land. The refugees, who have been consistently traveling from country to country as they find settlement, are from different parts of Russia and are all in search of one thing: to find a new home as they flee from their home country that is still at war with their neighbors. Currently there are more than 8 million Ukranians and Russians escaping their countries due to the war according to UNHCR and a group of them landed in Las Vegas with hopes for a change.

Settling into a new country and a new culture is not easy, so the non-profit Land to Land, who has also been providing them guidance and resources throughout their journey, held a training for them in Vegas with the goal to help them adapt and become great community members. The training included teaching them American customer service, mannerisms, language skills and more. Through various days of training, the refugees had the opportunity to put their skills to test as they worked in floral design and event production with the floral architect studio and NV Grow client, Mylofleur.

With the goal to help spread awareness of the impact Land to Land and Mylofleur are providing, NV Grow assisted both businesses with public relations. Through this effort, NV Grow was able to get various local news stations to cover the story, including this one aired by Channel 8, showcasing the great work to thousands of people in the city and expanding reach on both businesses. While the refugees continue the process of getting a work permit soon, Land to Land and Mylofleur will continue to provide aid as much as possible and NV Grow looks forward to helping both businesses continue the cause.

 

The Capital Connections Access To Capital event is aimed at connecting small business owners with investors, lenders, business counselors, and resources. This event will include a panel on available resources for small businesses, and three breakout sessions on traditional & non-traditional lending, creditworthiness, crowdfunding, and angel & equity investments. There will also be a networking portion where small business owners can meet one-on-one with accountants, bankers, business counselors, and other business professionals to make initial connections that may lead to funding.

To register for this event, please visit the link here.

 

The microloan program provides simple and affordable loans, up to $250k, to small businesses across Nevada. Applicants will be matched with lenders who meet their needs and who are able to serve their small businesses. Additionally, a dedicated Technical Assistance Program provided in partnership with the Nevada Small Business Development Center (SBDC) will be available to assist with credit counseling, financial statements, general business guidance, and many other requested services.

While scammers work hard during tax season to try to steal money, personal information and data, they also stay busy the rest of the year. Taxpayers and tax professionals should remain alert and aware of these common scams, schemes and cons to avoid losing money, personal information or client data.

Social media: Fraudulent form filing and bad advice
Social media can circulate inaccurate or misleading tax information, and the IRS has recently seen schemes that encourage people to submit false, inaccurate information in hopes of getting a refund or taking advantage of a credit, such as the Employee Retention Credit. Taxpayers should always remember that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Online Account help from third-party scammers
Swindlers pose as a “helpful” third party and offer to help create a taxpayer’s IRS Online Account at IRS.gov. The scammers making these offers are trying to steal a taxpayer’s personal information. Taxpayers should access their account directly through IRS.gov.

Phishing and spearphishing
Taxpayers and tax professionals should be alert to fake communications posing as legitimate organizations in the tax and financial community, including the IRS and the states. These messages arrive in the form of an unsolicited text or email to lure victims into providing valuable personal and financial information that can lead to identity theft.

Spearphishing is a tailored phishing attempt targeting a specific organization or business. Tax professionals need to be very careful about spearphishing because of the risk of a data breach. A successful spearphishing attack can ultimately steal client data and the tax preparer’s identity, allowing the thief to file fraudulent returns.

Unscrupulous tax return preparers
Most tax preparers provide outstanding and professional service. However, people should be careful of shady tax professionals and watch for common warning signs, including charging a fee based on the size of the refund. A major red flag or bad sign is when the tax preparer is unwilling to sign the dotted line. Avoid these “ghost” preparers, who will prepare a tax return but refuse to sign or include their IRS Preparer Tax Identification Number as required by law. Taxpayers should never sign a blank or incomplete return.

Offer in compromise mills
Offers in compromise are an important program to help people who can’t pay to settle their federal tax debts. But “offer in compromise mills” can aggressively promote offers in compromise in misleading ways to people who clearly don’t meet the qualifications, often costing taxpayers thousands of dollars. A taxpayer can check their eligibility for free using the IRS Offer in Compromise Pre-Qualifier tool.

Have you ever taken the time to notice that 95% of all bread you eat in Vegas has preservatives? It’s true. Most have processed sugar, bleached flour and aren’t all made fresh
daily.

LV Baking Company is one of the few bakeries in the entire Vegas Valley that proves this statement wrong. They offer bread with no preservatives, no bleached flour and is baked fresh
on site everyday. For more than 15 years, they have been baking fresh, natural bread in the heart of ChinaTown, not only providing warm pastries, but also incredible traditional and custom
cakes, award winning chocolates (they won best chocolatier 3 years in a row) and more. With a retail store that allows residents to taste their offerings straight out of the oven, and a wholesale branch that provides their baked goods to casinos on the Vegas Strip including MGM Grand, Aria, Mandalay Bay, Mirage, The Venetian and the Wynn, more people are getting a feel of what real fresh bread tastes like.

 

Originally known as “L’elysee Bakery,” Chef Cory Baker bought the bakery in 2019, renaming the bakery “Las Vegas Baking Company” and never imagining what was to come when a global
pandemic hit shortly after. Their savory and valuable offerings to Vegas residents helped them stay afloat during the pandemic and after 3 years, they are now finally entering the era of growth as more people venture out for quality goods.

NV Grow forms part of their growth by serving as Clark County Technical and Economic Assistance Program (TEAP) subject matter experts providing paid-for consultants and a financial advisor that will not only help them reach a new level of success but also help more Vegas residents find this gem of a bakery that leaves you never going back to old, processed bread.

Located at 3431 S. Jones Blvd #110, Las Vegas, Nevada 89146, Las Vegas Baking Company and their fresh bread and chocolates are really worth the drive.

GOED launches Venture Capital Program strengthening capital access for local startups

CARSON CITY, Nev. – Nevada is seeking to attract additional venture and seed capital from institutional investors, such as Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), to invest alongside Battle Born Growth Venture’s deals. This new Venture Capital Program is now operating under the federal State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) program and overseen by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED).

“The SSBCI Program provides Nevada with the opportunity to attract substantially more local and out-of-state investment capital that will strengthen our startup businesses and Nevada startup founders are highly encouraged to apply,” said Governor Joe Lombardo.

Battle Born Growth Venture utilizes a unique application process which will result in a higher-level investment in minority entrepreneurs than with standard Venture Capital.

“We are taking advantage of data captured over the past decade to inform this process” said Nicola Kerslake who founded Newbean Capital, a female owned Reno-based registered investment advisor that has performed the role as the SSBCI program’s investment manager since inception of the predecessor program in 2014. “Our current investment portfolio shows that half of funds have gone to minority or women-led startups, so the process is working, and we are particularly seeking applications from startups of traditionally disadvantaged and underserved communities.”

As with all other SSBCI programs, the Battle Born Growth Venture also requires private sector co-investments.

“We strongly encourage any institutional seed and venture capital fund to reach out to us to explore co-investment options,” said Karsten Heise Senior Director of Strategic Programs and Innovation at the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development. “One major objective of this program is to put Nevada startups on the map and spur investment fund interests from out-of-state thereby attracting vital seed and venture capital to Nevada to strengthen our local startup ecosystems. Key to the success of this program will be getting capital to Nevada startups from nationally operating institutional seed- and venture capital funds.”

Last October, Nevada’s SSBCI Program application was approved for up to $112.9 million and Nevada has received its initial tranche. GOED acts as program manager and oversees a total of five component programs. Initially, Battle Born Growth Venture has been allocated a total of $36 million.

Unlike traditional venture capital funds, any Nevada startup can apply through the program’s website at battlebornventure.com. Interested applicants are further encouraged to confirm that they will meet the program’s criteria by visiting battlebornventure.com/are-we-a-fit.

One additional feature of the venture capital program’s structure is the partnership with two Nevada accelerators for deal-flow generation. Battle Born Growth Venture co-invests in cohort startups of nationally ranked gener8tor and local Nevada StartUpNV. So far, the program has co-invested with gener8tor in cohort companies Loop Software, Vistro, GrantCycle (formerly Atlas Solutions), Clotheslyne, Prosper and Sage Medical as well as with StartUpNV’s SeeID, Let’s Rolo, Revonate, and Terbine.

“The first gener8tor cohort last fall has proven to be a big success,” said Jared Byer, Managing Director of gener8tor’s Reno-Tahoe accelerator. “Two of our companies reached their fundraising goals within a couple of months after the program ended and a third should be finalized by April. The funds will be used to scale their businesses operations in Nevada, hire additional staff and open more locations in the state.”

The upcoming cohort programs will take place this fall in both Reno and Las Vegas, and any startup company is encouraged to apply. Reno is currently accepting applications via its website www.gener8tor.com/investment-accelerators/reno-tahoe.

“StartUpNV saw great potential with these four companies, so we were excited to support them with co-investing alongside SSBCI, a program that no doubt will significantly enhance our state’s ability to grow our startup ecosystem and enable entrepreneurs to achieve their goals,” said Jeff Saling, executive director of StartUpNV.

StartUpNV is operating an ongoing non-cohort-based accelerator via its website https://startupnv.org/.

About the Governor’s Office of Economic Development

Created during the 2011 session of the Nevada Legislature, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development is the result of a collaborative effort between the Nevada Legislature and the Governor’s Office to restructure economic development in the state. GOED’s role is to promote a robust, diversified and prosperous economy in Nevada, to stimulate business expansion and retention, encourage entrepreneurial enterprise, attract new businesses and facilitate community development.

About the State Small Business Credit Initiative

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed The American Rescue Plan Act, which reauthorized and funded the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). The new version of the SSBCI program provides a combined $10 billion to states, the District of Columbia, territories, and Tribal governments to empower small businesses to access capital needed to invest in job-creating opportunities as the country emerges from the pandemic. The funds will also support recipient jurisdictions in promoting American entrepreneurship and democratizing access to startup capital across the country, including in underserved communities. The Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) oversees the Nevada SSBCI Program. It is operated by Nevada Battle Born Growth Escalator, Inc. a corporation for public benefit and 501(c)(3) non-profit created by GOED in 2016.