Melissa Saavedra, director of GOED's Office of Entrepreneurship, joins "Diversify Nevada" to discuss how entrepreneurs are part of the fabric of economic development.
It's FREE to attend the many events during Reno Startup Week, which runs from Sept. 29-Oct. 3. View the full schedule and register here:
If you're a small business owner or entrepreneur, you can also find actionable resources for funding, business plans and much more at:
You can learn more about the Office of Entrepreneurship at:
Speaker 1 (00:00)
Welcome. You're listening to Diversify Nevada, a podcast produced by the Governor's Office of Economic Development. Diversify Nevada provides insightful discussions and expert analysis on the driving forces behind our state's economic, workforce, and community development. I'm Tom Burns, the Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development.
Speaker 3 (00:21)
We're your host, Evan Haddad.
Speaker 2 (00:22)
and Carli Smith. Today's guest is Melissa Saavedra, the director of GOED's Office of Entrepreneurship. Before joining GOED, Melissa was deputy director of the Nevada Lieutenant Governor's Office of Small Business Advocacy. During her three-year tenure, Melissa served as the primary point of contact for Northern Nevada's small business community, helping hundreds of small businesses navigate challenges related to licensing requirements and regulations.
Melissa has over a decade of experience in publishing and media. She was the associate publisher and senior business development manager for the Northern Nevada Business Weekly. She led Nevada's only business to business newspaper while building strong partnerships with regional organizations and agencies. She is a long time advocate of Nevada's small business community and we're excited to talk with her today about the role of entrepreneurship in a diversified economy. Melissa, welcome to our show.
Speaker 1 (01:14)
Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be with you both, Carli and Evan.
Speaker 3 (01:18)
We're so happy to have you. So tell us a little bit more about yourself and kind of how you got here. I know you're from Nevada, but that's about all I know about you.
Speaker 1 (01:27)
Yeah, no, I was born and raised, you know, my family came to Carson City from Los Angeles. My father's business relocated to the area. And at that time I was born in Washoe County Medical. And I always joke around that I was raised in Dayton, but grew up in Carson City. So, you know, I'm still kind of rural.
Speaker 2 (01:53)
City girls.
Speaker 1 (01:56)
And fun fact is I actually went to high school with Carli. So good old Carson city senators here. And from Carson, I actually went to the University of Nevada, Reno, and there I studied international business and marketing. And I think that's where I kind of made that pivot to the Northern Nevada Business Weekly, where I was there for 11 years. And so I had opportunities to move out of the area.
But the older you get, the more you realize how great of a community this is. You you're surrounded by mountains. You have the great outdoors. You have Lake Tahoe. have, and then, you know, of course my family's here. And I had, you know, the wonderful opportunity of meeting the father of my children. And now we have two incredible children. Yeah. So I love Nevada. I look forward to raising my children here.
And I look forward to continuing to grow on my efforts of making our community a better place for not just for my family, but for also our entrepreneurs.
Speaker 3 (03:02)
Awesome. What kind of business did your father have?
Speaker 1 (03:05)
A manufacturing business, actually.
Speaker 3 (03:07)
That's one of our target industries.
Speaker 1 (03:11)
Actually, he's just retired from a company, actually, where they make unique pieces for airplanes, specifically Boeing airplanes. Good job. You know, with that, my mom, Claudia Saavedra, she has been such a pioneer for Northern Nevada. She started the Alternative Sentencing Department many years ago here in Carson City.
And she just made sure that there was better opportunities for sometimes our offenders that just couldn't afford to pay their fine. Even though she was in leading the alternative sentencing department, I did learn a lot of my entrepreneurial mindset from her. You know, she grew up in Nicaragua, learning from a very matriarch family who were all business owners.
She has made sure that she has given us the opportunities for my sisters and I to grow. You my sister is an engineer with the Nevada Department of Transportation. Her twin, she's a social worker at the local Ron Wood Family Resource Center, which they do help aged out foster youth.
Speaker 3 (04:23)
Wow, what a successful family you have, especially all those amazing women. the apple does not fall far from the tree. So how did you go from publishing in media to small business? That's a massive pivot.
Speaker 1 (04:29)
Absolutely not.
Well, it may sound like a big pivot, but for me, the connection was pretty natural, actually. know, as leading the Northern Nevada Business Weekly, my role was all about telling stories of our business community and highlighting their successes, challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs. And so over time, I realized I wanted to be directly involved with our business community. And in what ways can I kind of pivot to more of their success?
And so that's what led me to the Office of Small Business Advocacy, which was a newly created office under the Nevada Lieutenant Governor. I took the skills and the relationships that I had built over time and connecting people and applied them in a way that I could make a more tangible difference. Instead of just sharing stories and selling ads and subscriptions, which, you know, the month to month goals, I now work to create those policies, resources and connections that support the stories in real time.
I'm now storytelling to our lawmakers and building new systems that would make it better for our business ⁓ ecosystems and communities. ⁓
Speaker 2 (05:39)
Yeah, the Office of Entrepreneurship was launched a couple years ago following the 2023 legislative session. Why was it created and why was it something Nevada needed?
Speaker 1 (05:49)
Yeah, absolutely. As part of GOAD's Innovation-Based Economic Development Initiative, also known as IBED, the Office of Entrepreneurship serves more as a central platform to highlight and support new and small business activities that drive statewide economic growth. So this office was created in the last legislative session in 2023 under AB 77.
And the office was created to strengthen policies, programs that support entrepreneurs, and to identify and address regional challenges facing our business owners. We also work with our stakeholders and organizations that support entrepreneurship to enhance skills, provide technical support, and expand resources for entrepreneurs. So by expanding those opportunities and reducing the barriers to our small business owners, we work to ensure that all Nevadans have the right to start and grow their businesses.
Speaker 2 (06:46)
And you have your work cut out for you. There is a lot of challenges and things that we're finding that really need some attention.
Speaker 1 (06:52)
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:53)
So you joined GOED earlier this year as the new Office of Entrepreneurship Director. So talk about your previous experiences and how that's shaped your vision for what you want this office to be and sort of your perspective, which is obviously really unique coming from your advocacy background.
Speaker 1 (07:10)
Absolutely. Yeah, my experiences as the deputy director of the Nevada Lieutenant Governor's Office of Small Business Advocacy has been instrumental in shaping my vision for the Office of Entrepreneurship. So the OSBA, I work directly with hundreds of small businesses throughout our state, know, helping them navigate licensing, funding and regulatory hurdles. So coming to that frontline perspective showed me that both the incredible resilience that our small business owners have and the real barriers that hold them back. So now with the Office of Entrepreneurship, my vision is to build on that foundation and create not only an advocate, but also a hub of resources, policy support, and an ecosystem collaboration. So the goal is to take what I've learned from the OSBA about access, equity, and the importance of cutting that red tape and expand it into a broader statewide strategy that fosters innovation, supports startups and small businesses, and drives that long-term economic growth for Nevada.
Speaker 3 (08:15)
I'm just kind of curious, how did you figure out what the red tape and all the licensing was like from your previous role, right? How did you get into the nitty gritty of like policy and how long did it take to understand that?
Speaker 1 (08:26)
So more specifically for the OSBA, we did a lot of that grass root work with our small business owners. So when we speak with them, we do a little bit of what we call a customer needs analysis or a CNA. We dive deep as to what those barriers are, asking the questions of the challenges and successes. I like to hear what works as well. ⁓ And we get that feedback so that we can communicate to our lawmakers what those challenges are, but we also would host these economic forums throughout the state where we invited our community to, again, speak on the challenges and successes directly to our lawmakers. So we would invite the lieutenant governor, we would invite the secretary of state, we would invite the legislators and local government to hear what those are.
Speaker 2 (09:17)
Yeah, some of the game players. ⁓
Speaker 1 (09:19)
And then we also saw that within the community, the audience members were finding, who do I need to speak with in regards to writing a business plan or marketing or language access? And my response is you're sitting directly next to the person that is able to help you. So then we would in turn turn that into a forum for our stakeholders and partners to stand up and speak just a quick two minutes on what the services and products that they provide, and it would turn into a collaborative effort, even with our lawmakers learning about some of those free resources that are available to our local business community, as well as going back to the regulatory barriers that exist. There is collaboration that exists and brainstorming for our next legislative session as to what can we do to try to fix some of these archaic laws that exist?
Speaker 3 (10:19)
So it sounds like it's really top of mind, like these are high priorities to address, like reducing some of that friction for business owners. That's something that's prevalent, is that what you're saying?
Speaker 1 (10:29)
Yes, we want our businesses to thrive. You we always lead with the opportunities for all Nevadans to start and grow their business. So what do we need to do to make sure that that is happening?
Speaker 2 (10:41)
Small businesses the backbone of our economy. So we have to make sure we're nurturing that relationship with them. And I think a lot of what you just said kind of leads into my next question about the challenges. So what are some of the challenges that you're hearing from entrepreneurs? And what are some of the solutions and things that we're doing as the Office of Entrepreneurship to kind of address those?
Speaker 1 (11:02)
So one of the biggest things that I consistently hear from entrepreneurs is that navigating the system can feel a little overwhelming, whether it's licensing, accessing capital, and not knowing where to start. So many small businesses feel that also resources exist, but they're scattered and they're difficult to find, and are they free? And then also the challenge that we hear is funding. Everybody wants more money. So it's not just access to capital too, but it's also understanding which programs are right for them.
qualify for those programs. So the Office of Entrepreneurship is designed to help address some of these concerns. So through the Nevada Business Hub, in collaboration with EDAWN, Nevada Small Business Development Center, and Business and Industry, we have created that one-stop platform where entrepreneurs can find resources, events, and partners all in one location. And then to work to reduce barriers, we have collaborated with agencies, partners to simplify processes to make support more accessible to our entrepreneurs. And then lastly, we also have our SSBCI program, which is the Battle Born Growth Escalator, which is improving access to capital for our Nevada small businesses and startups by unlocking private loans and investments, as well as providing technical assistance to help them grow.
So we have from micro business loans to venture capital to collateral support. There's an option for everybody.
Speaker 2 (12:31)
And that website is NVSmallBiz.org if you guys are interested.
Speaker 3 (12:35)
I actually love that website. like whenever we get like inquiries for a general inbox, a lot of people are just need some basic information about funding, business plans, just like seeing what's out there. That's always the website that I direct them to. It's a great one stop shop, just getting your bearings like exactly like there's so much and it's just a cool website. for sure. So from your perspective, what makes Nevada a great place to be an entrepreneur? Like why is this?
Speaker 1 (12:53)
Thank you, Evan.
Speaker 3 (13:02)
a home to so many entrepreneurs as it is. mean, even from casinos, I think we forget that those are real entrepreneurs back in the day. Like the guy who started the pepper mill, you know, he was in Reno in the seventies, like he had a cafe and that I think he had some bingo parlors, you know, so it was like a small business, but it became a massive thing. But Nevada has been a hub for that for a really long time.
Speaker 1 (13:24)
Right, now I hear you, know, home means Nevada. You know, Nevada is a great place for entrepreneurs because of its spirit of innovation. You throughout the years, I think we're finding different ways to innovate and our resiliency. So we're a state that's always embracing big ideas, bold risk takers from, like you mentioned, gaming, technology, renewable energy to logistics. So entrepreneurs benefit from that business friendly environment to no state.
income tax and the fact that Nevada is still small enough to be connected, but big enough to create some real big impact. know, Reno is the biggest little city in the world. it's interesting what we're doing in our big little state. What I've witnessed is that Nevada also has a very collaborative ecosystem and people genuinely want to see others succeed.
Speaker 2 (14:00)
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:19)
From the small business owner to other ecosystem collaborators or support organizations from our universities, research institutions, local chambers, investors. We all want to work together and support entrepreneurs at every stage from coming up with the idea concept to maybe selling it to the next big market. ⁓
And then we just have a very unique and diverse population and geography that makes it a very powerful test bed for innovation. So whether it's in Northern Nevada, Southern Nevada, or even in our rural communities, there's just an opportunity to grow, scale, and contribute to our Nevada economy.
Speaker 2 (15:05)
Great answer. So, Reno Startup Week is coming up at the end of September. It looks like it's going to be September 29th through October 3rd. Yes, it We'll be sure to put the registration link on our website and with the show notes. But give us some highlights about why you're excited about it, what's going to be there, why people should go. It's a completely free event too, so it's...
Speaker 1 (15:26)
All you have to do is register. It's a free event to anybody who's registered. yes, we're super excited. We're going to have over 60 sessions with over 120 speakers. And we've now relocated to the Reno Experience District. It's going to be a lot of fun, a lot of great networking opportunities. Everything is free. So just go ahead and register. Everything that you need to learn to start, grow, scale your business, you're going to find that information there.
So this is, you know, in collaboration with EDAWN and GOED and Nevada Small Business Development Center, as well as community partners, as well as sponsors in order to put this week long event. And we're very excited to have even these evening events happening. Monday night, we're going to be at the rooftop of Red, or one of the locations at Red, to kick off the week.
At the Atwood actually. And it's such a beautiful space up there. You know, have your pool, you're gonna have great food, but then also we're going to be launching the Nevada Business Hub. And it's gonna be a great announcement to talk about what the Nevada Business Hub is about to our entrepreneurs and small business owners. Tuesday evening, we're going to move the location to Reno Public Market with a comida and community celebration.
And there we're going to have a specific small business resource fair for our Latino entrepreneurs so they could find their information in Spanish. So we're very excited on top of the food, the drink, the dancing, the singing, you name it, it's gonna be a night of jam-packed celebration. And know, Wednesday we're going to have a Startup World Cup pitch competition.
Speaker 2 (17:16)
I love that one. That one's actually a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (17:18)
What?
Speaker 1 (17:19)
It is a mini Shark Tank and it's super exciting. That's gonna take place at Whitney Peak Hotel. Thursday we're gonna do this crossover collab with Offbeat Music Festival and it's gonna take place at Lake Tahoe Ale Works. Super excited about that. And then on Friday, we actually have as a keynote speaker the founder of Uggs. Awesome. Yeah, so we're super excited.
Speaker 2 (17:40)
Yeah, that'll be all.
Speaker 1 (17:43)
We can't wait to see all of you there. And if you guys have any questions, feel free to reach out or go onto our website at renostartupweek.com.
Speaker 2 (17:51)
Yeah, you know, I will say that one of the best things about Reno Startup Week we went last year is the different places you get to kind of experience in your own hometown that you normally wouldn't go to or you haven't been to yet. They kind of have a little bit of everything placed around Reno, which is really fun.
Speaker 1 (18:06)
Absolutely. There's going to be just so many activities. There's live art happening at the same time. There's going to be different food trucks, coffee. I mean, there's going to actually be another Small Business Resource Fair happening on Thursday. So it's a jam-packed schedule. Go onto the website, look at everything, sign up for everything, and we look forward to seeing you there.
Speaker 3 (18:26)
Awesome. I love free events.They're my favorite kind.
Speaker 2 (18:31)
Coffee and food trucks, how can you say no? Global Entrepreneurship Week is coming up in November, so another great event that's happening. How is our office involved and what makes this such an exciting event to attend?
Speaker 1 (18:44)
Yeah, absolutely. It's actually the world's largest celebration for innovators and job creators who launch startups. And it brings the ideas to life and as well as drives the economic development. we're excited to have various partners throughout the state. So it's a week long event where there will be events happening throughout the state that week, including our rural communities. So even on that Monday,
We will be partnering with an event or with an organization in White Pine County with the White Pine County Chamber of Commerce. So we're very excited. And it's here just to support entrepreneurship. It's very similar to Reno Startup Week, but make it think of it as a global statewide initiative.
Speaker 3 (19:29)
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (19:30)
Fantastic, we'll be there.
Speaker 3 (19:32)
Last question, why do care about economic development?
Speaker 1 (19:36)
Great question. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:38)
Yeah, lifelong Nevadans.
Speaker 1 (19:41)
You know, we do have a pretty strong and powerful ecosystem and we're a very innovative community that, you know, we continue to be an ideal place for entrepreneurs to start and grow. And so if we focus more on this innovation based economic development, we can really leverage new ideas, technology and entrepreneurial activity to diversify Nevada's economy and make it more resilient to everything that's happening nationwide.
Speaker 2 (20:13)
Love it.
Speaker 3 (20:14)
Awesome. Well, Melissa, thanks so much for your time. Yeah, thanks.
Speaker 2 (20:17)
Great talk.
Speaker 1 (20:18)
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (20:23)
Thank you for having us also.
Speaker 2 (20:25)
And that's all for this episode of Diversify Nevada. This podcast was created by the Governor's Office of Economic Development with the help of our sound editor, Michelle Rubble-Eddy. If you'd to learn more about our agency, can visit our website at goed.nv.gov. And if you'd like to share feedback about the show or suggest a topic you'd us to cover, send us an email to goed at goed.nv.gov. Thanks for joining us and we'll be back soon.