Small business owners can gain new knowledge to aid their business growth in treacherous economic times.

The Southern Ohio Procurement Outreach Center is co-sponsoring a small business growth conference Sept. 15 at Shawnee State University.

“We have 30 people registered right now, but Labor Day just ended. We accept around 100,” Jordan Lucas, Southern Ohio Procurement Outreach Center program director, said.

Registration is available at http://sopoc.eccenterdirect.com/. The fee is $10 per attendee. Shawnee State students can get in for free with a university ID.

Lucas said no cutoff date is being set and owners can walk in the same day.

Some of the speakers at the event include the banking industry representative successful small businesses owners, both locally and around the state, and representatives from Ohio’s program GrowNow, a partnership with Ohio’s state banks to increase job growth around the state.

Information is the main component in this event.

“The knowledge these professionals can provide. There are a lot of free resources available to [owners]. They don’t have to pay a million dollars for (resources),” Lucas said.

Creative thinking is a trend in order for businesses to survive in this current climate. Lucas said. Business owners need to think “out of the box”, he said.

“The economy is driven by small businesses,” Lucas said. “These small businesses being able to provide jobs is vital to our economy.”