Blaine House site of small-business conference

AUGUSTA – Author and entrepreneur Jim Wilfong of Stow will be the keynote speaker at the fifth annual Blaine House Conference and Resource Fair for Small Business on Wednesday, April 25, at the Augusta Civic Center.

“Wilfong will provide anecdotes from his worldwide experience in helping businesses grow through innovation in the ‘now’ economy guided by 11 principles of business success,” according to Steven Levesque, commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development. Levesque added, “You will not want to miss a single point of the top 11 points from Jim.”

Among the guiding principles Wilfong promotes is: “Commit to Thinking Globally, Acting Locally and Don’t Forget to Invest in Information Technology.” To underscore his principle, Wilfong talks about a cabdriver he met in Burlington, Vt. This cabbie took a tired old business and turned it into an international business success. How? He realized that the world of technology was changing and that many highly technical people were traveling from Burlington to Montreal and Boston. He incorporated global technology and retrofitted his cab with the latest Web, fax, e-mail and calling services into his cab. By thinking globally and acting locally, he created a successful cab business.

For more information, contact: Maine Development Foundation at 626-3116 or Great Gatherings, conference coordinator, at 622-5330.

The Plus One Pinning Ceremony with Gov. Angus A. King will be held at 4 p.m., as the governor and commissioner celebrate small-business owners who have added jobs this past year and the Small Business Administration awards banquet at 6 p.m.