Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. Announces the Access to Capital Conference for Small Businesses

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- With the economy still struggling, research shows that small businesses continue to find it difficult to tap into sources of capital to fund growth.  In order to help businesses secure the education and access they need for business financing, Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., the leading provider of credit building and credibility solutions for businesses, today announced it will host on Thursday, October 18, 2012, the "Access to Capital: Money to Mainstreet" event for small businesses.  This event, which will be held at the Westin Bonaventure in downtown Los Angeles from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, is designed to help qualify businesses for credit and match them with a variety of lenders, including alternative and non-traditional crowdfunding sources.  In addition, there will be a number of highly relevant moderated panel discussions featuring industry experts across a broad range of topics related to accessing capital.

"According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, with over 99% of American businesses classified as small businesses, getting this important sector access to capital is crucial to growing the economy and cutting into the nation's unemployment rate," said Jeff Stibel, Chairman and CEO of Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. "We're taking the first step in leading American small businesses back to prosperity by hosting this conference in our own hometown. We aim to help educate small businesses on the wide array of lending options and grant them access to lenders ready to provide capital."

Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., with the support of title sponsor Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), will provide over 400 small business attendees with a full day of panels of leading lenders, investors, small business experts and successful entrepreneurs. All of these partners are dedicated to helping small businesses successfully identify the right capital for their needs.  Small business owners can register to attend, indicate interest in meeting with lenders, and receive additional information on speakers and sponsors at http://accesstocapital-la.eventbrite.com/.

"Wells Fargo is proud to participate and serve as the title sponsor for the Access to Capital Conference," said Bryan Moeller, Wells Fargo's Small Business Banking Director for Greater Los Angeles and Orange County. "Our team is consistently working to empower small businesses with information and workshops designed to help them succeed financially and we are committed to providing access to capital. As the #1 small business lender in the U.S., our representatives look forward to leading some of the educational sessions and having meaningful conversations with business owners about what we can all do to support and improve our local economy because a strong community starts with a strong economy."

The Access to Capital event will feature a town square setting where small business owners can meet one-on-one with various advisors. For example, the "Financial District" will feature representatives from lenders, and "Startup Alley" will offer experts from organizations dedicated to helping start-up firms raise capital. Attendees can also access a free copy of their company's D&B business credit report, a set of D&B scores and ratings which may factor into a lender's credit decision.

According to data collected by the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project and Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., 55% of businesses making less than $5 million annually reported that today's business financing environment is restricting their ability to hire new employees. This study suggests that access to capital is crucial for decreasing unemployment and strengthening our economy. For more information, please visit here.

About Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp.

Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. is the leading provider of credit building and credibility solutions for businesses. We help businesses establish their credit with a D&B DUNS® Number, a unique nine-digit identification sequence used by the world's most influential standards-setting organizations and recognized, recommended and often required by global corporations, governments, industry and trade associations.

Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. provides the only real business credit monitoring solution available to companies looking to monitor and impact their own business credit profile. Its leading credit monitoring products are used by tens of thousands of companies interested in protecting their business reputation. The company additionally offers D&B solutions to protect their business risk by tracking the credit and creditworthiness of the companies with which they do business.  Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA with offices throughout North America.  For more information, please visit www.DandB.com. 

Contact: Liz Gengl
Dun and Bradstreet Credibility Corp.
Tel: 310.919.2266
E: [email protected]
James Lee
The Lee Strategy Group, Inc.
Tel: 424.229.2753
E: [email protected]

SOURCE Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp.