SBA and Visa Kick Off National Small Business Week with Hackathon in Washington, D.C. May 3-5

WASHINGTON, April 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Small Business Administration and Visa will host a National Small Business Week Hackathon at the Inclusive Innovation Incubator in Washington, D.C. May 3-5.

App developers, business owners and idea generators will face the challenge of mashing up application programming interfaces (APIs) from the federal government, the Visa Developer Platform and business continuity planners to help small businesses recover from natural disasters. 

Participants will be asked to consider how small businesses can restore their revenue streams, finance short and long-term recovery, establish a robust supply chain, deal with power disruptions and keep their employees on the payroll in the aftermath of a major disaster.  Points are awarded for creativity and originality.

The winning entries will be announced May 5 by SBA Acting Administrator Chris Pilkerton and Visa Senior Vice President for Global Small Business David Simon.  A $25,000 prize will be awarded to the first-place winner.  The second-place prize is $15,000, and the third-place winner will receive $10,000.   In addition, awards of $5,000 each will be given to the Visa API challenge winner and the Authorize.net API challenge winner.

For more information and the full hackathon schedule, visit https://smallbizweek.hackathon.com
Media are invited to attend all events but must register by emailing Claudia Lombana at [email protected].

Hackathon begins on Friday, May 3

WHAT: National Small Business Week Hackathon Kickoff Session

WHEN: 7 p.m. EDT

WHERE: Inclusive Innovation Incubator, Howard University, 2301 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20001.

WHO: SBA Chief Information Officer Maria Roat and Visa Vice President for Global Small Business Nate Smith will welcome participants.

HOW: Press may register for this event by emailing Claudia Lombana at [email protected].

Conclusion and Awards on Sunday, May 5

WHAT: National Small Business Week Hackathon Demos and Announcement of Winners

WHEN:  9:45 a.m. – Code Freeze    10 a.m. – Final Demos    1 p.m. – Announcement of winners

WHERE:  Inclusive Innovation Incubator, Howard University, 2301 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20001.

WHO: The SBA will announce the winning entries at 1 p.m.  SBA Acting Administrator Chris Pilkerton and Visa Senior Vice President for Global Small Business David Simon will hand out the awards.  

Judges for the hackathon include SBA Chief Information Officer Maria Roat, Visa Vice President for Global Small Business Nate Smith, Technical.ly DC Market Editor Michelai Graham, and Janice Jucker, President of Three Brothers Bakery, a Houston small business that recovered in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.  

HOW: Press may register for this event by emailing Claudia Lombana at [email protected].

For more information about National Small Business Week visit: www.sba.gov/nsbw

About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration makes the American dream of business ownership a reality. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

About Visa Inc.
Visa Inc. is a global payments technology company with a mission to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company's focus on innovation helps support the rapid growth of connected commerce and is a driving force behind Visa's vision to be the best way to pay and be paid for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to help reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa, visa.com/blog and @VisaNews.

Cosponsorship Authorization # SBW2019. SBA's participation in this cosponsored activity is not an endorsement of the views, opinions, products or services of any cosponsor or other person or entity. 

Contact: [email protected] 
                CLombana @visa.com
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Blogs & Instagram
Release Number: MA19-02

SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration

Related Links

http://www.sba.gov