OCA-DC Prosperity Small Business Event

OCA-DC’s Prosperity Small Business Event runs Monday, September 29, 2026 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET at Clove & Cardamom, 6000 Merriweather Drive Suite B115 in Columbia, Maryland. The morning is free on the public Eventbrite path. Featured framing includes Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman plus TEDCO and other state resource partners on grants, loans, and subsidized support for Maryland entrepreneurs. Host copy sits in an Asian Americans in Business lane, so treat the room as corridor-specific small-business infrastructure rather than a generic chamber mixer. Confirm live RSVP inventory before you drive from DC or Baltimore. Two hours is short; arrive with your financing question already drafted.

OCA-DC is the Asian Pacific American Advocates chapter for the District and nearby Maryland corridors. Putting the morning in Columbia Merriweather keeps the geography on Howard County entrepreneurs who often miss Downtown DC breakfasts. Free tickets still clear Circuit when the host, comptroller billing, and TEDCO resource path are re-checkable: the compounding value is state capital and quasi-public financing introductions, not free coffee alone. Merriweather parking and Suite B115 door notes should be screenshot from Eventbrite before you leave. Bring a notebook for grant and loan program names you can re-check the same week.

This is right for Maryland AAPI small-business owners and aspiring founders who need grants, loans, or subsidized support maps. Skip it if you need a Tysons deal-room breakfast or a black-tie bar gala. Bring one concrete financing or growth question so conversations with TEDCO and state partners stay usable. Arrive closer to 10:00 if you want hallway time before program seats fill.

If you are choosing between this Columbia morning and ACG National Capital’s Parsons fireside later in October, stay here for Maryland small-business capital tools; use ACG for middle-market leadership networking in Tysons. RSVP on Eventbrite, keep the ticket for Clove & Cardamom check-in, and re-check speaker or partner notes closer to September 29.