2025 Business Owner Retreat

Join us for an exclusive two-day conference designed to help business owners navigate the full lifecycle of growth—from early survival to long-term success. Whether you're launching a startup or leading a high-performing company, this event offers strategic insights to elevate your business.

More details to come—including a full agenda and our lineup of guest speakers.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Info: We will lay the vision for the event: From Survive to Thrive: How to develop a
profitable business & overcome the many challenges that business owners
face.

Info: George is the president of Cadence bank with 30 years of experience in
banking for business owners. He has helped his clients navigate every obstable
you can imagine. George will explain what bankers look at when they review
financial statements to see if the business/business owner qualifies for a loan.
He will discuss ratios and key numbers that are important to bankers. He will
explain what a startup business needs to consider & be able answer when
going to the bank to get a loan.

Info: Kyle Davis is no stranger to the local legal landscape. With 20 years of legal
experience working with local business owners, Kyle brings a wealth of
expertice to share with us. Kyle will explain what an LLC actually is, when it is
necessary & when it is not necessary. As an LLC owner, he will explain what
your annual requirements are from a legal perspective. He will explain the
difference between limited partners & general partners, LLC's & Corporations.

Info: Sarah Berry has been a CPA in Texarkana for 20 years & has seen hundreds of
businesses start-up, succeed & unfortunately many have failed. She will discuss
the hiring mistakes that she has seen hundreds of businesses make & how to
avoid these mistakes. Sarah will share the secrets to how she finds and retains
qualified talent. She will discuss how to hire the right people the first time &
quit wasting time & money on bad hires.

Info: Morgan has over 15 years experience working with small businesses to build
out custom benefits packages that fit the needs of their specific teams.
Benefits are a big part of attracting & retaining good, quality talent but many
times businesses don't offer them because they feel they are unaffordable.
There are affordable health insurance options for your employees, or self &
spouse for sole owners. Mogan will also discuss other insurance benefits that
are valuable to employees but don't break the bank.

Info: Louise Trauch is a local attorney & expert on employment law with over 30
years of experience. She will explain how to avoid common snares that result in
claims/lawsuits before the DOL, the NLRB, or the EEOC, etc -Overtime,
Contract Labor vs W2 employees, joint employers, unfair labor practices, etc.

Info: Laura has over 30 years of experience assisting business owners with their
banking needs. She has seen every kind of financial crime & bank fraud you
can imagine. She will share with us how we can train our team & monitor to make sure that our business does not find ourselves victim of ransom, hackers & other financial crimes.

Info: Hear from a panel of successful local business owners. We will be asking them the secret sauce to how they built a successful business, things they wish they knew when they started their business years ago & other tips & tricks. We will be discussing mistakes we made but also game changers that launched these businesses into the success they currently have now.

Info: Sarah will discuss what a Real Estate Professional (REP) is. Hint: it has nothing
to do with being a Real Estate AGENT. We will discuss the tax benefits of being
an REP. We will explain how taxpayers can be an REP according to the IRS
without even realizing they are one. We will discuss Cost Segregration Studies,
what they are, what the Pros & Cons are. We will discuss when you should hire
a professional to do a Cost Seg & when it can be done in-house.

Info: Thad Bishop is a local attorney & qualified intermediary who specializes in real
estate law & specifically 1031 exchanges. He brings his 30 years of legal
expertise to our Real Estate Law Discussion: When to setup an additional LLC
for real estate, and when to setup multiple LLCs. He will cover other tips for
Real Estate law that real estate owners need to know. Thad will also discuss the
ins and outs of a 1031 exchange, tax benefits, timelines, etc. He will cover
different types of 1031 exchanges that are less known & often overlooked in tax
planning.

Info: Hear from a panel of local successful real estate owners with experience in all
different types of real estate. We will be asking them questions that will give you
valuable insight into the thought process behind different types real estate
investments. You will hear real world stories of success & failure.

Info: John Ross, a local attorney with 30-plus years of experience, will share his
expertise in estate planning & wealth preservation.

Info: Anna Brown with Regions Private Equity will be sharing tips & tricks with us
about how to sell your business. When you are getting ready to sell a business,
how to do you find the right buyer? How do you connect with potential buyers,
how early do you start planning for this exit. There are so many things to
consider when your business gets to this point in the life span. Anna will help
give us clarity & direction for this stage in our business lifecycle.

Info: Art with Regions Trust Department will give us additional clarity about what will
happen when it is time to sell your business. We want to make sure the
business is transitioned successfully. He will discuss the pros & cons of owner
financing the sale, other lending options including when to use a SBA 7a
lending is the best fit. There are other options available in selling a business
such as retaining partial ownership in the business as a passive owner.

Info: Hear from a panel of local business owners who have sold their businesses. We
will learn from their mistakes & their successes as they share their real-life
stories.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Texarkana Convention Center, 2910 South Cowhorn Creek Loop, Texarkana, United States