Accion, NYSE Euronext, and Yelp Bring The Big StartUp National Tour to Miami

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On Thursday, October 11, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: NYX), Accion and Yelp will bring the NYSE Big StartUp “Small Business Connections: Marketing Meets Microfinancing” nationwide workshop tour to Miami. The event will provide local small business owners with two resources vital to growing any business: social media marketing know-how and access to capital. Miami marks the ninth stop on the Small Business Connections Tour.

“The Small Business Connections event is a great opportunity for local small business owners to get direct feedback from well established companies like Yelp.”

Yelp and Accion staff will be present throughout the workshop to answer questions and offer personalized consultations to participants. Yelp’s Manager of Local Business Outreach, Darnell Holloway, will discuss how entrepreneurs can work with major social media platforms to engage customers online and navigate online reviews. “We’ve touched over 300 business owners in 6 cities across the US and have been very impressed with the level of engagement we’ve seen from entrepreneurs eager to learn how they can navigate the sometimes overwhelming world of social media,” said Holloway.

Loan Consultant, Marcia Maia, of small business lender Accion, which has provided over 2000 microloans in the Miami area since 1993, will explain how to access capital, training and finance marketing costs with an Accion small business loan. Accion client Alexander Smith of Swoop Miami will speak about how his $4,000 microloan to upgrade his website and call system helped impact his business. Noticing the lack of parking spots in South Beach, Smith launched a unique taxi service in 2009 that is free of charge and transports customers to local destinations. “We’ve been successful because of a combination of social media and word-of-mouth,” said Smith. “The Small Business Connections event is a great opportunity for local small business owners to get direct feedback from well established companies like Yelp.”

“Small Business Connections” is the first small business event tour from the NYSE Big StartUp, a nationwide job creation and business growth initiative that connects small businesses with established corporations, such as Yelp. Launched in March 2012, the NYSE Big StartUp program also integrates the Accion-NYSE Job Growth Fund. This program was started with a $1.5 million commitment by NYSE Euronext, which will provide small businesses and startups with the capital and support they need to grow.

The Small Business Connections tour has proven to be a high-impact resource for local small business owners. Based on data gathered from the tour’s previous events, attendees reported learning an average of three new marketing techniques and meeting an average of three other entrepreneurs who could help them expand through new channels.

Event Details

La Licuadora Restaurant
47 NE 2^nd Avenue
October 11, 6:00PM-8:00PM
Registration: http://yelpmiami.eventbrite.com/

About Yelp

Yelp (NYSE: YELP) connects people with great local businesses. Yelp was founded in San Francisco in July 2004. Since then, Yelp communities have taken root in major metros across the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Singapore and Poland. Yelp had a monthly average of 78 million unique visitors in Q2 2012 (source: Google Analytics). By the end of Q2 2012, Yelpers had written more than 30 million rich, local reviews, making Yelp the leading local guide for real word-of-mouth on everything from boutiques and mechanics to restaurants and dentists. Yelp's mobile application was used on 7.2 million unique mobile devices on a monthly average basis during Q2 2012. For more information, please visit http://www.yelp.com/ or send an email to press@yelp.com.

About Accion

As the largest and only nationwide micro- and small business lending network in the United States, Accion connects small business owners with the accessible financing and advice it takes to create or grow healthy businesses. Accion serving the East Coast and Online lends in Miami and offers business loans between $500 and $50,000 along with training, networking and other support services to hardworking entrepreneurs. Historically, Accion serving the East Coast and Online has lent over $132 million.

Since 1991, the five members of Accion’s U.S. Network have collectively made over 44,000 loans, totaling over $320 million. Additionally, over 400,000 business owners across the nation have turned to Accion for financial and business advice via workshops, online tools, and one-on-one consultations. Globally, Accion (www.accion.org) is a pioneer in microfinance, reaching millions of individuals through its international network of partners. For more information on Accion in Miami, please visit www.accionusa.org or call 646-535-2254.

About NYSE Euronext

NYSE Euronext (NYX) is a leading global operator of financial markets and provider of innovative trading technologies. The company's exchanges in Europe and the United States trade equities, futures, options, fixed-income and exchange-traded products. With approximately 8,000 listed issues (excluding European Structured Products), NYSE Euronext's equities markets - the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Euronext, NYSE MKT, NYSE Alternext and NYSE Arca - represent one-third of the world’s equities trading, the most liquidity of any global exchange group. NYSE Euronext also operates NYSE Liffe, one of the leading European derivatives businesses and the world's second-largest derivatives business by value of trading. The company offers comprehensive commercial technology, connectivity and market data products and services through NYSE Technologies. NYSE Euronext is in the S&P 500 index. For more information, please visit: http://www.nyx.com.