Entrepreneur Graves on Keys for Success

Earl Graves Sr., who has successfully built both a soft drink distributorship and a nationwide business publication, will talk about the keys for small-business success in the next century at The Times’ Small Business Strategies Conference this month.

Graves, publisher of Black Enterprise magazine, will be one of six keynote speakers at the conference Oct. 17-18 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Graves, who also runs the primary Pepsi-Cola distributorship in the Washington, D.C., area, will talk about the need for businesses to take calculated risks and the importance of staying abreast of changes in technology. His speech has been scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 17.

The conference will offer more than 40 different panels in six subject tracks with more than 100 speakers, along with an exhibit hall, networking opportunities and free advice sessions. Among the subjects to be covered are financing, growth planning, technology and marketing.

Registration is $99 for both days and $70 for one day. For more information, call (800) 350-3211 or visit the conference Web site at https://www.latimes.com/sbsc.