Court Reporting in the Spotlight During National Small Business Week

NCRA recognizes court reporting firms and freelancers June 17-21
By: The National Court Reporters Association
 
June 20, 2013 - PRLog -- VIENNA, Va., June 17, 2013—The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), the country’s leading organization representing stenographic court reporters and captioners, applauds the many court reporting firms and freelance court reporting professionals that contribute to local, state, and the national economy in recognition of National Small Business Week June 17-21. The event is sponsored by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to highlight the impact of entrepreneurs, small business owners, and others from all 50 states and U.S.terriorites.

The SBA recognizes companies with less than 500 employees as small businesses and attributes them with generating more than half of the nation’s nonfarm private Gross Domestic Product. In addition, the administration notes that small businesses account for nearly half of all jobs in the private sector.

According to the NCRA, approximately 70 percent of its membership is comprised of freelance court reporters and captioners. In addition, there are hundreds of court reporting firms throughout the United States that provide an array of services including court reporting, broadcast captioning, assistance to the deaf and hard-of-hearing, legal videography, business and corporate reporting, and more.

“Success in small business is a huge part of the American Dream, and the SBA is wonderful resource for small businesses such as court reporting firms, many of which might never have been able to open without the administration’s support,” says NCRA President-elect Nancy Varallo, RDR, CRR, owner of The Varallo Group in Worcester, Mass., a nontraditional agency that offers court reporting, business development, and administrative support services to reporters and reporting firms.

“I was fortunate to leverage a SBA loan in 2012 to make a game-changing acquisition,” says Jan Ballman, RPR, CMRS, president and CEO of Paradigm Reporting and Captioning in Minneapolis, Minn. “The SBA loan program provide the opportunity that led to key funding for growing my business. Its favorable terms proved to be very small-business friendly.”

While the SBA provides valuable financial resources to small businesses, NCRA also works to provide resources of its own to help owners and senior management of court reporting firms succeed by improving their businesses bottom lines, says Varallo. Each February, the association hosts its Firm Owners Conference which offers attendees networking opportunities, as well as educational and informative sessions led by leading business experts.  In addition, NCRA’s annual Convention & Expo held each year in August provides court reporters from all segments of the profession with a variety of educational and instructional sessions, numerous networking opportunities, and access to vendors attending to showcase their latest products and services. In October, the association holds an annual Legal Video Conference that offers a two-day seminar and a legal video forum led by some of the best faculty in the profession.

“We are proud to recognize that court reporting firms and freelance court reporting and captioning professionals are part of the vital small business sector of our nation’s economy,” says Jim Cudahy, CEO and executive director of NCRA. “Starting, growing, and succeeding in small business can be very difficult, especially if the right resources are not available. The SBA has a strong history of making success achievable and court reporting firms are fortunate to have access to its resources.”

Created in 1953 as an independent agency of the government, the SBA has long provided financial aid and council to help grow small businesses and has assisted in protecting the interests of this segment of the market. Today, the agency provides assistance through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. The SBA has recognized the efforts and growth of small business in the United States with an annual Small Business Week since 1963. This year, events will showcase opportunities and entrepreneurs in Seattle, Dallas, St. Louis, P:ittsburgh, and Washington, D.C., where in-person events will offer tips, tools and training to help small businesses start, succeed and grown. Online panel discussions will also be available to interested parties throughout the week that will highlight topics such as the use of social media and business financing.

For more information about the SBA or National Small Business Week, visit www.sba.gov.

For more information, visit www.NCRA.org. Career information about the court reporting profession—one of the leading career options that do not require a four-year degree—can be found at www.CareersInCourtReporting.com.  

About NCRA
The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) is internationally recognized for promoting excellence among those who capture and convert the spoken word to text for more than 100 years. NCRA is committed to supporting its more than 19,000 members in achieving the highest level of professional expertise with educational opportunities and industry-recognized court reporting, educator and videographer certification programs. NCRA impacts legislative issues and the global marketplace through its actively involved membership. Forbes has named court reporting as one of the best career options that do not require a four-year degree and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the court reporting field is expected to grow more than 5 percent in the coming years. For more information, visit www.NCRA.org .
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Source:The National Court Reporters Association
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