The event is a chance to network and learn more about emerging opportunities and challenges some local entrepreneurs might face.

The direct effect on fourth-quarter real GDP growth of a two-week shutdown beginning Oct. 1 would be 0.3 percentage point, reflected in GDP produced by the government sector.

The ‘beige book’ survey of regional conditions showed a subdued economy facing inflation and little or modest growth.

The last few times the U.S. government shut down for days on end, the U.S. economy and financial markets emerged on the other side unscathed. But President Donald Trump's threat to fire federal workers en masse complicates the outlook this time around.

The U.S. federal government shutdown is starting to impact the nation's economy, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday as the closure entered its 13th day.

A government shutdown typically risks only modest damage for the U.S. economy, stemming mainly from furloughed public workers, who temporarily lose out on pay and put a dent in U.S. consumer spending, analysts told ABC News.

The federal agencies responsible for indicators of U.S. economic activity, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau, have suspended the collection and distribution of nearly all data for the duration the shutdown,

JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo all used "resilient" to describe U.S. consumers — even as they grapple with tariffs and a weakening job market.

Consumer sentiment soured in October as a government shutdown threatens to weaken a wobbly economy beset by an uptick in inflation and a sharp slowdown of hiring, fresh data on Friday showed. The reading marked a decrease from the previous month but it came in higher than economists expected.