SMALL BUSINESS SUMMIT 2026
One day in the woods. Fifty owners. Leave with a strategy you’ll actually use.
BY THE END OF THE DAY,
YOU’RE NOT INSPIRED.
YOU’RE EQUIPPED.
EVENT DETAILS
DATE
Thursday - June 25, 2026
Registration closes June 10th
LOCATION
The Ashokan Center
Olivebridge, NY - The Catskills
FORMAT
One day | In-person only
CAPACITY
50 seats | Intentionally limited
INVESTMENT
$350
A one-day, immersive experience for serious small business owners.
Includes morning coffee, lunch, all sessions and a written action plan you build on the day.
THIS IS NOT A CONFERENCE
NO BALLROOMS.
NO FLUFF.
JUST WORK.
A one-day, immersive experience for serious small business owners.
You won’t sit all day.
You’ll be moving, thinking and doing.
Every session builds on the last.
The day is engineered so each session adds a layer. By 3pm they all connect.
You’ll leave with something real.
A written action plan you built, around your specific situation. Not a notebook full of other people’s ideas.
50 people who showed up on purpose.
No passive attendees. Everyone in the room made a deliberate choice to be there. That changes the energy of every conversation.
WHAT YOU WALK AWAY WITH
FOUR THINGS.
ALL OF THEM USEFUL ON FRIDAY.
01
You’ve been running your business through a lens you’ve never clearly seen. You’ll identify your natural problem-solving style and reveal where it’s serving you and where it’s costing you.
YOUR NATURAL DECISION MAKING STYLE
02
A VISUAL MAP TO SEE YOUR ENTIRE OPERATION
Priorities, bottlenecks and blind spots become visible at once. This session gives you the overlooked technique that makes your workload legible. This session alone is worth the day.
03
A PRACTICAL AI STRATEGY WITHOUT THE HYPE
Based on decades of translating enterprise technology for organizations that don’t have time for theory, you’ll leave knowing exactly how to use AI in your business. Practical, grounded, yours to control.
04
Not a long list of possibilities. An actual plan that’s built around your specific situation, prioritized and written down before you leave. Something you can hand to yourself on Friday and know exactly what to do first.
A CONCRETE NEXT-ACTION PLAN
A one-day, immersive experience for serious small business owners.
THE VENUE
NOT A HOTEL BALLROOM
THAT’S THE POINT.
THE ASHOKAN CENTER
477 Beaverkill Rd, Olivebridge, NY 12461
Two hours from NYC
VISIT ASHOKANCENTER.ORG →
The Ashokan Center sits on 400 acres of forest in the Catskills with walking trails, fire rings, and enough space from your inbox to actually think. Space to get people out of their heads and into the work. That’s exactly what we need it for.
We chose it deliberately. The environment is part of the program. You can’t do what we’re doing here in a conference center.
THE DAY
WHAT THE DAY
LOOKS LIKE.
9:30
Arrival, check-in & coffee - Light coffee, tea, and real conversations
Event Kickoff & Welcome - We’ll start by stacking stones. Balance and focus are the same skill whether you’re working with rocks or running a business, and it sets the tone for everything that follows.
10:00
Know Yourself - How your natural thinking style shapes every business decision you make, and what to do about it. You’ll leave this session with a language for something you’ve always felt but never named.
10:30
Michael Ackerbauer
Visualize the Work -The one technique that makes your entire operation visible at once - priorities, overload, bottlenecks, and what to do first. This is the blueprint for modern business management.
11:20
Layne Raines
12:05
Lunch -Continue the conversations. Lunch is included.
Trusted AI -Not hype, not noise. Practical, grounded ways to use AI in your business without losing control of it. This is built for owners who don’t have an IT department.
12:55
George Pace
Think Big, Plan Small, Move Fast -Pull everything from the day into your specific situation. Build you next-action roadmap - written prioritized and ready for Friday. This is where it all becomes yours.
1:50
Mary Rood
Close & What’s Next -You’ll leave with a plan. Not a notebook of good ideas, but an actual plan, in your handwriting, for your business. That’s what Forged means.
2:30
THE SPEAKERS
FOUR PEOPLE.
ZERO FILLER.
Michael Ackerbauer helps leaders understand how they naturally think -- and use it to unlock what their team is actually capable of.
His work is simple in concept and surprisingly powerful in practice: when you understand your natural problem-solving style, you stop wondering why certain things feel hard and start seeing exactly where to put your energy. Everything else gets clearer from there.
At Forged, Michael will help you discover how your thinking shapes the way you run your business and give you a language for what you've probably already been experiencing but couldn't quite name.
He calls himself a "Dealer in Hope" -- not because he has all the answers, but because he helps make the path visible so you can find your own.
George Pace helps business leaders cut through the complexity of Artificial Intelligence, translating it into clear, practical actions that drive real business value. He believes AI is the most disruptive technology of our time, but also one that no one should try to figure out alone.
With decades of experience in large enterprises, George brings proven strategies and real-world insight to small and mid-sized businesses; capabilities they typically wouldn’t have access to. His background spans Open Source, Cloud, Big Data, and Social Media, giving him a deep understanding of how emerging technologies move from hype to real impact.
Based in Central New Jersey, George focuses on helping organizations plan, implement, and govern their use of AI in a way that’s both effective and sustainable.
At Forged, he’s excited to help participants connect the dots, seeing the bigger picture while gaining clarity on the practical next steps they can take immediately.
Because while AI may be new, the patterns for using it successfully are not.
Mary Rood is a business coach with Unrestricted Humans, helping small business owners and teams in the Hudson Valley unlock growth, build value, and move forward with intention.
Her work is rooted in human-centered, modern management - creating space for owners to explore possibilities, practice new approaches, and integrate changes that lead to real, sustainable progress. Sometimes that’s a single conversation that creates a breakthrough. Other times, it’s a deeper partnership that transforms how a business operates.
Based in Kingston, Mary is inspired by the creativity and drive of her local community, and passionate about helping business owners gain the clarity and support they need to grow.
At Forged, she’s excited about the energy of bringing people together, where shared experience, practice, and connection lead to something most events don’t deliver: not just ideas, but clarity, a plan, and relationships that last beyond the day.
Layne Raines is a Houston-based modern business coach who works with small business owners and leaders to cut through noise, expose what’s actually getting in the way, and build systems that make execution easier.
She works with people who are capable, driven, and often overwhelmed to clarify priorities, solve the right problems, and build momentum that lasts. She’s especially passionate about supporting small businesses, which are often expected to thrive without the kind of practical, day-to-day support they actually need.
At Forged, she’s helping create a different kind of experience – one where participants get to step off their islands, work alongside others, challenge each other, and leave with something real.
2026 FOUNDING COHORT
BE IN THE FIRST
FIFTY.
Forged 2026 is our founding cohort - fifty owners who will shape what this summit becomes. If you’ve ever been part of something from the beginning, you know it’s different. The energy is different. The relationships go deeper. The experience is something you can carry forward.
We’re keeping it small on purpose.
Fifty seats. One day. No exceptions.
When it’s full, it’s full.
50
Total seats available
1
Day on your business
$350
All-in investment
A one-day, immersive experience for serious small business owners.
QUESTIONS
WHAT PEOPLE ASK FIRST.
-
Solo owner-operators, business owners with a team, and general managers who want to step back from working in the business and spend a day working on it. If you’ve been craving clarity, visibility and a plan that’s actually built around your situation - this day is for you.
-
A full day of working sessions, morning coffee and tea, lunch at the Ashokan Center, all session materials, and a written action plan you build during the day. You also get a room of 49 other owners who showed up for the same reason you did - that’s worth more than most workshops charge for.
-
Because this is not a mass event. It’s a room of owners who care about fundamentals.
Seats are intentionally limited.
If you’ve been wanting to reset your business thinking, clarify your systems, and reconnect with the craft of ownership — this is your day.
-
Smart casual meets woods-ready. You’ll be up and moving for parts of the day and possibly taking a walk at lunch. Comfortable clothing, comfortable shoes. Leave the dress shoes at home.
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In-person only. The Ashokan Center, the environment, the other owners, the space to think, it’s not something you can replicate over Zoom. This is intentionally an in-person experience. There will be no virtual option or recording.
-
The Ashokan Center
477 Beaverkill Rd.
Olivebridge, NY 12461You can check them out here! https://ashokancenter.org
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Yes - each seat requires a separate registration. If two of you come from the same business, you’ll both leave with individual action plans built around different vantage points in the same company. That can be genuinely powerful.
OUR PARTNERS AT FORGED 2026.
THE COMPANIES IN THE ROOM
Presenting partners
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ONE DAY, FIFTY SEATS, OLIVEBRIDGE, NY
STOP LEAVING EVENTS
EMPTY HANDED.
Forged is a working session, not a conference. You’ll leave with a strategy built around your business - written down, prioritized, and ready to use on Friday.
A one-day, immersive experience for serious small business owners.
50 seats total - 2026 - Ashokan Center, Olivebridge, NY - Includes coffee, lunch, all sessions & materials