FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                             98-47



 SEC TO HOST SMALL BUSINESS TOWN HALL MEETING IN LAS VEGAS, NV



     Washington, D.C., May 8, 1998 -- The Commission today
announced that a small business town hall meeting will be held at
4:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 28, 1998 in the Moyer Student Union
Ballroom at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.  The small
business town hall meetings, which are being conducted throughout
the United States, convey basic information to small business
about fundamental requirements that must be addressed when these
businesses wish to raise capital through the public sale of
securities.  In addition, the Commission hopes to learn more
about the concerns and problems facing small businesses in
raising capital so that programs can be designed to meet their
needs, consistent with the protection of investors.

     Commissioner Norman S. Johnson will be the featured speaker
of the Las Vegas Small Business Town Hall Meeting.  Other
speakers include the Honorable Harry S. Reid, Senator of Nevada,
John Scott, Regional Administrator of the U.S. Small Business
Administration, and Don Reis, Nevada Deputy Secretary of State,
among others.  A question and answer period will follow the
presentations.

     For further information, contact Barbara Jacobs in the
Office of Small Business in the Division of Corporation Finance
of the Commission at (202) 942-2950.  Or, please send an e-mail
message to the small business electronic mailbox at
"e-prospectus@sec.gov".