The Black Business Association (BBA) will host its 12th annual Procurement Exchange Summit and Networking Reception Oct. 15, designed to help African American and minority business owners increase their access to billions of dollars in contract opportunities. The event will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the LA Hotel Downtown, 333 S. Figueroa St. Admission is $35 until Oct. 7. Afterward attendees can only register at the door, and the cost is $50. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.
The summit is expected to attract more than 350 African American and minority-owned businesses together to network with purchasing agents and contracting officers from several city and state agencies, as well as representatives of private-sector companies.
Three workshops will follow featuring representatives from corporations such at Wells Fargo, Golden State Water, Time Warner, The Gas Company and the LADWP. They will discuss supplier diversity opportunities as well as the requirements small businesses must meet to do business with the corporation. Another workshop will talk about capacity building for small firms.
Following the workshops, one-on-one contract procurement matchmaking opportunities will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Those who want to talk with corporate representatives must sign up when they register for the day.
Those who do not participate in the matchmaking sessions can network from 1 to 3 p.m. with procurement and contracting officers of other corporations and organizations including US Bank, Comerica Bank, LADWP, AEG, Northrop Grumman, Wells Fargo, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, Los Angeles World Airports, U.S. Small Business Administration, The Gas Company, Sempra Energy, Golden State Water, US Bank, and Webcor Builders.
The summit is presented in recognition of National Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week. To register, view the link: http://www.suiteevents.com/bbapes2015. For participation or sponsorship information, contact the BBA office at: mail@bbala.org. For additional information, visit www.bbala.org.
