A chance for minority businesses to network with the majors
For the St. Louis American
All eyes of buyers from major St. Louis companies will be on minority business owners who are certified by the St. Louis Minority Business Council (SLMBC) on Wednesday, June 15 at the 20th annual Business Opportunity Fair.
Starting with a kickoff reception at the Hyatt Regency-Union Station on Tuesday evening, June 14, the Business Opportunity Fair will be the hub of minority business owners networking and building relationships with corporate representatives.
Exhibits of the products and services offered by minority business owners will be on display at Saint Louis University Busch Student Center on Wednesday, June 15 from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m.
“This is the second year that we have used a format for the Business Opportunity Fair that focuses entirely on the services and products that our minority business owners provide to corporations in our region,” said James Webb, president of the SLMBC.
Kathy Conley Jones, president of the Conley Financial Group, is returning to this year’s event because she walked away as a winner from last’s year fair. Her table exhibit won first place in the display design contest but, more importantly, she won new business.
“The ability to showcase my services during the fair has resulted in approximately four new accounts,” Conley wrote in her evaluation of last year’s fair. “Thank you for making a remarkable difference in the expansion of my business.”
On June 15, the keynote breakfast speaker will be minority business owner Wes Hall, president of Suntaman Communications. Hall, the author of You Are the Money, will speak on “Take Care of Your Business and Your Business Will Take Care of You.”
Minority business owners who are curious about how a company like SBC selects vendors for their MBE Billionaire Spend Club will not want to miss the luncheon speaker, Randall Stephenson. Stephenson is SBC’s chief operating officer and is responsible for all wireline operations, as well as financial planning, accounting, tax auditing, investment management, financing and investor and shareholder relations.
According to Barbara Gibson, executive assistant for the SLMBC and the event coordinator for the fair, “SBC spends billions of dollars with minority corporations n not millions, but billions.”
Serving as co-chairs for the fair are Deborah K. Lebryk, director of external relations for Monsanto Company, and Ivan James, president of United Technologies Systems. Their commitment to the success of the Business Opportunity Fair is supported by the honorary corporate chair, Hugh Grant, president and CEO of Monsanto Company.
“At Monsanto, we know that minority-owned firms play a key role in the economy of the St. Louis metropolitan region and the nation,” Grant said.
“We believe that developing opportunities for minority suppliers isn’t just a corporate responsibility, it’s good business.”
Himanshu Bhatia, CEO of Rose International, a St. Louis-based IT consulting company, is serving as the fair’s honorary minority business enterprise (MBE) chair.
Individuals from the business community are invited to attend the 2005 Business Opportunity Fair on June 15. To learn more about scheduled activities and costs for participating, please visit www.slmbc.org or call Barbara Gibson at (314) 241-1073.
