GREATER NEW HAVEN ENGLAND MINORITY SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT EXPO UPDATE

Dr. Fred McKinney - GNEMSDC: September 10, 2012

The GNEMSDC Business Opportunity Fair and Expo is turning out to be an event full of great speakers, networking events, and business opportunities. Here is a summary of the three day program.

Wednesday, September 12 

10:00 AM : Stakeholders Meeting of GNEMSDC Board of Directors, MBEIC, Senior Advisory Board, and other interested parties to learn about the direction, performance and plans for the GNEMSDC. This is your opportunity to share your thoughts, experiences and suggestions directly to the GNEMSDC leadership.

12:00 Noon: MBDA Luncheon - This luncheon will feature MBDA Boston Business Center Project Director, Warren Bacon and his team. They will discuss and summarize the first year of the program and how MBEs and corporate members can participate in this exciting and successful program.

1:30 PM: "Corporate Collaborative Learning" Workshop - This workshop will features Tom Davis (Cartus), Bill Boodry (Liberty Mutual), Kristen Hickey (Aetna) and Larry Wooten (Pitney Bowes). They have prepared brief presentations in the areas of "Selling Supplier Diversity Internally", "Making the Connection between Supplier Diversity and Corporate Sales", "Corporate Spend Analysis" and "Helping MBEs Make Connections". This session is for corporate members only!

1:30 PM: MBE Workshop - This session will feature Google and a separate session on "Promoting MBE Growth Through Strategic Alliances, Private Equity and Venture Capital". The Google presentation will cover some of their latest small business technology designed to help small businesses become successful in this digital age. Chris Genteel of Google will be making this presentation along with members of his team. The second section will feature Charles Corpening, President and CEO of Joshua Partners. Joshua Partners is one very successful model of private equity growing MBEs to scale. Charles M. Smith of Eastern Bank is also on the program to give his perspective on how banks can contribute to the strategic development of MBEs. This is a must see program for MBEs interested in growth.

5:30 PM: Bowling at High Rollers - Luxury Lanes and Lounge Reception. If you have not attended this event in the past, you missed out on a fun evening of bowling and networking. Even if you can't break 100, you are sure to have fun mixing it up with our corporate members and MBEs.

   

Thursday, September 13

7:30 AM: CPO Breakfast - This event features CPOs from several GNEMSDC corporate members. They will discuss developments in corporate procurement and their impact on minority business development. Confirmed for this panel as of Thursday, August 22 are John Mayes of Yale University and T. Blair Decker of Electric Boat/General Dynamics and Jeffrey Place of United Technologies Corporation are scheduled panelists.  The panel will be moderated by GNEMSDC Chairman, Lawrence Wooten of Pitney Bowes Corporation.

9:00 AM:  Corporate and MBE Showcases - We have 28 excellent corporate and MBEs ready to spend 20 minutes making Powerpoint presentations about their businesses and value propositions. This very popular program gives corporate members and MBEs a chance to learn much about each other.

12:00 Noon: Luncheon Featuring Jeffrey Fox - This award winning author and consultant is making his second appearance at the GNEMSDC Expo. He had rave reviews when came and spoke about his new book at that time "How to Become a Fierce Competitor". Now he is back to share information from his new book "The Transformative CEO". Mr. Fox's engaging real life examples are lessons MBEs and corporate members will not want to miss.  We will also be making a special presentation to Rodney Butler, Chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation at the luncheon.  We are proud to have Stan Simpson, of Fox 5 as the MC for this event.

1:30 PM: One-on-One Meetings - This year the one-on-one meetings are back. We have over 70 tables set up for corporate members and MBEs to spend 15 minutes together discussing their companies and their opportunities. Corporate members and MBEs are encouraged to participate in this event. Corporate members can target specific categories of MBEs and MBEs will have visibility on which companies are looking for the services they provide. This event has proven track record of turning potentials into actuals. Do not miss this!

6:30 PM: Shining Star Reception - This year we recognize and honor Kevin Kelleher, President and CEO of Cartus and Marianne Lancaster of Lancaster Packaging as our 2012 Shining Stars. This will be a fun evening of food, drink, dancing, and networking. Past Shining Stars are encouraged to join us to welcome Kevin and Marianne into the fraternity.

9:00 PM: Booth Set Up - I just wanted to note that this year the GNEMSDC has contracted with an MBE, White Exposition, to handle the logistics of the booths. We welcome them to our program.

  

Friday, September 14

7:30 AM: Sponsors' Breakfast - We are fortunate to have Marie Johns, Deputy Administrator for the Small Business Administration join us a our Keynote Speaker. Ms. Johns bio is listed above. This will be a great way to start this important day.

9:00 AM: Ribbon Cutting and Morning Session of Trade Expo - Once again the Expo floor is sold out. We are also using new technology (supplied by another MBE) that will make your trade show experience more enjoyable and efficient. This year your name badges will have your basic information encoded on the badge. This will allow anyone with a droid or IPhone or IPad to record information which can later be downloaded into a database. This is exciting stuff for an exciting program.

12:30 PM: Sponsors' Luncheon - Our Keynote Speaker this year is Maggie Anderson, author and activist. Ms. Anderson has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, the Huffington Post and elsewhere for her experiment of buying only from African American businesses for a full calendar year. She documented her experiences in the "Empowerment Experiment". Ms. Anderson has many lessons to share that are broadly applicable to our efforts to build minority businesses across the board.

2:00 PM: Trade Expo Afternoon Session - The afternoon session is actually a great time to catch MBEs and corporate members when they are ready to talk business. During this session we will also announce the winners of the silent auction. Corporate members and MBEs are encouraged to donate items for the auction. Not only does your gift go to a worthy cause, MBE scholarships, it is a great way to market your business.

 5:30 PM: Post Expo Reception - Wind down with those hearty souls who have relished three days o f networking, business development and education. Then drive safely home!