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NASHVILLE MINORITY BUSINESS CENTER SET TO LAUNCH MEDWEEK, NEW PUBLIC CONTRACTING CURRICULUM
The Nashville Minority Business Center is set to host its annual Minority Enterprise Development Week (MEDWeek) on October 1-8. The theme of this year’s celebration is ‘The Road to Public Contracting: Breaking the Barriers. Mastering the Challenges.’ In conjunction with the conference, the center will also host a series of small business listening sessions held on three consecutive Tuesdays, starting Tuesday, September 26, and will be held at theLab Nashville. During the conference, the center will also announce a new curriculum on securing government contracts and new legislation both of which are aimed at increasing economic opportunities for small businesses.
NASHVILLE (September 12, 2017) – The Nashville Minority Business Center is set to host its 35th annual Minority Enterprise Development Week (MEDWeek) on Oct. 1-8 at Two Rivers Mansion in Nashville. The theme of this year’s conference is “The Road to Public Contracting: Breaking the Barriers. Mastering the Challenges.”
The Minority Enterprise Development Week Conference aims to recognize the contributions made by minority businesses to the Nation’s economy and share best practices with local business owners on growing and scaling their businesses. The conference will feature a myriad of small business development workshops and recognition events, including the Minority Business Achievement Awards powered by Regions Bank, Minority Business Recognition Sunday, and the Diverse Business Policy Forum.
The policy forum and other classes will be held at Two Rivers Mansion. The Minority Business Recognition Sunday will be held on October 1 at various Nashville churches. The Minority Business Achievement Awards, which will recognize the accomplishments made by minority owned enterprises in the Nashville-Metropolitan area. Awards will be given in the following categories: Minority Business Advocate, Minority Business of the Year and the Corporate Partner Award. The awards will be held from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 29 aboard the General Jackson Showboat.
“We are excited about this year’s Minority Enterprise Development Week,” said Marilyn Robinson, Nashville Minority Business Center Executive Director. “We are even more excited about the chance to support more minority businesses build capacity and get prepared for more public contracting opportunities.”
During the conference the center will announce a new business development course curriculum centered on public contracting. The goal of the new class series is to increase the number of small and minority businesses that receive lucrative local, state, and federal government contracts. The class series will focus on strengthening small businesses’ understanding of public contracting, equipping them with the tools and resources to prepare their businesses to bid on public contracts, and mastering the art of public contract bidding.
MEDWeek in recent years has aimed to recognize the contributions of small minority business owners that play a role in Tennessee’s economy while providing best practices and strategies on how they can scale their business for maximum profit and impact. Last year, the conference’s focus shifted significantly. It exposed attendees to the best practices in public contracting, delivered from national experts in Seattle, Houston, Washington, D.C., Oakland and Nashville.
This year’s conference will build upon last year and is aimed at preparing small business owners to bid for public contracts. Oftentimes, many small and minority businesses are overlooked for these public contracts, despite many of these businesses being registered and certified with the government as qualified to secure such coveted work.
After feedback, several conversations, and multiple surveys, the center is partnering with legislators to create a statewide program to increase economic opportunities for emerging businesses. Leading up to, during, and after this year’s conference, the center will partner with several local chambers of commerce and others to host a series of listening sessions to learn more about minority business owners’ experiences with public contracting process. The listening sessions will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, September 26, Tuesday, October 3, and Tuesday, October 10, at theLab, located at 624-A Jefferson Street in Nashville.
You can register for the listening sessions and the conference at nashvillemedweek.org.
ABOUT NASHVILLE MINORITY BUSINESS CENTER
The Nashville Minority Business Center is operated by the Community Resource and Development Center, Inc., a nonprofit 501c3 social enterprise corporation. Its mission is to foster the establishment and growth of competitive minority-owned businesses in the State of Tennessee. The Nashville Minority Business Center is charged with providing management and technical assistance, and market development services to minority entrepreneurs. The benefits to the community are successful, competitive minority-owned firms, wealth, and profit for the investors and entrepreneurs, high skill, higher paying jobs, increased tax revenues and strong local community development.
DENOR Brands + Public Relations is a public relations, marketing and brand strategy firm in Tennessee, Louisiana and beyond. The agency specializes in developing communication strategies that influence public policy, programs, and partnerships in the education, nonprofit, and small business sectors.
