NASHVILLE MINORITY BUSINESS CENTER GEARS UP 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.’ The conference will kickoff during a networking mixer to be held from 5:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. on Friday, March 31 at Google Fiber Nashville. The center will also announce a new curriculum on securing government contracts, aimed at increasing economic opportunities for small businesses.
NASHVILLE (March 22, 2017) – The Nashville Minority Business Center is set to host its 35th annual Minority Enterprise Development Week (MEDWeek) on Oct. 1-8. The theme of this year’s conference is “The Road to Public Contracting: Breaking the Barriers. Mastering the Challenges.” The event will formerly kickoff during a networking mixer to be held from 5:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. on Friday, March 31 at Google Fiber Nashville, located at 1108 Division Street in Nashville.
The center will also 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 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., Maryland, and Nashville.
This year’s conference will build upon last year and is aimed at preparing 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 this year’s conference, the center will partner with several local chambers of commerce and others to deliver the hands-on public contracting curriculum beginning in April and continuing through June. LiftTN is also partnering with the center to produce MEDWeek and the new public contracting courses.
ABOUT NASHVILLE MINORITY BUSINESS CENTER
The Nashville Minority Business Center is funded in part by the State of Tennessee and 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 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.
