The City’s Office of Business Diversity and Compliance (OBDC) will present a day of procurement-related events on Thursday, June 15— the day Mayor Jim Strickland has declared as “We Mean Business” Day in Memphis.
These events are planned at a time when the City is aiming to increase certified vendors and contracts awarded to small, minority and women-owned businesses.
“The City of Memphis means business and plans to continue being intentional about doing business with the Small, Minority, and Women Business Enterprise community,” director of OBDC Joann Massey said.
Designed for business owners, resource providers, and policymakers, the two events are both open and free to the public with registration.
The first of the two is the Strategic Sourcing Summit, which will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday at the Crossitt Library.
Hosted by the City in partnership with U.S. Communities and U.S. Conference of Mayors, the summit will cover topics related to innovative procurement solutions on a national scale, and provide policy makers and government officials the chance to network with local agencies using cooperative purchasing.
Scheduled for noon at the Memphis Cook Convention Center, the second of the two events will be the City’s bi-annual We Mean Business Symposium.
The Symposium will feature speakers from the Small Business Administration and U.S. Communities, as well as a matchmaking forum in which potential vendors can meet with procurement officials from each of the City’s divisions, quasi-government agencies, and City partners.
