Navigating Supplier Diversity & Procurement

        
Successful Strategies for Navigating Supplier Diversity & Procurement

Date: April 27, 2012

Location: Omni William Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh, PA

Cost: $40 (WBENC Certified WBE Attendees); $50 (all other attendees)

Registration deadline: April 20, 2012

• 8:30 - 9:00 a.m. Registration/Networking
  
• 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. Business to Business Breakfast and Program (Moderator: Jaymie Mitchell, Bank of America; Panelists: Beverly Bortz, The PNC Financial Services Group, Mike Frazier, Chevron and Yvette Porter, Highmark, Inc. )
  
• 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Roundtable Discussions: Hear how to gain access and build relationships using WBENC certification as a marketing tool, understand the impact of the U.S. SBA Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) certification and contracting program, and meet with regional service providers and public sector agencies.
  
• 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. MatchMaker Sessions: Companies participating to date include  Bank of America, Chevron, EQT Corporation, FirstEnergy Corporation, Highmark, Inc., The Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, The PNC Financial Services Group and UPMC. (You must be registered for event by 4/13/2012 and be a WBENC Certified WBE to participate in MatchMaker Sessions) 

This event is supported by E-Magnify and presented by the Women’s Business Enterprise Council, a marketing, procurement and certification assistance council that facilitates the relationship between corporations, government, and women-owned businesses to provide growth and sustainability. As an affiliate of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the leading third party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women in the United States, WBENC advocates for the advancement of women-owned businesses as suppliers to the nation’s corporations.

More information and registration are available here. Register by Friday, April 20. 
   
    

Enter SBA's Video Contest

Calling all small businesses that gave been helped by SBA: Enter the National Small Business Week Video Contest!



To kick off National Small Business Week 2012 the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is holding a  video contest for small business owners and entrepreneurs to share their success stories.

Deadline: 5:00 p.m. EDT on May 11, 2012. 

How to participate: Contestants should produce a short (1-2 minutes), original video to share their story.  The list of Contest Rules provides additional details on the required video content and format.  All eligible videos will be judged by SBA senior officials on the inspirational nature of the message for potential small business owners and the creativity or uniqueness of the video concept. Submit your video through Challenge.gov

Winning Videos: Three winning videos will be featured during National Small Business Week and shown during a Google+ Hangout hosted by SBA and the White House on May 24. The winners can participate in the event and help Karen Mills, SBA Administrator, answer questions from small businesses around the country.  Qualifying videos that don’t win will be showcased on SBA’s YouTube page.

More info: For more information on the National Small Business Week Video Contest, please visit .  http://smallbizvid.challenge.gov.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Winning Women

The fifth annual Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Winning Women Program is a national competition and executive leadership program that identifies a select group of high-potential women entrepreneurs whose businesses show real potential to scale — and then helps them do it.

Program eligibility: Entrepreneurial Winning Women applicants are women who own or have founded their companies within the last 10 years and have achieved at least $1 million in revenue in the past two years.

Application deadline: The application period closes on April 30, 2012. 


To learn how to apply, visit 
www.ey.com/us/entrepreneurialwinningwomen.

Supplier Connection

The Supplier Connection is a new online tool for to help small businesses sell to large companies. Created by the IBM Foundation, this online portal works like a universal—or common—college application.  You fill in the supplier form once, and then you’re in the supplier databases of all the large companies using the portal.

The Supplier Connection portal is open to U.S. Small Businesses with either less than $50M in Revenue or fewer than 500 employees, and that  that provide the following goods or services:

• Chemicals
• Connectivity
• Construction and Outside Plant work
• Consulting Services
• Educational Services
• Facilities Maint & Design
• Financial Services
• Fleet / Auto Parts
• HR Services
• I T Products, Services and Maintenance
• Legal
• Logistics
• Marketing communications
• Market Intelligence / Research
• MRO / Supplies / Office Supplies
• Packaging Materials and Services
• Printed Material and Services
• Software
• Security / Security Systems / Security Services
• Temporary / Complementary / Sub Contractor Workforce

Currently, 15 large companies are participating in Supplier Connection, including Citi, Facebook, and major American manufacturers like John Deere and Caterpillar. The participating companies have a combined supply chain of more than $300 billion, and they are looking to work with more small businesses.

Learn more about and register for the Supplier Connection here.

State Certification & Business Seminar

Doing Business with the Commonwealth and Certification Made Simple

Presented by the Pennsylvania Department of General Services. Co-sponsored by E-Magnify and the Small Business Development Center at Saint Vincent College.
 
Date: April 19, 2012
Location: Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, PA
Registration: 8:30 a.m.
Doing Business with the Commonwealth: 9:00 a.m. - Noon
Lunch: On your own (available for purchase on campus)
Certification Made Simple: 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.  
Cost: Free
CPE Other Credits available

Grow your small business with state contracting and learn about state certification of minority-owned and women-owned businesses. This workshop is recommended to any business owner interested in doing business with the government, but minority and women business owners are especially urged to attend.

Doing Business with the Commonwealth (9:00 a.m. - noon) will cover the following topics: 

• how to find and bid on state contracting opportunities;
• how the state purchases goods and services;
• using state contracting to "grow" a small business and what resources are available;
• state programs to help small businesses make use of contract and subcontracting opportunities; and 
• a short segment on obtaining state certification as a minority- or woman-owned business. 

Certification Made Simple (1:00 - 3:00 p.m.) is a hands-on, interactive, step-by-step walk-through of the certification application. Those who attend this segment of the program will be able to go back to their offices, gather the required attachments, and submit a comprehensive application.

For more information and to register, call Saint Vincent College SBDC/CGC at (724)537-45872.