Small Business Event is Nov. 9 & Nov. 10.

Pictured above is Andrea Rogers Mosley, director of ASU's SBDC.
ASU's 10th Annual 'Small Business Procurement Conference' is Nov. 9 - Nov. 10;
Sponsored by the University's Small Business Development Center.
- A two-day virtual conference.
- Attendees may "pitch" their services and products.
- Free, but pre-registration required at https://asbdc.
By Kenneth Mullinax/ASU
Alabama State University's Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its annual Small Business Procurement Conference, which offers important and relevant information to all industries, especially information technology, professional/service/
Andrea Rogers Mosley, the SBDC's executive director, explained that this year's event will take place over a two-day period in a virtual format and that the event is free, but requires that all participants register online by the end of the day on Nov. 8 (Monday). The event begins on Nov. 9 (Tuesday) with educational procurement readiness workshops, and educational workshops will continue on Nov. 10 (Wednesday).
"The conference will offer educational presentations, contracting opportunities and business connections between federal agencies, prime contractors and corporations with Alabama's small businesses who are attending the event," Mosley said. "This annual event is designed to foster contracting opportunities between federal, state, local governments, primes and private entities with local small businesses, women-owned, minority-owned, small disadvantaged-owned, HUB Zone-owned, and our honored veteran/service disabled-veteran owned small businesses."
ATTENDEES MAY PITCH THEIR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
On the event's second day at the close of the educational workshops, the conference's attendees will be allowed to virtually "pitch" (present) and showcase their products and services to procurement decision-makers and small business contracting specialists from government and corporate agencies who will be present at the conference.
Mosley explained that space is limited to only 10 businesses per agency with a time allocation of seven to 10 minutes to "pitch” to the attendees. Only confirmed participants will be allowed to pitch their capabilities.
PROGRAM IN A MATCHMAKING FORMAT
SBDC Director Mosley stated that she has devised a format to ensure that agencies are speaking with vendors that are capable of meeting their needs at this 10th anniversary event.
"This year’s ‘matchmaking’ sessions will be segmented into major industry categories, which include construction, information technology, transportation/logistics and professional/service/
SPEAKER AND ATTENDEES FOR THE EVENT
The guest speaker for Nov. 10 at Noon is Charles Underwood, owner of C&R Movers of Montgomery, who is the 2018 SBA -Alabama Small Business Person of the Year. This year's special honored military veteran is Capt. Thomas Taylor (ret.), a U.S. Army veteran and former Alabama PTAC advisor at ASU.
Some of the invited agencies for the conference are: NASA; Missile Defense Agency; Maxwell-Gunter AFB Business and Enterprise Systems (BES); Army Air Force Exchange Services; Amtrak; FEMA; Veterans Administration; Alabama Department of Transportation; Montgomery Housing Authority; State of Alabama Purchasing Department; Montgomery County Board of Education; Alabama State University Purchasing Department and others.
Registration and virtual networking begin at 8 a.m. each day with sessions ending at 4 p.m.
For more information: arprice@alasu.edu