Annual Event Hailed for Connecting MBEs to Opportunities that Stimulate Growth and Lead to Contacts/Contracts 

CHICAGO, IL   - With unemployment reaching record levels, entrepreneurship is the best gateway to success – particularly for minorities who are often the first to lose their jobs.  However, once a firm opens its doors, the challenge is to find ways to make valuable connections to firms that both embrace supplier diversity and understand the value of doing business with minority-owned firms. 

Against this reality, the best pathway to success for minorities in Chicago is by attending the Chicago Business Opportunity Fair, (CBOF) which will be held April 18, 19 and 20 in Festival Hall “A” of Navy Pier. CBOF is sponsored by the Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council, whose president and CEO is Shelia Hill Morgan. 

CBOF, the oldest, largest procurement show in the nation, is devoted exclusively to developing partnerships between minority and majority-owned corporations and government agencies.  Now in its 44^thyear, CBOF has served as a catalyst for creating billions of dollars in contracts and opportunities for minority-owned firms, through its member base that includes corporations and government agencies.  The Fair features an array of activities whose sole purpose is to provide settings where minority-owned firms can showcase their goods and services before agencies committed to supplier diversity. 

This year’s event is driven by the theme: Winovation: Investigation, Optimization and Realization –  “More than just a phrase, it’s a strategy.” The presenting sponsor is Allstate.  

Highlights of the three-day business extravaganza include:

• Opportunities for MBEs and buyers to meet in a business setting

• Industry-specific segments

• Networking events where decision makers connect with prospects in a relaxed environment

• Information-filled workshops including the popular segment on How to Work a Fair and a new seminar on how to parlay Social Media into business success

• One on One Meetings including the popular Speed Date Business Forum

• An Awards Luncheon sponsored by ChicagoMSDC’s Minority Business Enterprise Input Committee where buyers are honored for their commitment to supplier diversity

• A gala dinner dance

• A Sponsors Breakfast featuring keynoter Steven Rogers, the Gordon and Llura Gund Family Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship at Kellogg Graduate School of Management – Northwestern University. 

The centerpiece of the event is the Trade Fair where MBEs man booths that showcase their products and

services and where corporations and government agencies meet prospects and make valuable connections

that can lead to business opportunities. 

Leading the event are Honorary Chairman Susan Whiting, vice chair, executive vice president and chief diversity officer, The Nielsen Company.  Co-Chairs are Arthur Zayas Miller, president/CEO – MZI Group, Inc., and Brinda Bradley, director – supplier diversity for the Nielsen Company.  Juventino Cano, president – Cano Container Corporation, is chairperson of the awards luncheon. 

In making the announcement Hill, declared,  “Small Business is the engine that drives the economy and minority business is the fastest growing segment in this small-business category. Through the contacts made at CBOF, minority business entrepreneurs can preside over their own firm and reap the rewards that entrepreneurship represents. Attending CBOF represents the most viable way to achieve business success because of the wealth of opportunities available, the contacts made and the knowledge gleaned under one roof and in three days.  That’s what CBOF delivers and why it enjoys continued success.” 

ChicagoMSDC members are encouraged to attend.  Non-members may participate in the Fair through a One-Day Pass. For more information on CBOF 44, contact Cynthia Jordan at 312-755-2555 or via e-mail at cjordan@chicagomsdc.org.  For more information on ChicagoMSDC, log on to its web site at www.chicagomsdc.org.  Updates on the Fair can be accessed on FaceBook and by following it on Twitter.