The Danville Office of Economic Development & Tourism (DOEDT) hosted the Southern Virginia Procurement and Business Resource Summit: Where Connections Create Opportunities, on April 16 at the Institute for Advanced Learning & Research. Over 150 community members were registered with over 30 business support resources and vendors in attendance.
The summit was sponsored by Microporous, Alston Construction, Crawford Hoying, Caesars Virginia, and Basset Office Supply.
This event aimed to educate local business owners how to obtain contracts with large agencies and government entities and the SWaM (Small, Women, and Minority-owned business) certification process. Attendees also explored funding opportunities, local business support resources, marketing strategies, and presentations on access to capital.
Samantha Bagbey, DOEDT Project Manager, reflects on the impact of this event. “We had a great turnout for the summit from attendees to resources to speakers! My favorite line of the day came from our speaker, Mo Collins, who said, ‘Danville has a plethora of entrepreneur and business support programs, you just need to take advantage of them!’ My hope is that this gives more confidence to businesses that haven’t reached out yet, encouraging them to see how we can assist them in achieving their dreams.”
Presenting speakers included: Karen White (Virginia Small Business Financing Authority), Wirt Confrey (Virginia Tourism Corporation), Kim Pritchet (Virginia Department of General Services), Mo Collins (International Economic Development Council), Alexandra Veatch and Jenn Kinne (Letterpress Communications), and Lynn Mann (Virginia APEX).
To learn more about upcoming workshops, events, and training opportunities, visit discoverdanville.com.
About the Office of Economic Development and Tourism
The Danville Office of Economic Development & Tourism recruits and retains businesses for the Danville area. The office provides information on available sites and buildings, incentives and other financial resources and offers a website designed for the business community: www.discoverdanville.com.