CIRAS government contracting specialist
This “prototype” event was conceived after discussions with procurement and economic development professionals from the Tri-State region covering Southeast Iowa, Northeast Missouri and Western Illinois. The goal was to alleviate a definite lack of formal educational events in this region and to share knowledge from a variety of state resource providers, as well as to provide a venue for B2B networking across state lines.
Community organizations and resource providers from all three states agreed that we had a common mission — to provide information and opportunities to area businesses with the intent for them to grow, expand, or at the very least be aware of items of interest in their regional area. The conference included speakers on a variety of topics, including tips for doing business with various federal, state and local government entities; initiatives such as the Stronger Economies Together (SET) program funded by USDA; and putting together successful lending packages. A variety of resource providers, organizations, and companies from all three states participated in networking with exhibitors and attendees.
Guess what? The first event was so successful, we are preparing for the 2017 Tri-State Procurement conference, to be held March 8, 2017, at Hannibal LaGrange University, in Hannibal, Mo.
If you attended the initial event in Keokuk, you won’t be disappointed this year. And if you did not attend last year, consider joining us, as we currently have a robust line up of educational tracks. Some of the planned sessions are:
- Doing Business with the St Louis Corps of Engineers, National Park Service and State of Missouri;
- Tips for successful subcontracting;
- Exporting;
- Tips for fraud protection
- New Small Business Administration (SBA) programs
Those are just a few. There also will be time set aside for networking to help businesses in the region understand all of the capabilities available, find potential partners/suppliers, and talk one-on-one with presenters and other resources.
All in all, we are shooting to make the Second Tri-State Procurement Conference even better than the first, and really drive the businesses in the tri-state region to learn, grow and expand.
For more information on the Tri-State Procurement Conference, visit http://www.ciras.iastate.edu/events.asp or http://www.tristateprocurementconference.com/. For questions, contact Beth White at whiteb@iastate.edu.