Name: Business Opportunity Fair
Start: 2016-07-27T08:00:00+00:00
End: 2016-07-27T17:00:00+00:00
Location: Denver Athletic Club

July 27, 2016
8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Wednesday, July 27th

9:00 am – 5:00 pm

The Business Opportunity Fair (BOF) is intended to provide significant opportunities for the corporate members of the Mountain Plains MSDC and the MBEs certified by the Mountain Plains MSDC to strengthen its current business relationships and to forge new and beneficial relationships. Booths are available for purchase to our Corporate Members and certified MBEs to exhibit during the trade fair portion of the BOF. Additionally, one-on-one sessions with buyers from participating Corporate Members may be scheduled prior to the event during the Power Pavilion taking place during the trade fair.

Business Opportunity Fair Features:

Power Breakfast and Luncheon
Trade Fair featuring Corporations and MBEs of the Council
Power Pavilion with One-on-One Connections
Power Speakers
Closing Reception with Live Music

Agenda:

7:00 am – 9:00 am: Vendor Set-Up/Registration
9:00 am – 9:45 am: Program Kickoff
10:00 am – 12:00 pm: Business Opportunity Fair and Power Pavilion
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm: Lunch
1:45 pm – 3:30 pm: Business Opportunity Fair and Power Pavilion (continued)
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm: Closing Reception and Tear Down Booths

Mistress of Ceremonies for Breakfast Program

Docia Myer
CCSM, ACE-M, CSCIP-P, ACE-P
Vice President, Customer Experience
CPI Card Group

Docia Myer brings over 15 years of experience working in executive level leadership positions, including marketing, plus project, account, and customer experience management. In her current role, Myer shapes the go-to-market experience for the U.S. payments market for CPI Card Group (PMTS).Myer is an accomplished public speaker. Myer’s educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in international business from Lake Erie College and a master’s degree in project management from Keller Graduate School. She spends personal time helping her community working with multiple charities.

Greetings from the City & County of Denver

Paul Washington
Executive Director
Denver Office of Economic Development

Paul Washington is the Executive Director of the Denver Office of Economic Development. Prior to that, Paul was the president of LJS Holdings LLC, a leading finance advisory firm that specializes in international mergers, acquisitions and investment banking. LJS Holdings represents a select group of clients, including companies in Kuwait, India and Germany. Paul is also an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he teaches a graduate course in Business Planning.

Paul began his professional career as an attorney at the law firm of Hogan Lovells, specializing in large merger and acquisition transactions. Paul holds a Series 7, 24 and 28 securities license and is a member of the California and Colorado Bar Associations. He was appointed by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter to the State Securities Board in 2009 and by Governor John Hickenlooper to the University of Northern Colorado Board of Trustees in 2012.

In 1991 Paul earned his B.S. in business (finance) from the University of California at Berkeley and in 1996 received his JD from that institution’s Boalt Hall School of Law, where he was president of the graduate student body. He also earned his Master’s in Taxation from the University of Denver in 2012. Paul currently resides in Boulder, Colorado with his wife Nadia.

Featured Breakfast Speaker

Alison Felix
Vice President and Denver Branch Executive
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Alison Felix is vice president and Denver Branch executive at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. In this role, she serves as the Bank’s regional economist and representative in the states of Colorado, Wyoming and northern New Mexico. Felix also recruits and works closely with the Branch’s board of directors and is responsible for briefing the Kansas City Fed’s president-a member of the Federal Open Market Committee-on economic and business activity in the Denver region’s states. Felix’s research focuses on public finance and labor issues, with an emphasis on tax policy, state and local government finance and the economics of education.Felix joined the Federal Reserve in 2007 as an economist in the Regional Affairs Department in Kansas City. She was appointed Denver Branch Executive in 2012. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in economics from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in mathematics and economics from Kansas State University.

Master of Ceremonies for Luncehon Program

Romance Watson
Manager, Diversity Business Development
SHI International Corp

Romance is a Philadelphia native and has been with SHI for 22 years. He accepted a position at SHI in July 1994 as a Strategic Account Manager focusing on Fortune 50 and 100 corporate businesses in the state of Pennsylvania. In December 1997, Romance and family moved to the state of Maryland where his former spouse accepted her new role as CIO with a mid-size marketing firm and received her masters at the University of Maryland in Library Science and Archiving. We raised our daughter in Maryland where she is currently a 4^th year undergraduate attending Oberlin College as a double major Neuroscience and Computer Science.While servicing the Strategic Pennsylvania clients, he took on an added role of introducing and expanding SHI’s presence in the technology belt in Maryland. In March 2009, he was approached by his CEO, Thai Lee ,VP of Enterprise Sales – Al Fitzgerald and retired Director, Diversity Business Development – Sal Grillo to enhance SHI’s growing presence with the global supplier diversity community across the U.S. and abroad. Our Diversity Team currently consists of a Manager and 2 Coordinators. Romance’s current role allows him to travel to assist the over 800 Account Field Executives in all of SHI’s business segments working with clients that have and value supplier diversity spend program. Romance help build the MBE Partner Network program through MBE-to MBE partnering based on client requirements .Furthermore, he and his team manages and provides over 150+ 2^nd tier Quarterly Reports for our clients; establishes and maintains SHI’s internal MBE minority business development and mentoring program; sponsor and participate several NMSDC and WBENC regional/local council business opportunity fairs and proud to continue SHI’s tradition of being the nation’s premiere MWBE where we demonstrate excellence in leadership, management, customer and employee satisfaction through our expanded service offerings globally.

Featured Luncheon Speaker

Jillnell Joiner
Senior Supplier Diversity Manager
American Red Cross

Jillnell Joiner, Senior Supplier Diversity Manager for American Red Cross, is responsible for providing guidance and success towards the company’s supplier diversity initiative.

She travels throughout the Country putting on workshops about “How to Do Business with American Red Cross”. She started in her position with American Red Cross, May, 2013. She worked for a non-profit membership organization in Washington, DC for 26 years as a Purchasing/Supplier Diversity Manager.

Supplier Diversity success depends on senior management support, according to Jillnell. She is proud of the fact the American Red Cross Executive Director, Strategic Sourcing and the Senior Vice President, Diversity are warriors for Supplier Diversity. Senior management works directly with Jillnell to maintain a successful Supplier Diversity program. Jillnell is a tireless advocate, liaison, and go-to person for diverse vendors who wish to do business with the American Red Cross.

Before working at American Red Cross, Jillnell worked as a Supplier Diversity Consultant for a woman owned company getting them on the GSA schedule. She also trained the Sales Representatives about “Doing Business with Corporations”.

Jillnell is a proud mother of Kerron and two Grandchildren Nadia and Braylon.

She received her Under-graduate and Graduate degrees from Strayer University in Washington, D.C. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband Ron Joiner.

My passion for Supplier Diversity is working with vendors who are looking to do business with American Red Cross. As the Senior Supplier Diversity Manager for the American Red Cross, I am an advocate, liaison and go to person for vendors who are qualified to do business with American Red Cross”.

Power Pavilion Registration is Now Open!

The Power Pavilion (One-on-One) is an integrative procurement event that will bring together corporations and minority business enterprises (MBEs) in focused, one-on-one interviews. MBEs will have the opportunity to participate in interviews, sharing the details of their services and products. Corporate members take advantage of presenting their current and future procurement needs to multiple organizations at one event. This event is pre-scheduled and highly structured, allowing participants to make the most of their 10-minute interviews, with a 5-minute break between each interview.MBEs: Each minority business enterprise (MBE) can register up to five 10-minute interviews. Registration for certified minority-owned businesses will be scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. The Mountain Plains MSDC will make every effort to provide advance notice of current bids and contracts available to ensure that the appropriate suppliers/vendors are set up with the appropriate buyers. YOU MUST HAVE A VALID TICKET FOR THE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY FAIR TO PARTICIPATE IN THE POWER PAVILION.

View available opportunities from Participating Corporations

Click here to access the online registration form

Participating Corporations: