After 15 years working in corporate America and, now, four years after starting his own company, Kevin Mobley knows what’s critical for a small business trying to land a supplier contract with a big firm.
“When you’re a small company, one of the key challenges is to know what’s happening internally” in those corporations, said Mobley, owner of the Ian Thomas Group, an Atlanta-based technology services firm. It’s important to know “what they’re buying, what they’re spending money on. And how . . . your company’s capabilities align with that.”
Mobley hopes to gather such intelligence Thursday at the annual Minority Enterprise Development Week Conference in Atlanta. The event will pair up suppliers with possible business partners such as Coca-Cola, Clorox and MARTA in what Mobley refers to as “speed dating” sessions.
He’s matched with Georgia Power, the City of Atlanta, New South Construction and Fulton County.
A total of 24 minority companies are matched up with 9 corporations and government entities. Sessions are 15 minutes each.
Those matches are pre-arranged, based on the purchasing needs of the corporations and the skills and experience of the suppliers, said Pat Hanes, regional director of the Minority Business Development Agency.
“Having an opportunity to get in front of someone who has forecast contracts is what small businesses need,” Hanes said, especially in a troubled economy.
The MBDA said it helped minority firms nationwide obtain $4 billion in contracts and capital in 2010.
Registration for the matchmaking session is closed. The rest of the event, which includes speakers and business panels in the morning and a dinner at night, is open to the public for a charge. It is being held at 725 W. Peachtree St. in Atlanta. Go to www.medweekatlanta.com for details.
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