BLACK ENTERPRISE and Walmart Host Supplier Diversity Forum On Wednesday, September 25, in Indianapolis, Ind

Invitation-only Event to Explore How Entrepreneurs Can Create Partnerships to Prosper as Suppliers for Major Corporations

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BLACK ENTERPRISE

Sep 23, 2013, 01:47 ET

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

WHO:	BLACK ENTERPRISE, the premier business, investment, and wealth building resource for African Americans, along with Walmart, the nation's leading retailer and one of the nation's largest private employers of African Americans.

WHAT:	*20/20 Vision: Supplier Diversity in the 21^st Century,* a forum designed to explore how entrepreneurs can drive and manage growth and form profitable partnerships with large corporations as part of their supply chain.

WHERE:	JW Marriott
	10 West Street
	Indianapolis, IN 46204

WHEN:	Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Speaker and Event Highlights


8:00 a.m.	Registration/Networking/Continental Breakfast

9:00 a.m.	Remarks
	· Earl "Butch" Graves Jr., President & CEO, BLACK ENTERPRISE
	· Michael A. Byron, Senior Director, Supplier Diversity, Walmart
9:15 a.m.	Case Study: What It Takes to Grow Your Business
	· Billy Vickers, CEO, Modular Assembly Innovations L.L.C.

9:45 a.m.	Session 1: Strength in Numbers: Why 1 Plus 1 Equals 3
	This session will explore the best ways to attain scale by forming mutually beneficial partnerships with other enterprises in order to compete more effectively for contracts. A panel of successful entrepreneurs and small business experts will share their success stories and offer tips on how to reach scale and maintain healthy partnerships.
	· Ron Busby, CEO, US Black Chambers, Inc.
	· Sylvia Blackmon-Roberts, President & CEO, Blackmon-Roberts Group Inc.
Moderator:	Derek T. Dingle, SVP/Editor-in-Chief, BLACK ENTERPRISE

11:05 a.m.	Case Study: How I Built My Company for Growth
	· Dale LeFebvre, CEO, Ag Trucking Inc.

11:35 a.m.	Session 2: Up Your Cashflow
	This session will explore how entrepreneurs can raise capital to grow their enterprise and scale their business, identifying investment sources ranging from microloans to crowd funding to private equity. A top-level panel of experts will share where to find investment dollars and how to match the right capital sources to the optimum stage of business growth.
	· Maggie Harris, CEO, Engineering Systems Consultants Inc.
	· B. Doyle Mitchell Jr., CEO, Industrial Bank
	· Jonathan Brereton, Executive Director, Accion Chicago

Moderator:	Carolyn M. Brown, Senior Multimedia Content Producer, BLACK ENTERPRISE

1:00 p.m. –	Lunch/Networking
3:00 p.m.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This invitation-only forum is not open to the public. Interested press should contact Alfred Edmond Jr. at 212-886-9585 or via e-mail at [email protected].

SOCIAL MEDIA NOTE: For information and updates shared from this event on Twitter and other social media platforms, follow @blackenterprise and @WalmartAction or search the hash tag #BESUPPDIV

BLACK ENTERPRISE, your ultimate source of Wealth For Life, is the premier business, investing, and wealth-building resource for African Americans. Since 1970, BE has provided essential business information and advice to professionals, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and decision makers. Every month, BLACK ENTERPRISE magazine provides 4 million readers with information on entrepreneurship, careers, and financial management. A multimedia company, BE also produces radio and television programming, business and lifestyle events, Web content, and digital media. BLACK ENTERPRISE is the definitive source of information for and about African American business markets and leaders, and the authority on black business news and trends.

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