Win in Business at the 44th Chicago Business Opportunity Fair (CBOF44)!

March 29, 2011 - PRLog -- News Release                                                                    ChicagoMSDC
                                                                Milana Walter,
                                                                                          Communications/Community Relations
                                                                                          312-755-2553
                                                                                          mwalter@chicagomsdc.org

Win in Business at the 44th Chicago Business Opportunity Fair (CBOF44)!


CHICAGO, IL – The doors of opportunity are again flung open as CBOF 44 - still a game-changer in minority supplier development since 1969 – rolls out with
their A-Game, once again.  

CBOF44, April 18-20, 2011 at Chicago’s Navy Pier offers robust, provocative information both from a corporate buyer standpoint and an entrepreneurial sales perspective. This year’s theme is WINOVATION: INVESTIGATION, OPTIMIZATION & REALIZATION. The theme is borrowed from the demand-driven strategy written about in, “How Companies Win” by Rick Kash(Cambridge Group) & David Calhoun (Nielsen).

Shelia Hill Morgan is President & CEO of ChicagoMSDC (Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council) the host of CBOF44.

CBOF, the oldest, largest procurement show in the nation, is devoted exclusively to developing partnerships between minority and majority-owned corporations and government agencies.  Now in its 44th year, CBOF has served as a catalyst for creating billions of dollars in contracts and opportunities for minority-owned firms, through its member base that includes corporations and government agencies.  The Fair features an array of activities whose sole purpose is to provide settings where minority-owned firms can showcase their goods and services before agencies committed to supplier diversity.

WORKSHOP HIGHLIGHTS:

CBOF44 launches with:

Monday, April 18, 2011

* SOCIAL MEDIA WORKSHOP, Monday, April 18. A valuable action-oriented business information session conducted by Jared Kelly, CEI Media Group at the Hyatt Regency – 4 – 5:30pm.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011


* SPEED DATE FORUM – Tuesday April 19 – Navy Pier, Festival Hall A, Level 3
MBE’s deliver 2 minutes pitches to buyers from companies Allstate, Nielsen, Advocate, Horseshoe Casino, Federal Reserve, United Airlines to name a few.  
Session 1: 8:30 am – 12 Noon/Session II: 12:30 pm – 4:00 pm


* SELLING OR STALKING – Tuesday April 19 – Festival Hall A,
9:00 am – 11:30 am
Entrepreneur Don Jones and Exelon’s Emmitt Vaughn focus on key elements
of corporate selling versus stalking to seal the deal.


* A POT OF GOLD IN YOUR BUSINESS – Tuesday April 19 –
Festival Hall A, 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Accountants from Office Max, Allstate, and City of Chicago discuss how to access capital ithin one’s own organization when in a financial pinch.

* GET IN THE GAME: SELLING TO CAESAR’S ENTERTAINMENT PROPERTIES – Tuesday April 19 – Festival Hall A, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Get first hand information from key Gaming Industry decision makers on how to do business with Harrah’s Joliet, Horseshoe Casino Hammond and others.

* HEATHCARE SYMPOSIUM – Tuesday April 19 –
Festival Hall A, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
The healthcare industry has been plagued by the dilemma of limited supplier diversity. Panelists from Cardinal Healthcare, Cook County, Novations and Owens & Minor and others discuss how MBE’s can optimize their participation in the healthcare industry.

Tuesday, April 19 – CBOF 44 AWARDS DINNER DANCE - Hyatt Regency –
6-10pm
NBC5’s Marion Brooks is host for the CBOF44 Awards Dinner Dance which recognizes outstanding corporate and MBE members. Funny man, Rudy Rush  from the Doug Banks Show and former host of Showtime at the Apollo, will provide the live entertainment. Music by D.J. Virgil.


Wednesday, April 20, 2011

* Sponsor’s Breakfast – April 20 – Navy Pier Grand Ballroom – 7:45 – 9:30 am

Sponsored by Allstate and Co-chaired by Nielsen, The annual Sponsor Breakfast is
Hosted by NBC5 Chicago’s Zoraida Samolin and Rob Elgas. Remarks will be made by Shelia Hill Morgan, President & CEO ChicagoMSDC, Honorary Chair, Susan Whiting, Vice Chair,EVP & Chief Diversity Officer for Nielsen. Mayor-Elect Rahm Emmanuel and Secretary of  State Jesse White have been invited.

Featured  speaker will be Steven Rogers, Director, Levy Institute for Entrepreneurial Practice and Professor of Entrepreneurial Finance at Kellogg who has been profiled in Crain’s Chicago Business and Harvard Business School Bulletin.

9:30 – 9:45 am –  Procession of Sponsor Breakfast guest to Festival Hall A
                             led by Proviso East Marching Band

9:45 am -              CBOF44 Trade Fair Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

10 – Noon             Trade Fair Opens

NEW!
THE CHICAGOMSDC YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS will exhibit their businesses at CBOF44 -Wed. April 20 – Festival Hall A, 10am – 12N & 2pm – 4pm.
This program, lead by Phillip Barreda, Executive Vice President, selects six seasoned MBE’s to mentor six Young MBE’s in various areas of business. Young MBE’s, ages 15-19, were selected by IIEE (Illinois Institute for Entrepreneur Education) for the program.


Noon – 2:00pm    Trade Fair Closed for lunch

Noon -  2:00pm     MBEIC Luncheon in Festival Hall B

2:00 – 5:00 pm      Trade Fair Re-Opens

5:30 – 7:30pm        Topping Out Reception – Lakeview Room


About Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council and CBOF 44:

ChicagoMSDC’s mission is to be the premier organization for increasing value-added business opportunities between major buying organizations and minority-owned businesses.  For over 40 years, serving both minority suppliers and corporate buyers, ChicagoMSDC has been Chicago’s central network where trading partners have been able to meet and develop sustainable business linkages.  Today, the ChicagoMSDC partnership includes over 200 private and public sector buying organizations and more than 1,000 minority-owned businesses.  Corporate members of ChicagoMSDC have reported over $3.5 billion in annual purchases from minority firms.  MBE members have reported the employment of more than 90,000 workers annually.  


CBOF is the premier business fair for minority procurement opportunities with over 4000 participants in Navy Pier. It was the impetus to the development of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), a network of over 37 regional councils in major cities across the nation and abroad of which ChicagoMSDC is the founding council.

The theme for CBOF 44 is “Winovation: Investigation, Optimization & Realization”, co-chaired by The Nielsen Company, MZI Group & Cano Container Corporation. Presenting sponsor is Allstate Insurance Company

Visit our website: www.chicagomsdc.org and friend us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and You Tube/ChicagoMSDC. For more information contact Milana Walter at mwalter@chicagomsdc.org.

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ChicagoMSDC (Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council) has facilitated major corporate buyers, i.e. AT&T, and minority suppliers, i.e. Ariel, for over 40 years. Chicago is the founding council of 37 regional councils with headquarters in New York.