Final Report In 2017, the Office of Supplier Diversity (OSD) expanded the Supplier Diversity Exchange event and brought it to South Florida for the first time. Traditionally, Orlando was the furthest south the event has been held. However, based on the success of the Supplier Diversity Exchanges and the number of certified businesses in South Florida, OSD decided to head further south. In partnership with Broward College, OSD held its first-ever Supplier Diversity Day on Friday, August 25, 2017, at the Broward College North Campus Omni Auditorium. The Broward College Supplier Relations and Diversity Office organized and managed the event s sponsorships, lunch, exhibit hall, and panel discussion. OSD organized and managed the event s registration logistics and one-on-one interviews. Attendees were welcomed and greeted with opening remarks from Avis Proctor, Broward College s North Campus President and Judy Schmelzer, Broward College s Associate Vice President of Business Services and Resource Management. After the welcome, the City of Coconut Creek presented a proclamation declaring August 26, 2017, as Supplier Diversity Day. From there, the audience listened to a panel discussion regarding barriers faced by small, minority and women-owned businesses in public contracting. The panel was moderated by Beatrice Louissaint, President of the Florida State Minority Supplier Development Council. Throughout the entire event, the exhibit hall was buzzing with networking and conversations at 35 tables occupied by local organizations. After the sponsored lunch, 22 organizations, including seven state agencies, participated in 15-minute one-onone interviews with small business attendees. Of the attendees who completed the post-event survey, 91.1% strongly agree or agree that participating in the event was beneficial. Event Attendance Overall, there were 353 registrants for the event and 215 attendees participated. The below chart provides information on those who registered but did not attend, and the breakdown of those who attended.
Broward Supplier Diversity Day Attended: 215, 61% Small Business: 128 Registered But Did Not Attend: 138, 39% State & Local: 87 Registered But Did Not Attend Attended Small Business State & Local State and Local Agency Attendees A total of 42 state, local and federal agencies participated in the Broward Supplier Diversity Day. The below table outlines the organizations that participated in the exhibit hall and conducted one-on-one interviews during the Business Exchange. Company Exhibit Hall One-on-One Interviews Broward College Broward College Career Center Broward County Office of Economic and Small Business Development Broward County Public Schools Broward Health Cartaya and Associates Architects CCS Presentation Systems City of Pembroke Pines D. Stephenson Construction Inc. First Choice Cleaning Contractors Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Florida Department of Corrections Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Florida Department of Management Services, OSD & MyFloridaMarketPlace Florida Department of Transportation DBE Support Services/CEI Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Florida Power and Light Florida State Minority Supplier Development Council Gilly Vending Grace and Naeem Uddin, Inc. 2
Jackson Health Procurement Management Department Lunacon Construction Group, Corp Miami-Dade Aviation Department Minority Affairs Division Miami-Dade College Miami-Dade County Public Schools Miami-Dade Expressway Authority Miami MBDA Business Center National Disabled Veteran Business Council, Inc. Office Depot, Inc. Pirtle Construction Company PNC Bank Saltz Michelson Architects, Inc. SBDC Fort Lauderdale Skanska USA Building Inc. Business Development Small Business Administration South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Procurement Department Stiles Construction Sunshine Cleaning Systems, Inc. Thornton Construction Inc. Turner Construction Company US DOT, Office of Small Business, SE Region Post-Event Survey Feedback A post-event survey was sent to event attendees on August 31, 2017. Forty-five attendees completed the survey and reported the following feedback: 89% very satisfied or satisfied with the networking opportunities at the event. 89% agree that the objectives of the event were clearly defined. 84% agree that the objectives of the event were met. 91% agree that participating in the event was beneficial. 93% agree that they will likely recommend the event to friends and/or colleagues. Most important or beneficial take-away from the event: o One-on-ones. o Speaking with the Broward School Board Rep who was very knowledgeable and willing to proffer advice and strategies. o Understanding the power that local small businesses can hold in terms of local contracts. o The one on one meetings were fabulous! Really beneficial. o The different agencies ways of utilizing contract to piggyback off. o Learning that in a public bid, a non-winning bidder can obtain a copy of the winning bid and learn from it how to do better next time. o The huge amount of resources available to small businesses. o Importance of outreach and marketing. Biggest area of improvement for next year s event: 3
o I think it would be good to hear how other entities implement their preferences and how they actually work. I know many agencies probably have different methods of implementing and managing it. o More breakaway, or workshop style presentations. o Please bring a federal representative that can help understand getting federal work. o Increase exhibitors with purchasing and procurement people who directly work with vendors. Treat it more like a reverse trade show. o No more audience Q & A's at the mic. It just prolongs what others can teach us. o Give us the details who are the prime and their phone numbers or more assistant. o 1. Longer time. 2. State agencies must be more prepared! Not just tell people to email "such and such"...which really defeats the object of attending a face-to-face meeting. They need to come with very specific information, advice, and strategies about how small, minority businesses can actually get a State contract. What is the clear route in?!? What is the clear process? What are the realistic timelines? How does it all actually work? There should be a very clear road map. It should not be a guessing game. We should be able to walk away with a level of clarity. Either they offer smaller workshops or something; but it needs to be something that is much more clear, progressive, and useful in terms of take-aways and action-driven points. Suggestions for session topics for future events: o State Agencies need to present or give very specific workshops to small groups. Very specific targeted workshops so that we can walk-away with a clear plan of action. o I liked the format and would like to see additional topics covered if possible. o Explain the bidding threshold and process. o Environmental consulting. o More for Professional Service Suppliers please. o Best practices and solicitation advise. o Recommendation to vendors to network for future and supplemental business as well as other opportunities to work under Primes or large corporate entities. o More assistance in navigating the contracts. o Supply and Diversity, others can display then speak on their experiences. o The one question that was not asked and or answered was how long does it take the government to pay? Is it net 30, 60 or 90 days? Additional comments: o It was very informational overall a great experience and looking forward to attending in the future. o I expect to get a few orders, soon, due to the quality of the one-on-one meetings! Really great - will attend next time, for sure! o This inaugural event was valuable to our SBDC organization by providing both a learning experience and a networking opportunity. I was impressed by the level of attendees and table professionals. o The event put me in touch with some of the agencies I was interested in doing business with. o I feel blessed to have been at this event and I am looking forward to doing business in this sector. Thank you again for putting this event together. o I felt the event was truly about helping small businesses grow and flourish. Good job. 4
Event Photos o An event such as this will be beneficial to businesses and the community as a whole. o This was a great Supplier Relations & Diversity event, because it had something for everyone from the start up biz to the seasoned biz owner great job. 5
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