Women business owners invited to conference June 22 in Jackson

Posted: Friday, June 4, 2010 1:35 pm

WestStar Leadership Program, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development/Business Enterprise Resource Office, Tennessee Economic Council on Women and the University of Tennessee at Martin Regional Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Center will sponsor a women business owners opportunities conference, “Building Blocks for Success.”
The event is planned from 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. June 22  at the West Tennessee Center for Agricultural Research, located at 605 Airways Blvd. in Jackson.
The registration fee will be $40 per person and a continental breakfast and lunch are included.
The conference offers a host of opportunities for women business owners who want to sell in the business-to-business (B2B) marketplace. This multi-billion dollar market segment consists of buyers from government and private industry that purchase services, equipment, supplies, transportation, wholesale, retail, agriculture, finance or most any good or service. This niche market offers contracting jobs that can help establish strategic relationships to increase a company’s competitive edge, so the business can grow exponentially.
Conference sessions will cover procurement opportunities, marketing, contracting, social networking, stress management and business branding.
Also included will be one-on-one consultations with financial resources/services.
Jennifer Rawls, executive director of the Tennessee Economic Development Council for Women in Nashville, will open the conference. Speakers and panelists and the organizations they represent include Cheri Childress, BeCe Enterprises Inc. vice president, Milan; Sharon Taylor McKinney, Tennessee Department of ECD/BERO, Memphis; Saundra Jackson and David Doyle, Tennessee Small Business Administration, Memphis; Dr. Beverly Alexander, University of Phoenix; Teresa Sanders, Southwest Tennessee Development District; Harriet Cannon, USDA Rural Development area director; Art Brown, consultant, Atlanta; Ron Acree and Joel Newman, TSBDC, Jackson; Stacy Nunnally, special media and non-profit consultant, Murfreesboro; and Michelle Weatherford, LEARN Consulting, president, Atoka.
As an optional activity following the conference, there will be an experiment station tour led by Carol Reese, ornamental horticulture specialist.
Registrations are taken on a first-come, first-serve basis.
If registering by mail, send checks made payable to WestStar to UT Martin, 321 Administration Building, Martin, TN 38238. One check for a group will be accepted, but there must be a separate registration form filled out for each attendee. If registering by e-mail, send correspondence to Virginia Grimes at vgrimes@utm.edu. Make sure to include name, business, complete address and phone number. The check should arrive by the deadline June 15.
To register by fax, send forms to  (731) 881-7019 and credit card information can be added to the FAX form.
There will be no refunds.
For more information, call Ms. Grimes at (731) 881-7298.
Published in The Messenger 5.31.10