2012 Big Bend Minority Enterprise Development Week
To recognize the achievements of and contributions to the local economy by area small and minority businesses, the City of Tallahassee will celebrate the 20th annual Big Bend Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week, Sept. 23-28. The event will offer workshop sessions to assist small and minority businesses with ways to improve their practices. The theme for this year’s event is “Job Creation in America: Build it Here – Sell it Everywhere.”
The special week, first designated by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 and observed every year since, allows local and regional small/minority-owned businesses to celebrate the positive impact they have on the economy. MED Week also recognizes the significant support given to small and minority business development by government agencies and the corporate community.
Following an event kickoff worship service at Truth Gatherers Community Church this Sunday, Sept. 23 at 10 a.m., a series of workshops will take place throughout the day on Wednesday, Sept. 26. The workshops include Branding & Marketing, Conflict Resolution, and Alternative Financing. Workshops start at 8:30 a.m. and will take place at Florida State University’s Turnbull Conference Center, 555 W. Pensacola St.
Two additional workshops, Social Media and Customer Service, will take place on Thursday, Sept. 27 at 8:30 a.m., also at FSU’s Turnbull Conference Center. The week’s activities conclude that evening at the Turnbull Center with the annual MED Week Awards Banquet at 7 p.m. Dr. Jerry Osteryoung of Jerome S. Osteryoung, LLC, will serve as the banquet’s keynote speaker.
At the awards banquet, Dr. Carolyn J. Ryals of KopyKat Copy Center will be honored as the 2012 recipient of the “Reginald L. Rolle Economic Development Champion of the Year.” Additional awards will be presented to the Minority Business of the Year: Data Set Ready, Incorporated, and the Women Business of the Year: Rippee Construction, Incorporated.
For more information on MED week, please contact the City’s Minority Business Enterprise office at 891-6500 or visit Talgov.com/ecd.
