Business Community A-MAZE-D at the “Mastering the Purchasing Maze” Event
The small business community is less puzzled by the idiosyncrasies of doing business with governmental entities. Hundreds of business representatives met with purchasing officials from sixty-four federal, state, county, school districts and municipal entities on March 6, 2008 at the largest purchasing fair in the State: “Mastering the Purchasing Maze VI.”
Diverse business interests traversed the maze of booths in La Sala Ballroom on the ASU at the West Campus from 7:45am until 12 noon. Attendees also participated in breakout sessions with panel experts representing the General Services Administration, State of Arizona, Maricopa County, City of Peoria, U.S. Small Business Administration, Arizona Department of Commerce, and the Maricopa Community College Small Business Development Center Network.
Panelist Wes Baysinger, Director for Maricopa County’s Materials Management Division, noted that vendors interested in doing business with Maricopa County should register and consider participating in the County’s new Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Program - MCbiz. The program attempts to ease the procurement process for the small business community with an informal bidding opportunity for qualified businesses (those with under 100 employees or less than $4 million in annual gross revenues).
Small business owners that visited the MCbiz booth, Cindy A. Quiroz of C. Quiroz Construction, John Skjerven of Ceiling Lifts & Medical Supply, Inc., Rainow Byrd-Baldwin a Construction Industry Consulting Practitioner, and Linda Martin of Diamondback Promotions commented on the valuable information garnered from the event.
The purchasing fair was a success due to the collaborative spirit of various organizations – most with similar objectives. Each is interested in boosting the economic vitality of the region. Sponsors included the Arizona Department of Commerce, Arizona Public Service, ASU at the West Campus, BidSource, City of Glendale, City of Peoria, City of Phoenix, Glendale Chamber of Commerce, Glendale Public Library, Goodmans Interior Structures, Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, Luke Air Force Base, Maricopa Community Colleges SBDC, Maricopa County Department of Transportation, Maricopa County Materials Management, MCbiz-Maricopa County Small Business Enterprise Program, U S Bank, and Wells Fargo Bank.
MCbiz - Maricopa County’s Small Business Enterprise Program is charged with promoting the growth of the small business community and facilitating procurement activity. For more information visit its website: www.maricopa.gov/mcbiz or by calling 602-50MCbiz (602-506-2249).