MBOF
September 23-24, 2008
Event Location
Touchstone Energy Place
RiverCentre
175 Kellogg Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55102

Sponsors

PLATINUM

3M

Cargill

Supervalu

Wells Fargo


GOLD

Affinity Marketing


Business Journal

Medtronic


SILVER

Ecolab

Express Scripts

Taj Technologies

Xcel Energy


BRONZE

Lockheed Martin

Select Source International

Synico

Virtelligence

WiseSoft

SEPTEMBER 23-24, 2008

Touchstone Energy Place • RiverCentre
175 Kellogg Blvd. • St. Paul, MN 55102

The original regional conference and business opportunity fair for minority business owners in the Midwest, presented by the Midwest Minority Supplier Development Council

Conference Highlights

  • Business Opportunity Fair - the upper Midwest's largest and oldest procurement fair for certified MBEs and the premier event for MBEs in the upper Midwest
  • Corporate Connections - one-on-one meetings between certified MBEs and corporate buyers form across the upper Midwest
  • Corporate Workshops - addressing current supply chain trends and issues such as green management, green IT, as well as diversity and inclusion trends
  • Small Business Workshops - addressing business opportunities in trends in relation to green IT, international business, and how to engage a corporation to become a value added supplier
  • Business & Awards Luncheon with featured speaker Matt Roloff from the hit TLCTM television series Little People, Big World
  • Recognition of the 2008 MMSDC Corporation of the Year

 

In order to cultivate a more inclusive marketplace, the MMSDC is pleased to host the 2008 Midwest Business Opportunity Fair (MBOF). Here you will be able to facilitate new business relationships among the region's most prominent private and public economic sustainability experts.

Key note speaker

MATT ROLOFF
TV Star (Little People, Big World), Businessman, Advocate, Parent
Keynote Speaker (click image for company website) Matt Roloff

With the growing media attention and changing socio-economic demographics, companies can no longer view diversity as a fad.  Diversity is now the key to new markets, new business opportunities and new ways of doing business.  Moreover, with the changes in the global economy, corporations are taking a very close look at their end-users and coming up with new strategies to work with them. 

To help communicate this ever-growing message to the business community, the MMSDC with the assistance of Carlson®, has invited Matt Roloff to speak as the keynote speaker at the 2008 MBOF Luncheon.  Roloff, 47, was born with diastrophic dysplasia- a genetic disorder responsible for his dwarfism.  He is best known for the his role in the hit TLCTM series Little People, Big World.  But being a media personality is not his only claim to fame.  He is also a well-known author, and successful businessman. 

Direct Access Solutions, a company owned by Matt, illuminated the hospitality industry to the growing need for hotels to provide user-friendly solutions to an underserved demographic consumer group.  While roughly 1 in every 1000 guests of the hospitality industry has dwarfism, few services were available to serve clients under 4’10".  Since its inception, his company has introduced their accessibility kit to a wide range of hotels, dramatically increasing the accessibility and ease of use available to guests with dwarfism.  In 2006, Matt secured a contract with Carlson Hotels Worldwide® to provide accessibility consulting services and products.  This new way of doing business helped Carlson Hotels Worldwide® increase their market share in an underserved market.

Matt will address the group and talk about overcoming adversity and how incorporating your end-user into the supply chain leads to increased market share, which in turn creates a more sustainable economy.