Business & Innovation Expo Will Be Packed with Opportunities
Food for Thought
The Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass., produced by BusinessWest and the Healthcare News, will pack plenty of knowledge and insight into one memorable day on Nov. 2, and not just on the show floor at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.
Take, for example, the lunch event, featuring keynote speaker Ron Insana, senior analyst and commentator with CNBC. Titled “Trumponomics,” Insana’s talk will address how Washington will affect the economy in the years ahead. As the U.S. and global economies move toward recovery, Insana will apply his journalistic perspective to how Wall Street, Main Street, and Washington shape what the new normal means for everyone.
A financial journalist with the experience of working for and running his own hedge fund, and now host of a nationally syndicated daily radio show in addition to his roles at CNBC, he has access to the top financial players in Washington and on Wall Street, and aims to translate the market signals and political maneuvers into information everyone understands. He is the author of Traders’ Tales, The Message of the Markets, TrendWatching, and most recently How to Make a Fortune from the Biggest Bailout in U.S. History: A Guide to the 7 Greatest Bargains from Main Street to Wall Street.
The event will runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., with check-in starting at 11:30 a.m. The cost is $25. To register, visit www.wmbexpo.com.
That event will follow a fund-raising breakfast for Revitalize CDC’s JoinedForces program, running from 7:30 to 9 a.m. on the Expo show floor. The master of ceremonies will be state Rep. Aaron Vega.
Revitalize CDC has been supporting veterans for more than 25 years. JoinedForces, in partnership with businesses, civic organizations, and other nonprofit agencies, provides veterans and their families with critical repairs and modifications on their homes to help make them safe, healthy, and energy-efficient. This is all done in a surrounding that offers integrity, dignity, and hope.
Registration is free, but day-of donations are strongly encouraged, as this is a fund-raising event. Parking in the Civic Center garage will be validated at the conclusion of the breakfast.
One of this year’s new Expo highlights comes from corporate sponsor MGM Springfield, which will showcase its contracting opportunities at the event. MGM is committed to awarding agreements to regional and certified minority-, woman-, and veteran-owned businesses that provide quality, competitive products and services.
The resort will have contracting opportunities in operating supplies, casino supplies, food and beverage supplies, food and beverages, hotel supplies, promotional print services, and more. To explain these, MGM will present two events during the Expo.
The first, “MGM Procurement Introduction,” runs from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. This session is an overview of the current needs of the resort, as well as general information about the new entertainment venue coming to the region, followed by questions and answers from the audience. Speakers will include Alex Dixon, MGM Springfield general manager, and Stacey Taylor, MGM Resorts International senior vice president and chief procurement officer.
During the second seminar, “MGM Matchmaking,” from 1:15 to 3 p.m., various MGM sourcing managers will be on site to meet potential partners. Each session lasts 15 minutes and will feature a sourcing manager at a table with seven seats available to be filled by companies interested in pitching their specific service or product. Each business will have two minutes to share their elevator pitch and a capabilities statement. Open discussion will follow if time permits. To register your company in advance, visit www.wmbexpo.com.
The Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass. will also feature more than 150 exhibitor booths, educational seminars, and a day-capping Expo Social. Current sponsors include Comcast Business (presenting sponsor), Johnson & Hill Staffing Services, Wild Apple Design Group, and Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C. (executive sponsors), Inspired Marketing and Go Graphix (show partners), MGM Springfield (corporate sponsor), Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst (education sponsor), Xfinity (social sponsor), Elms College (information booth sponsor), Smith & Wesson (Workforce Support Center sponsor), Savage Arms (JoinedForces parking sponsor), WMAS, WHMP, Rock 102 & Lazer 99.3, and MassLive (media partners), and the Better Business Bureau and Cartamundi (contributing sponsors). Exhibitor spaces are still available; booth prices start at $800. For more information on booth purchase, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100.
