San Tan Valley, Ariz., August 16, 2011 – Sponsors of the Northeastern Pinal Business & Technology Expo announce a return of last year’s successful event on Thurs., Oct. 6, 7:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., Poston Butte High School in San Tan Valley.
“We were encouraged by the response of the business community to last year’s Buy Pinal event. This year’s event will be even bigger because more buyers want to meet with small businesses,” said Jack Malpass of the Small Business Development Center of Central Arizona College. Buyers participating are from large businesses and public agencies that would like to do business with local suppliers.
To help small businesses with their presentations, a short training meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Wed., Oct.5 at Poston Butte. There will also be a walk-through of the next day’s events at that time, as businesses will be going from interviews with buyers to business-to-business networking, technology mini-workshops, and displays in individual booths.
Malpass expects to exceed the 28 large business buyers and 60 small businesses that signed up last year. “We could use more small businesses that offer a product or service that would appeal to corporations. We especially want to encourage minority, women and veteran-owned businesses to attend”
An addition to The Expo, this year will increase learning opportunities for attendees by offering mini-workshops on business related technologies and having additional technology venders.
Interested businesses desiring to participate at any level can register online at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e3s9iezg7d89ddc0&llr=a56oxlcab
or by going to www.centralaz.edu/biz and selecting “Northeastern Pinal Business & Technology Expo” from the list on the right. For more information, contact Lorrie Pena at Central Arizona College Small Business Development Center at (520) 494-6610 or email her at
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.
Organizers of the event compare the Expo to “speed dating” for businesses. Small businesses are matched with buyers from big businesses and public agencies and meet with them for a specific length of time. Small businesses that offer products or services that do not match up with the needs of attending big businesses may participate in business-to-business networking opportunities.
In addition to small and big business attendees, limited space will be available to vendors that provide products and services to small businesses.
“There will be a number of ways for small businesses to promote themselves and to interact with others. Our goal is to strengthen the regional business community through this event,” says Malpass.
The San Tan Valley Chamber of Commerce is one of the sponsors of the Northeastern Pinal Business & Technology Expo.
