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To recognize the achievements of and contributions to the local economy by area small and minority businesses, the Big Bend Minority Enterprise Development Week Committee will celebrate the 30th Annual Big Bend Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week from October 17th through October 21st. The event will offer networking events and workshop sessions to assist small and minority businesses with ways to improve their practices. The theme for this year’s event is “Power in Capital. Strength in Equity.”
The Big Bend Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week is North Florida’s premier conference for minority entrepreneurs and business owners. This event focuses on the outstanding achievements and contributions made by minority businesses; and will allow small/minority-owned businesses, government, and community professionals an opportunity to celebrate the impact of small/minority businesses on our economy.
In the past 30 years, the Big Bend MED Week Conference participants have represented minority business entrepreneurs, small business entrepreneurs, senior public officials, various industry executives, financial decision-makers, media, venture capitalists, private and public lenders, academicians, minority business advocates, and supplier diversity managers among countless others. This conference continues to be an impactful event for the Big Bend area.
Click on each to reveal our schedule of events. PLEASE NOTE: some events require registration, so don’t miss out!
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Florida State University Student Union Grand Ballroom
75 North Woodward Avenue
Hosted by: Elite Business Strategies and The Florida State University
Eventbrite Registration is required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/431791428787
8:00 am – 9:30 am
Bryan Wyatt, B-EZ Graphix
Courtyard by Marriott Tallahassee Downtown/Capital
1018 Apalachee Pkwy
Tallahassee, FL 32301
This is a free event. Registration is requested.
Hosted by: The Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce and The Office of Economic Vitality
You may register by clicking the event link here: https://web.talchamber.com/cwt/external/wcpages/wcevents/eventsstartpage.aspx
During this session, we will educate and equip business owners with the surefire strategies to craft click-worthy content and tools that will make their products and services easy to find and easy to buy. Our focus will be on the information, content, and resources to help business owners and their sales teams sell more effectively.
11:00 am – Noon
Featuring: Chris Edwards – MidSouth Bank and Michael DiNapoli – Florida Department of Economic Opportunity
Hosted by: The Office of Economic Vitality
Event will be livestreamed via Facebook and YouTube
8:30 am – 11:30 a.m.
Hosted by: Florida Department of Management Service – Office of Supplier Diversity
The Office of Supplier Diversity (OSD) is proud to present a virtual workshop as part of 2022 MED Week. This workshop will educate business owners on how to do business with the State of Florida, as well as how to become certified with OSD and how to become a Disabled Business Enterprise. The Department of Economic Opportunity will share opportunities for minority owned businesses. OSD will also be sharing valuable information as well as tips for small businesses. This will be an event that businesses won’t want to miss!
A zoom link will be sent out closer to the event.
Eventbrite registration is requested: https://tallahassee2022.eventbrite.com
6:00 PM
The Lincoln Center
438 West Brevard Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32304
Hosted by: Tallahassee-Leon County Office of Economic Vitality
This Office of Economic Vitality will be hosting an open house in which information will be provided regarding MWSBE certification, potential project participation, and how to engage in other procurement opportunities.
11:00 am – Noon
Featuring: Chirag Shah, The Current Agency, Jon Brown, Brown Consult, and Amelia Denson, The Moore Agency
Hosted by: The Office of Economic Vitality
Event will be livestreamed via Facebook and YouTube
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Featuring: Mario Ubalde, Director of Customer Success @SizeUp
Event registration is requested: http://sizeup.info/tallahassee
SizeUp is an interactive tool that allows small and medium-sized businesses to make data-driven decisions with information that is current, industry-specific and hyperlocal.
Features
5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
The Fuzzy Pineapple
1205 S Adams St
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Hosted by: 2022 Big Bend Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week Committee
This is a free event. Registration is requested.
You may register by clicking the event link here:
The Minority Enterprise Development Week Committee is excited to announce our first ever Food Truck Fest! Come and sample the delectables of these local minority-owned and women-owned food truck vendors while enjoying our live DJ. Featuring Leola’s Crab Shack, T Walk Snow Cones, Taste of Heaven BBQ, Keshia’s Kitchen, Conch Man Conway, and Decadent Delights. Join us!
6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Augustus B. Turnbull Center
555 West Pensacola St
Tallahassee, FL 32306
Presented by: The Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship
Florida State University l College of Business
This event is invitation only.
This is a night of celebration and recognition of our 2022 Reggie Rolle Economic Development Champion, Minority Business Enterprise of the Year, and Women Business Enterprise of the Year.
Anita Neal Favors is a trailblazer, tenacious leader and people advocate who has created a remarkable legacy as the first African American Female city manager of Florida’s capital city.
Honors and special recognition over her career span include community service awards from the American Society for Public Administration, Girls Scouts of America, Public Administrator of the Year from the Council of Neighborhood Associations, Trailblazer for Oasis Center for Women and Girls, Bethel Baptist Church Empowerment Corporation and she has received the President’s award from the local branch of the NAACP. She is one of “25 Women You Need to Know” class of 2020. Ms. Favors was identified as a Woman of Distinction by Florida A&M University, and a Tallahassee Legend by the Tallahassee Urban League. She delights in being a mentor to many young women and men who seek her counsel, particularly in the area of public service.
The MED Week Committee consists of state and local government agencies, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and minority business owners that are committed to supporting opportunities for minority businesses.
HEIDI OTWAY, APR, CPRC
SALTERMITCHELL PR PRESIDENT + PARTNER
Heidi Otway is the President of SalterMitchell PR, a communications consultancy providing strategic insight and guidance to organizations seeking to make an impact in the nation’s third most populous state.
Since joining the firm in 2003, she has led numerous public relations and public affairs initiatives, managed the reputation of top corporations, and developed campaigns targeting diverse stakeholders across Florida and the Southeast. For every client and cause, she relentlessly pursues results that can help them win. Her experience directing campaigns for Fortune 500 companies, mid-sized businesses, state agencies, associations, and large nonprofits, has solidified her as an expert in all aspects of media, communications, marketing, and audience engagement. Heidi’s work around the state includes:
Heidi began her career as a broadcast journalist after graduating from Florida A&M University. She became one of the youngest members of the Capitol Press Corps as the associate producer and writer for a statewide news bureau. She quickly advanced to making coverage decisions for television stations in Oklahoma and Florida. She was recruited to work as an assignment editor for a top-rated news station in Miami and the NBC affiliate in Tulsa. She later helped launch a news department for the NBC affiliate in Tallahassee and soon after became the first morning show Executive Producer for the Tampa CBS affiliate. In these roles, Heidi covered crisis situations including hurricanes, tornadoes, the Oklahoma City bombing, the 911 terrorist attacks, and the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster.
Heidi is called upon to advise diverse community-based organizations and she is very active on several local, state, national and global boards. She is Chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) committee for the IPREX Global Communications Network, a member of the DE&I committee for the Florida Public Relations Association, and past chairman of the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce. She is also on the boards for the Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Foundation, the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the United Way of the Big Bend, and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She’s been serving as the volunteer director of a food bank at her church, ALARM International Ministries, for more than 10 years.
Heidi is a sought-after public speaker, who is called on to serve as a spokesperson, presenter, instructor and facilitator for corporations, associations, governments, universities, and businesses. She is accredited by the Universal Accreditation Board for public relations and is a Certified Public Relations Counselor. She is married to her college sweetheart Richard, and they are the proud parents of three children and two new son-in-loves.