Milpitas Business Expo Set for August

 CEO Carol Kassab has announced the 2011 Silicon Valley Business Conference, Expo and Procurement Fair.

The event will be held at the  from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 17.

The chamber's partners for the event are the Industry Council for Small Business Development (ICSBD) and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Silicon Valley Chapter.

Out of four seminars, participants can choose two, from 10 a.m. to noon:

• Corporate Panel by ICSBD presents how to find business opportunities with large corporations presented by a panel of four large company representatives. They will focus on how small firms can market themselves and follow up.

• Small Business Panel by NAWBO-SV presents a workshop on How To Become a Certified Woman-Owned Business, and the benefits of doing so. Three panelists will discuss their experiences in getting certified, and how it has helped their businesses.

• 11 Reasons Why Businesses Fail is presented by John Clinton of The Entrepreneur's Source, a franchise coaching organization. Clinton has more than 25 years experience in business development, product marketing, and direct strategic selling of world class test and measurement equipment.

• Contracting with the Government by Silicon Valley Small Business Development Council is presented by Robert Lane, procurement specialist with 30 years experience with the Department of Defense as Deputy for Small Business. There he monitored large prime contractors to ensure they did business with small, minority and women-owned businesses. 

A marketing discussion over lunch from noon to 1 p.m. will be led by Gabrielle Guidero of Axis Marketing Communications.

A two-hour trade show will follow, featuring possibly as many as 40 booths according to Kassab.

“I put together similar shows for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Silicon Valley and as Commissioner for Disadvantaged Businesses that were booked at the San Jose Convention Center that had as many as 200 booths and drew up to 2000 attendees,” she said.

She listed the benefits from the conference opportunities:

• Meet buyers and representatives from large corporations.
• Gain insight on positioning your business for competitive advantage.
• Make hundreds of face-to-face contacts in one day.
• Meet companies that could potentially become “partners” in preparing proposals and contracts.

Register online before Aug. 15:

• $30 for Milpitas Chamber, ICSBD and NAWBO members
• $35 for non-members
• $40 at the door

Ticket prices include admission to conference, seminars, lunch and trade show.

Gold ($1,500), silver ($1,000) and bronze ($600) sponsorships are available by contacting Carol Kassab.

For exhibit opportunities contact the chamber office or info@milpitaschamber.com