TAMPA, Fla. (Oct. 25, 2023) – The University of South Florida will host hundreds of women, veteran and minority business owners in an all-day event aimed at providing procurement and networking opportunities to help local companies expand. The sixth annual USF Small & Diverse Business Symposium & Opportunity Exchange will take place Friday, Oct. 27, and is considered the university’s largest symposium of its kind to date.
This year, the event will feature more than a dozen sessions and panel discussions to educate small business owners on a variety of subjects, such as maintaining clean financials, cybersecurity strategies and business taxes. For the first time, a mental health and wellness roundtable will also be included.
Attendees can then meet with buyers from corporations, government and non-profit organizations to make connections for future opportunities. This includes receiving information about major projects at USF, such as the on-campus stadium. The event also provides a forum for USF employees to build new relationships and broaden their pool of suppliers.
Hosted by USF’s Office of Supplier Diversity in partnership with the Tampa Bay Chamber, the Florida Small Business Development Center at USF and the State of Florida Office of Supplier Diversity, the event takes place from 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. in the Marshall Student Center on the USF Tampa campus.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for small, diverse business owners to take steps that will help launch them to the next level,” said Terrie Daniel, USF Office of Supplier Diversity assistant vice president. “The University of South Florida is focused on growing lasting relationships and providing resources to promote the economic development and sustainability of these businesses in the Tampa Bay region.”
In recent years, USF’s supplier diversity initiative has added a variety of programs to support local businesses, including a lunch-and-learn series for USF staff and faculty to educate them on best supplier diversity practices, a business empowerment series geared toward diverse suppliers and a mentoring program that has helped dozens of local companies thrive.
More information on USF’s Small & Diverse Business Symposium & Opportunity Exchange, including registration details, can be found here.
To view this story on the USF Newsroom website, click here.
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About the University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, a high-impact research university dedicated to student success and committed to community engagement, generates an annual economic impact of more than $6 billion. With campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee, USF serves approximately 50,000 students who represent nearly 150 different countries. U.S. News & World Report has ranked USF as one of the nation’s top 50 public universities for five consecutive years, and this year USF earned its highest ranking ever among all universities public or private. In 2023, USF became the first public university in Florida in nearly 40 years to be invited to join the Association of American Universities, a prestigious group of the leading universities in the United States and Canada. Through hundreds of millions of dollars in research activity each year and as one of the top universities in the world for securing new patents, USF is a leader in solving global problems and improving lives. USF is a member of the American Athletic Conference. Learn more at www.usf.edu.