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Small Business and Veteran Programs
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2023 Town Hall and Vendor Opportunity Fair
Our first ever Town Hall and Vendor Opportunity Fair was held at the Osceola Performing Arts Center on July 26, 2023. The purpose of this event was to allow small and veteran-owned businesses the opportunity to meet and network with construction managers and general contractors looking for subcontractors for current and future jobs with the Osceola School District, as well as officials from several community advocacy and support groups.
The Town Hall portion of the event included a panel of experts whose goal was to address the efforts our construction managers take to encourage participation by Small and Veteran-Owned Enterprise firms, as well as other underserved vendor populations, in their construction projects. Panelists included Jason Mitchell from CORE|HORUS, John Weaver from Charles Perry Partners, Inc., Richard Rodriguez from Pirtle Construction Company, Jeff Carter from WELBRO Building Corporation, Jeffery Williams from Wharton-Smith, Inc., and Rick Dunn from Williams Company.
The networking portion of the event included booths hosted by our panelist firms, in addition to Arnco Construction, Inc., Balfour Beatty, Bishop Construction Group, DACG INC, Gilbane Building Company, LEGO Construction Co., SEMCO Construction, Inc., Skanska USA Building Inc., T&G Constructors, Chase, the Florida Association of Veteran Owned Businesses, the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, Orange County Public Schools' Office of Business Opportunity, Prospera, St. Cloud Greater Osceola Chamber of Commerce.
We hosted almost 100 attendees from varying businesses looking for future opportunities to do work with the Osceola School District, which for our first event, was a huge success. I’d like to thank all of our panelists, booth hosts, attendees, school board members, district leadership, and district staff for their assistance and support in making this event a smashing success!
We here at the Small Business and Veteran Programs office, couldn't have done it without you!