SBA Suppliers Conference Gives Kansas Small Business a Chance to Shine 

Small businesses looking to score new contracts for their products and services will have a chance to meet industry and government buyers during the 2023 Kansas Suppliers Conference, offered by the Small Business Administration June 14-15.

The Conference will be held in the Textron Aviation Activity Center and is the first face-to-face conference since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. 

Buyers representatives from local, state and federal agencies will be on hand. 

Registered suppliers will have an opportunity to meet one-on-one with buyers for brief meetings based on supplier capabilities and alignment with buyer forecasts.

SBA District Director Wayne Bell said registration does not guarantee a one-on-one meeting, but it is a requirement to participate in the buyer/supplier matched meeting appointments.

Even for those who do not get meeting appointments, the conference will provide a chance to network with dozens of government contracting resources and participate in breakout sessions on a number of relevant business topics.

The conference opens at 8 a.m. on June 15 and runs until June 16 at 5 p.m. Guest speakers covering a range of topics of interest to buyers will make presentations on June 15.

Participating buyers include DLA-Aviation, Kansas City Kansas Community College, Textron Aviation, Textron Aviation Defense and Textron Systems.

The individual workshops on June 16 will be designed to promote Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and will focus on helping small businesses integrate into the supply chain to market their products to commercial representatives or to state and federal contractors.

Co-sponsors of the Suppliers Conference include Stryvant Bank, Evergy, Wichita Area Chamber of Commerce, Textron Aviation Defense, Cessna Beechcraft by Textron, America’s SBDC Kansas, the City of Wichita, Wichita State University, Sedgwick County, Kansas Procurement, Technical Assistance Center, Bank of America, the Kansas Department of Commerce, Swindoll Janzen Hawk and Lloyd Certified Public Accountants, Veetboz. SCORE, the City of Wichita, Wichita Public Schools and the Institute for Supply Management.