NY/NJ MSDC welcomes leading state officials to Business Opportunity Expo 2008

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine and Commissioner John Egan of the New York State Office of General Services cut the ribbon to open the Trade Fair section of the New York & New Jersey Minority Supplier Development Council’s Business Opportunity Expo 2008, held June 2 -3 at the New York Marriott Marquis.

With the theme Maximize Your Network to Increase Your Net Worth, over 700 supplier diversity executives, business officials andminority business owners were attendees at thetwo-day event.

“Governor Jon Corzine and Commissioner John Egan committing to participate in thismajor Expo on minority business ownership,shows that New York and New Jersey have a vested interest in the growth of minoritybusinesses,” said Lynda Ireland, president & CEO of The Council.

Keynote speakers included Dr. Randal Pinkett, founder, chairman and CEO of BCT Partners, and winner of NBC’s “The Apprentice”; Jennifer Openshaw, CEO of Openshaw’s Family Financial Network and author of “The Millionaire Zone”; Craig Clayton, Sr., founder and CEO of The Spartacus Group; and Mike Jones, president of Discover Leadership Training and a former decorated Houston police officer.

The expo was chaired by corporate cochair Theresa Harrison, director of supplier diversity, Ernst & Young, and minority business enterprise co-chair Anthony S. Kendall, vice chairman of client services,Mitchell & Titus.

Along with this year’s Construction Summit at the Expo featuring the symposium “Are You Green Enough for Us?/or LEED Certified?,” the expo held workshops onmaking the perfect business pitch; fine-tuning networking techniques; building acircle of influence; presenting solution-basedproposals; and positioning supplier diversityas a profit center.

For more information on The Council,

visit the Web site at www.nynjmsdc.org