Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce hosts annual Minority Enterprise Week

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)-The Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce is hosting its annual Minority Enterprise Development Week to help small business owners.

This week is designed to help minority, women, and service- disabled veteran business owners receive help in their line of work.

They have a chance to learn from experts on how to apply for Disadvantaged Business Enterprise certifications.

These certifications are a must have for eligible small businesses.

Many Chattanooga businesses had no idea about these types of certifications.

Cherita Adams, who is the owner of the Blue Orleans Seafood Restaurant said, “Someone like myself who has been in business for almost 10 years and I’m still not certified, I still don’t understand the certification process and all of the benefits that come with it, but with the Chattanooga chamber of commerce I am hoping that they can connects the dots for me as a business owner.”

The Minority Development Week has been going on since 1983.

Below is from The Chamber of Commerce for rest of the events that are scheduled this week:

TUESDAY, Oct. 25
6 p.m.
Bessie Smith Cultural Center: 200 E. Martin Luther King Blvd., Chattanooga, TN 37403

HOW TO KEEP THE FAMILY BUSINESS GOING AND GROWING
Join us for a panel discussion between minority business owners and their children taking over family businesses. This intergenerational session will show how local business owners survived – and sometimes thrived – through decades of discrimination, economic decline and family challenges. You’ll also hear from the next generation of business owners on how they plan to move these businesses forward in a technology driven economy. Have times really changed? What advice can each generation give to today’s business owners? Panelists include:

• Bobby Adamson and son, Charles Adamson – Adamson Developers, LLC
• Carolyn Jones and son, Charles Kimbrough, Jr. – CJ Enterprises, Inc.
• John Edwards III and son, Adrian Edwards – Chattanooga News Chronicle

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 26
11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Bessie Smith Cultural Center: 200 E. Martin Luther King Blvd., Chattanooga, TN 37403

MED WEEK LUNCHEON
Keynote Speaker: Albert Woodard
Chattanooga’s first MED Week honoree, Albert Woodard, recently sold his healthcare IT company, Business Computer Applications Inc., reported to be one of the largest minority owned software development companies in the U.S. As board chairman of KaZee, another information technology company, he continues to provide healthcare IT products and services. Hear his unique journey from working as a software engineer in Chattanooga to launching with a college classmate one of the nation’s fastest growing small businesses that impacted global underserved populations by using technology to improve patient healthcare. This Chattanooga area native has been recognized as a seasoned entrepreneur and pioneer of the information technology age.

THURSDAY, Oct. 27
11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
INCubator – Business Development Center: 100 Cherokee Blvd., Chattanooga, TN 37405

SMALL BUSINESS CONTRACTS: GET YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW
Presenter: Amanda Jelks, Attorney and Owner at Jelks Law Firm
When it comes to negotiating or enforcing contracts, many small business owners make the same mistakes, costing them more money than expected. Learn how to avoid the pitfalls of contracts at this lunch and learn seminar. You’ll find out what you want, don’t want and need before signing a contract, and there will be time for any contract-specific questions you may have.

To sponsor an event, get more information or register for MED Week 2016 events, contact Maria Noel, Chattanooga Chamber, at (423) 763-4338 or mnoel@chattanoogachamber.com.