NEWS RELEASE

Date: March 1, 2010
Released by: Alma Brown, Communications Manager, 494-8554
Subject: Government Purchasing Diversity Workshop

This FREE event sponsored by the City of Peoria, the County of Peoria, Peoria Housing Authority and CityLink will be held on Wednesday, March 17, from 9:30 am. to 1:00 p.m. at the Illinois Central College North Campus, Arbor Hall, 5407 N. University Street, Peoria, IL.
Other key supporters include ICC Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), Economic Development Council for Central Illinois (EDC for Central Illinois), and ECHO, a consortium of governmental, educational, economic development, and private sector organizations.
Small business owners will have an opportunity to learn the requirements for doing business with governmental agencies and meet the purchasing agents from the City of Peoria, County of Peoria, Peoria Housing Authority, CityLink, USDA, and others.

These governmental units are seeking companies that are currently certified or could become certified DBE, MBE, WBE, 8(a), Section 3, or Service-Disabled Veteran owned.

Companies can also get valuable information on the federal certification process and business financing from the following business resources: ICC-Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), EDC for Central Illinois, Peoria Citizens Committee for Economic Opportunity, and IBFS-SBA. Representatives of these agencies will be available to speak with you during the open networking session.

Scheduled to speak at the workshop are Linda Krendick, Director, Illinois PTAC at ICC, and Valerie Ross, Branch Manager, U.S. SBA.

Pre-registration is requested by March 3, 2010. To register, please contact:
David Watkins, City of Peoria, dwatkins@ci.peoria.il.us or 309-494-8528 or
Virginia Pearl, County of Peoria, vpearl@peoriacounty.org or 309-672-6054.

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