An upcoming summit offers veteran-owned or -led businesses the tools, certification resources and opportunities they need to accelerate growth for their companies.

The North Carolina VetBiz Networking Reception and Procurement Summit is set for Aug. 21-22 at the McKimmon Center on NC State University’s campus. It is created and hosted by the North Carolina Veteran’s Business Association (NC VetBiz).

Programming for the event is divided into three content tracks. The “business tools” portion will cover social media marketing, raising capital, opportunities for agricultural industry businesses in North Carolina, among other topics.

Another content track involves informational sessions on veteran business certifications, including the NC Department of Administration Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) certification, the NC Department of Transportation Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) certification and the National Veteran Business Development Council certification.

The final track lays out the partnership and expansion opportunities veteran businesses can capitalize on. Sessions will cover the opportunities and considerations businesses can take when doing business with corporations and with State of North Carolina agencies.

A reception will kick off the summit on Aug. 21 from 6-8 p.m. at the Umstead Hotel in Cary. The event will include power networking, a trade show and matchmaking sessions where attendees can meet with buyers, procurement officers and potential partners.

NC VetBiz President and Chairman Kyle S. Winder says the summit is expected to draw in members and partners, corporate representatives, elected officials and purchasing agents from local, state and federal government.

“The event focuses on supporting our mission to support, educate and connect all veterans in commerce in North Carolina,” Winder said. “The support component is provided by our continued advocacy for our members and through providing information about all of the resources available to assist them in starting and growing their businesses.”

The educational component, Winder added, is represented in the three workshop tracks covering business tools, certifications and procurement opportunities.

Now in its fifth year, the annual NC VetBiz summit continues to grow after each run. Winder said last year’s event had a turnout of around 250 registrants, but the organization hopes to bring in more than 300 attendees this year.

“This year, we are also announcing a new partner relationship with the National Veteran Business Development Council (NVBDC), and BG (Ret.) Richard Miller will be speaking in the morning about this new relationship,” Winder added.

Previous and current sponsors of NC VetBiz’s Procurement Summit program include dozens of local and national institutions, including the NC Education Lottery, NC4Vets, the Carolina Small Business Development Fund, Business Link NC and others. Corporate partners include Google, Food Lion, Duke Energy, RTI International, Cisco, GlaxoSmithKline, among others.

The full event schedule is available here. Tickets are $50 per NC VetBiz member and $100 per non-member. For non-member nonprofit and government agency representatives, tickets cost $75. The corporate non-member rate is $110. Tickets and combined registration options are available on Eventbrite.

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