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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dan Shomon, (312) 578-0450
TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVES DISCUSS BENEFITS OF DIVERSIFYING THEIR TECHNOLOGY
SUPPLIER BASE AT UPCOMING CHICAGO CONFERENCE
CHICAGO – The Alliance of Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs (ABLE) and
Crain’s Chicago Business will co-sponsor a conference in Chicago focusing
on the significant value to Fortune 500, large government and non-profit
organizations of having a diversified technology supplier base.
ABLE, Chicago’s most influential organization of African American firms,
and Crain’s Chicago Business bring this event to the Mid-America Club
on Wednesday, March 10, 2004 at 7:15 a.m.
Smaller firms routinely create distinctive business value in three ways:
through exceptional problem-solving ability, through focus on key specialties,
and through efficiency and value. But this value is too often overshadowed
by “social” considerations. We strongly support getting the message
out that qualified smaller companies can and want to compete directly for
large contracts on their own merits – and they can deliver!
Presenting their own experiences with the truth of this assertion are:
The keynote speaker, Linda Dillman, Chief Information Officer for Wal-Mart,
panelists Bruce Carver, CIO for PepsiCo Beverages and Foods; Chris O’Brien,
CIO for the City of Chicago; Lorilee Sadler, Executive Vice President for
Unext; Robert Runcie, CIO for the Chicago Public Schools; and Robert Blackwell
Jr., CEO of Electronic Knowledge Interchange, Inc. Professor Steven
Rogers of the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, will
moderate. Jack Lavin, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce
and Economic Opportunity, will give opening remarks. Michael Rumman,
director of Central Management Services for the State of Illinois, will
discuss procurement options, and Bob Blackwell, Sr., CEO of Blackwell Consulting
Services, will offer closing remarks.
“By staffing the panel with CIOs who are already successfully doing business
with smaller IT firms, we hope to raise awareness and inspire a new trust
in the attendees that smaller firms are highly capable of performing
at levels equal to and above their larger competitors,” said Nathan Paige,
chair of the Technology Committee for ABLE and CEO of Business Systems
Engineering, Inc. “By empowering such firms, their ability to compete
increases and, as a result, drives value and success.”
Co-sponsors of the conference are several members of ABLE’s technology
group, including Electronic Knowledge Interchange, Blackwell Consulting
Services, Business Systems Engineering Inc., Computer Resource Solutions
and ABC Data Entry. Supporters of the conference include the BDPA Chicago
Chapter, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Chicago United, New America Alliance,
Chicago Software Association and the Chicago Minority Business Development
Council.
This conference is a very timely and much needed campaign showcasing the
true capabilities of smaller technology firms.
For more information on the conference, please go to www.supplierconference.com,
email supplierconference@eki-consulting.com or call (312) 762-0179.
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