132 U.S. VETERANS MAGAZINE WWW.USVETERANSMAGAZINE.COM

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he National Veteran Business Development Council (NVBDC) is elated to have partnered with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago for the 6th annual Connect Conference to continue to provide education and opportunities to service-disabled and veteran- owned businesses (SD/VOBs). The event was designed to facilitate business relationships between veteran business owners, federal agencies, state agencies and corporations. Overall, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and NVBDC combined resources to bring together an event assembled with top professionals delivering insight into the procurement process and an overview of potential opportunities. Eric Pratt - the State of Michigans geographically- disadvantaged business specialist, joined us. Pratt introduced SD/VOBs to the

NVBDC Connect Conference 'Builds Relationships'

State of Michigans new Michigan Supplier Community (MISC) program. The MISC program has two primary

COURTESY OF NVBDC

goals: to increase opportunities for qualifying vendors and simplify the bidding process. To help attendees understand the dynamics between supplier diversity, procurement and the business units of Comericas Bank, Teresa LeFevre, vice president, supplier diversity manager, and Greg Rivard, vice president, IT procurement category manager, presented The Real Story About the Procurement Process. To close out our event, corporate members and veteran-owned businesses engaged in 1:1 matchmaking, a successful opportunity for SD/VOBs to present their capabilities to procurement and supplier diversity professionals. NVBDC is thrilled about the success of our annual Federal Reserve & NVBDC Connect Conference. We hope to see everyone at NVBDC's national event, in person, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on November 9-10, 2022.