2022 Calendar

Bay Area Diversity Business Forums
On the 2nd Tuesday of each month, we are hosting a diversity business forum that will highlight one corporation and one public agency. Each will provide information on current and upcoming contracting opportunities, allow you to gain insights into what each contractor is looking for when evaluating bids, best practices for preparing quotes and responding to solicitations and a chance to network with these established contractors and agencies. This will include a Q&A session (come prepared with your questions) and allow you to share information about your company and the services you offer. To find out more about Bay Area Diversity Business Forums, go to http://diversitybusinessforum.com/index.html

Mentor Protégé Workshops
On the 2nd Thursday of each month, we offer an online Mentor Protégé Workshop that covers topics designed to provide tools and resources for small diverse companies to grow their business, get exposed to cutting edge technology and hear about best industry practices on a variety of topics. Hosted by Silicon Valley Transit Consultants, VTA and Minority Business Consortium, these workshops are open to the public and recording sessions are available online at www.minoritybusinessconsortium.com Calendar and links to register below.

Economic Resource Summit for Small Diverse Businesses
The 2nd Bay Area Diversity Business Forum will be an "Economic Resource Summit for Small & Diverse Businesses" from 9am to Noon on Tuesday, September 14. This will be a virtual event, with presentations providing information about grants and loans for your business followed by break out rooms to walk you through the application process and answer any questions.

The economic resources available include fair-priced loans, federal grants for COVID relief, public policies that support small diverse contractors, educational resources, coaching, and support networks.

You will be guided in understanding the pros and cons of each resource for your business. We hope you will take this opportunity to attend. To register click here https://tinyurl.com/EconomicResourceSummit

Keynote Speakers

Equity First - Tara Lynn Gray of the California Office of the Small Business Advocacy
Pandemic Recovery - Mary Huss, Publisher San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal

Presenters & Break-Out Room Topics

Getting Loan Ready - Shanna McClearn, Acción Opportunity Fund
Business Mentoring - Nykol Provost, VP Sr Business Consultant, Chase Bank
Entrepreneur Venture Capital - Pedro David Espinoza, VP Sr Business Consultant, Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Starting/Growing Your Business - Start Small, Think Big, legal advice services
Insurance and Bonding - Merriwether and Williams
and others…

Meet the Primes
VTA is hosting an in-person Meet the Primes event from noon to 4pm, Wednesday September 22, 2021 at the San Jose Convention Center. This is your opportunity to network with the shortlisted teams that are exclusively responding to the BART Tunnels & Trackwork and Rail Systems solicitations.

VTA encourages DBE and SBE firms to participate. To attend the event, register at bit.ly/VTAmeetPrimes

Attendees are encouraged to register with VTA to receive future solicitation information at https://www.vta.org/business-center