When Cindy England started her own business right out of college, she was brimming with passion and a desire to succeed, but she admits to having little idea what she was doing beyond the theory she learned in school.
“I remember the hardest thing when I was first starting out was finding ways to meet clients,” said England, who for the past 24 years has owned and operated Lexington-based Something Blooming, a landscape company specializing in commercial clients. “I spent a lot of time cold calling people, trying to get five minutes with the right person. It is very, very difficult to start a business and make it work.”
As a woman with more than two decades in business, England last year decided to attend the Lexington Bluegrass Area Minority Business Expo in hopes of making a few contacts with businesses that could use her services. She wound up coming out of the event with several clients — a few of which were even from out of state.
“I wish I would have done it years ago,” England said regarding her participation in the expo. “Turns out there was a lot of people looking to hire somebody like me; we both just needed some help finding each other.”
The annual expo, now in its 13th year, will take place this year on July 29 and 30 at the Lexington Convention Center. In addition to networking opportunities and information sessions, this year’s event also features speakers Andre Taylor, a noted entrepreneur and author, and former UK basketball player Derek Anderson.
Valeria Cummings Swope, marketing director for the expo, said while the event is open to any minority business owners, this year’s expo is targeting the construction industry. Several construction firms, including Messer Construction, will be on hand to discuss subcontracting opportunities for minority businesses in the region, she said.
“The expo is a great way to break the ice with a client,” Swope said. “Businesses can talk about what they have to offer and clients can talk about what they need.”
The expo, which started as a small meet and greet event to build contacts and business opportunities within the minority business community, has grown into a two-day event featuring more than 70 vendors. Swope said the event also now draws business owners and subcontractors from several surrounding states.
“Our reach is now extending beyond just Kentucky,” Swope said. “The event is getting a reputation as a great place to make contact with minority businesses in the Bluegrass region and beyond. It is also a great opportunity to talk to other business owners and learn from both their successes and their mistakes.”
In addition to networking sessions, the expo also includes several breakout sessions on various topics. In keeping with this year’s construction theme, one of those sessions is geared toward procuring government work at the state, local and federal levels. Some of the other sessions include discussions on cyber safety and ways for minority businesses to secure financing.
Swope said securing financing is one of the most difficult aspects of starting a business simply because business owners are unaware of all the options that are available to them.
“Starting a business is hard, but what we are hoping to do is highlight some of the general problems minority businesses experience and offer some assistance,” Swope said. “That is a big part of what the breakout sessions are used for. Most businesses are just looking to get a seat at the table.”
Tyrone Tyra, vice president for community and minority business development for Commerce Lexington, one of the expo sponsors, said in the years since the expo started there has been an evolution of sorts in Lexington’s minority business community.
“Right now we’re seeing most of the opportunities (for minority businesses) at the subcontractor level,” Tyra said. “The next step is developing the minority business community to the point where they are the ones doing the contracting. We want those businesses to be the ones coming back to the expo to hire people.”
Tyra pointed to several examples of the growing minority business community. He said construction on the new $66-million Academic Science Building at the University of Kentucky had 29 percent minority participation. He also said that 25 percent of loans awarded through the Access Loan Program, a program partly administered by Commerce Lexington that provides businesses with feedback and guidance through the loan process, went to minority businesses.
“Are we where we need to be? Absolutely not,” Tyra said. “Our goal is to have minority participation reflect the population as a whole. The expo is helping to promote that vision, and we see that continuing well into the future.”