Blog: City Blog

Business Breakfast Draws Record Turnout

A record crowd attended the 2017 Business Breakfast at the Coliseum

A year ago, James Scruggs came to the City’s annual Business Breakfast. He owned a small business, Scruggs & Sons, that provides yard and cleaning services, and he was eager to grow his business by seeking a contract with the City of Knoxville.

The trouble was, as a new start-up business, he didn’t really know where to begin or how to submit a bid for a competitive contract.

So it was at the 2016 Business Breakfast that Boyce Evans and Pamela Cotham, the City’s Purchasing Agent and Assistant Purchasing Agent, were able to lend a hand to Scruggs and many other small business owners.

Pamela Cotham and James Scruggs

Pamela Cotham, Assistant Purchasing Agent, and James Scruggs, owner of Scruggs & Sons

Scruggs spent a morning, talking with Purchasing and various City department directors. They discussed what services Scruggs & Sons provide, which contracts would be going out for bid that seemed to be a good match, and the specific steps that owners needed to take to submit a bid. In the end, Scruggs won a contract with the City to clear and mow abandoned, blighted privately-owned properties.

Scruggs was back today (Wednesday, June 14) at the Civic Coliseum for the City’s 9th annual Business Breakfast. He’s interested in researching the contracts he may want to bid on in 2017-18 – and he’s spreading the word to other small businesses that they, too, ought to check in with Purchasing for help in growing their businesses.

Session at Business Breakfast

Many of the attendees visited the Engineering and Redevelopment session

Today’s Business Breakfast was the biggest yet, with more than 325 owners and managers of small local businesses attending.

In the coming year, the City will be contracting for $80 million worth of goods and services – and 40 percent of those contracts are with small businesses.

Mayor Rogero speaks to a record crowd at the City's Business Breakfast

"If you’re here at the table for the first time today, please don't count yourself out just because you've never submitted a bid and the process may seem a little confusing at first,"Mayor Madeline Rogero told the business owners. "We can work through whatever roadblocks you may be experiencing."

If you couldn't attend today's Business Breakfast but you’re interested in contract opportunities, be sure and check out Purchasing's "Small Business Connections" newsletter by visiting www.knoxvilletn.gov/purchasing and clicking on the "small business newsletters" link. Or call Purchasing at 865-215-2070.

Click here to view a PDF of all of today's presentations.

Posted by evreeland On 14 June, 2017 at 5:08 PM