Fast & Furious: The U.S. Black Chamber’s School of Management

Let me put it this way… If you weren’t here in Washington, DC for the 2nd Annual USBC School of Chamber Management, you should have been!

If you weren’t here, you missed three jam-packed days of learning, networking, benchmarking and interacting, all topped off with a business briefing at the White House and a stellar awards program.

Nearly two hundred chamber executives and business owners received valuable insights on financial management, governance, effective communications, attracting young professionals, strategic planning and advocacy. Attendees were updated on the latest federal contracting opportunities from the SBA, FDIC, EPA, and the Departments of Energy and Interior. In between sessions, we were treated to encouraging words from luminaries John Hope Bryant (Operation HOPE), Roland Martin and George Fraser. And to cap it all off, during special interactive sessions we mapped our progress, receiving instant feedback on the effectiveness of each session! Simply outstanding and unprecedented!

Our sponsors this year represent a “Who’s Who” of America’s most innovative corporations, including AT&T, Bloomberg Government, Caesars Entertainment, CFSA, Dell, IBM, Intel, Merrill Lynch, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Shell, Toyota, United Airlines, Walmart and Wells Fargo. We were fortunate to have supporters like Madison Services Group, Clarity, Southern California Edison, National Grid, Cleveland Clinic, Hilex, Murphy & King, Outreach Speed, Advanced Strategy Center, National 8(a) Association, and the Native American Contractors Association.

During our very special White House Business Briefing, we got the “real deal” update on global opportunities from U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Ron Kirk, and following a special “arm chair” conversation between SBA Deputy Administrator Marie Johns and me (conducted by Black Enterprise Executive Editor Derrick Dingle), the USBC and SBA signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding, formalizing our joint efforts to improve access to capital and increase federal contracting.

Did I mention that you should have been here in DC?