5 things minority entrepreneurs learned about being Detroit suppliers

For minority business owners who want to become suppliers to local government entities or to bid on other contracts, the process can be daunting.

But an annual event sets out to help minority business owners understand the process of bidding for procurement opportunities with entities like the city of Detroit.

Called the Minority Business Summit, the event this year was hosted by Detroit’s Office of Contracting & Procurement on Thursday at Wayne County Community College District’s Curtis L. Ivery Downtown Campus. There were 63 attendees in person and 47 people viewed presentations virtually.

“It’s important for us to do this as an annual event because we want to make sure that we’re being inclusive to have Detroiters and minorities that are a part of the opportunities that the city of Detroit has,” said Toni Stewart-Limmitt, deputy chief procurement officer for the city of Detroit. “Typically, in the past, they haven’t had an opportunity to bid on any of our contracts and they felt pushed out. This is just one aspect and one way that we can be more inclusive.”