GSA Blog

Small business owners and government employees recently came together to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Kansas City Small Business Networking Event. The event, originally developed by the former GSA Heartland Region Office of Small Business Utilization (OSBU) Director Pat Brown-Dixon, is now co-sponsored by the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Federal Executive Board, and GSA is proud to be a part of this.

Heartland Regional Administrator Jason Klumb provided a few words during the opening ceremonies and encouraged small business owners to network with the government agencies in the room.

Small business owners and government employees recently came together to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Kansas City Small Business Networking Event. The event, originally developed by the former GSA Heartland Region Office of Small Business Utilization (OSBU) Director Pat Brown-Dixon, is now co-sponsored by the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Federal Executive Board, and GSA is a proud to be a part of this.

Heartland Regional Administrator Jason Klumb shared his thoughts about how small businesses can succeed and encouraged business owners to network with each other and the government agencies in the room.

During most monthly networking events, businesses are given two minutes to share an overview of their company. Everyone has the opportunity to do a quick introduction and the event concludes with an emphasis for attendees to network with three new people they haven’t met before.

This recent event was a bit different from most as it celebrated both a substantial 25 year milestone and recognized the veterans in attendance. One veteran and small business owner of only three short weeks, James Dressler, was brought to tears as he spoke of military members who are in harm’s way during his two minute introduction. Dressler’s business produces products to encourage the public to be mindful of military members who are deployed in dangerous locations. These events help small business owners learn the process of working with the government and build relationships.

Amy Lara, the Heartland Region’s OSBU director, stressed the importance of GSA’s OSBU participating in outreach events like this to provide information to small businesses about how they can do business with GSA. OSBU is the advocate for small, minority, veteran, HUBZone, and women business owners and have nationwide responsibility for GSA’s small business programs. GSA contracting officers also attend the events to provide increased access to procurement opportunities.

Too often small business owners feel overwhelmed by government processes that they aren’t familiar with and don’t know where to start. To learn more about how GSA works to support small businesses, please go to Office of Small Business Utilization.