NaVOBA Launches Virtual Matchmaker Series to Create Corporate Contracting Opportunities for Veteran Owned Businesses
New Marching Forward Mondays Program Maximizes VBE Contracting Opportunities
On Monday April 8, 2024, NaVOBA launched a new quarterly, virtual networking series to maximize contracting opportunities with U.S. corporations committed to working with veteran-owned businesses as suppliers. In 2020, NaVOBA launched Marching Forward Mondays (MFM) in response to the COVID restrictions to facilitate virtual connections. This new program, titled Marching Forward Mondays: Operation Matchmaker, is a more sophisticated approach employing smart matchmaking technology with our partners at My Business Matches, the leading matchmaking platform for connecting businesses worldwide.
The first MFM Matchmaker was a smashing success with more than 183 attendees registered for on-on-one business conversations between corporate buyers and veteran-owned suppliers.
“Our Marching Forward Mondays VBE Showcase was a great program for what we could do during COVID, but we decided to take a fresh approach for 2024,” said NaVOBA President Matthew Pavelek. “This exciting new format dramatically increases conversations between capable veteran-owned suppliers and interested buyers. Everything we do is geared to helping veterans compete for contracts with Corporate America and this program is going to make great strides in helping us achieve and measure that impact.”
Certified Veteran’s Business Enterprise® (VBE) suppliers will register for each event and share the goods and services they provide and the value they create for their customers. Purchasing decision-makers from NaVOBA’s Corporate Allies will register and detail the categories they are seeking qualified suppliers for, and meetings will be created when there is a match.
“Our Corporate Allies are serious about giving our VBEs opportunities to compete for business,” said Mimi Lohm, NaVOBA’s VP of Corporate Relations. “This new format ensures that conversations are coming from a place of mutual interest so we’re not wasting anyone’s time where there’s no real opportunity.”
The Operation Matchmaker events will take every quarter on a Monday from 2:00-5:00 PM EST. Veteran-owned businesses that were not yet certified by NaVOBA were welcome to register for the first event, but priority was given to NaVOBA-Certified VBEs/SDVBEs. Corporations were also encouraged to invite buyers from their prime contractors to register as well if there are significant tier-2 opportunities available.
“The virtual format offers tremendous savings to both corporate buyers and veteran-owned business suppliers in terms of time commitment and travel costs,” said Adam McCarty,
NaVOBA’s Operations Manager and Matchmaker program lead. “In a single afternoon from the comfort of their desks, these category managers were able to meet with more than a dozen highly-motivated and capable prospective VBE suppliers – and we’ll be doing it again every three months.”
The format offered a “Networking Room” where participants were socializing and interacting while waiting for the one-on-one meetings to take place in private virtual rooms. NaVOBA strongly encourages veterans to put their money where their mouth is and buy from other veteran-owned businesses and team up to build capacity. This set-up allows for those conversations to take place while suppliers are waiting for their next match meeting.
To learn more about how you can participate as a buyer or as a supplier, visit www.navoba.org/Matchmaker.
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