Business Opportunity Advisory Commission to host listening session

MADISON – Governor Doyle’s Business Opportunity Advisory Commission (BOAC) will host a public listening session to be held in conjunction with the Business Opportunities in the Government Sector (BOGS) conference on April 19.  The commission session will take place at 2:45 pm in the Madison Ballroom of the Monona Terrace Convention Center as one of the BOGS afternoon breakout sessions.


                                      


BOAC is co-chaired by State Senator Spencer Coggs and Milwaukee Urban League President Ralph Hollmon.  State Representative Barbara Toles, Vice-Chair of the commission, will chair the April 19 listening session.


 


Governor Jim Doyle appointed the 17-member commission last fall to identify new ways for the state to procure more goods and services from minority businesses.  Since October, the group has been meeting monthly to review data and examine practices and policies in the state agencies to see how state government can meet and exceed the 5% annual Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) purchasing goal.


 


The BOGS conference is a day-long event to provide training and networking opportunities to increase minority business opportunities with government agencies at the local, state and federal levels.  Recognizing this opportunity, BOAC members will be on hand to provide an open forum for BOGS attendees and the public to offer their ideas and concerns about business opportunity issues.


 


Pre-registration is not required for the listening session, although speakers will be asked to register at the event.  The general public may attend the BOAC public listening session at no charge.  There is a registration fee required for the rest of the BOGS conference, with information on the Internet at http://matcmadison.edu/bpac/bogs/.


 


In addition to the commission listening session in Madison on April 19, BOAC will host public listening sessions in Milwaukee in May and in Green Bay in June, with specific locations, dates and times to be announced.