BALTIMORE, MD (October 16, 2018) – The Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) and Baltimore County will host the tenth annual Meet the Primes networking event, which connects small- and minority-owned businesses with prime contract bidders, on Wednesday, October 17. The event will take place from 8 a.m. until noon at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in the Exhibition Hall, located at 2200 York Road in Timonium.



More than 800 people from small- and minority-owned businesses are registered to attend the Meet the Primes event. Likewise, more than 100 exhibitors from government, public education, private companies and other entities will be there to make connections.



"For the last 10 years, we've worked with our partners around the Baltimore region to facilitate opportunities for small- and minority-owned businesses to network," said Michael B. Kelly, executive director of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council. "Local governments have significant buying power in our region, and Meet the Primes serves as a way to connect business owners so that they are able to compete for public dollars."



Meet the Primes serves as an invaluable stepping stone for small- and minority-owned businesses to make connections, find work and grow. The prime bidders who will attend the event represent millions of dollars in annual contracts for many industries in the Baltimore region.



“We envision a very personable, low-pressure networking event," said Robert Ball, of Baltimore County Public Schools. "Meet the Primes is a way to maximize business prospecting efforts by communicating current and upcoming projects, presenting credentials, and seeing if there is a good fit."



The event also will feature one-on-one meetings between business owners and government agencies and/or a prime company. The intent of the five-minute one-on-one meetings is to provide business owners with exclusive time to discuss products and services with procurement officials/buyers/decision makers. Those interested should review the one-on-one meeting schedule on the registration page and email requests to events@mwmca.org.



For more information about Meet the Primes, contact Robert Ball by email at rball@bcps.org or by phone at 443-809-4334; or contact Carla Tucker by email at ctucker@baltimorecountymd.gov or by phone at 410-887-3119.

The appeal that brings million-dollar performances and therefore hundreds of thousands of patrons annually to spend time and money in Downtown Columbia is the result of a strategic planning effort by Howard County and the Howard Hughes Corporation, working with multiple partners, such as Columbia Association. The city center is in the midst of a redevelopment effort designed to enhance life in Downtown Columbia by giving people options to move easily between work, home, school, running errands, eating and drinking, as well as experiencing art and culture.

The Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) serves as a vital resource to ensure that Downtown Columbia’s transportation and fair housing planning efforts, in particular, resonate throughout the Baltimore region. We invite you to read our December 2018 cover story, "Planning Columbia," which details the progress of redeveloping Downtown Columbia.