Close to one hundred businesses and agencies will be represented at IUP's Business Opportunities Fair, “Expanding the Mainstream,” at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex on April 28, 2011, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The event is sponsored by IUP's Supplier Diversity Council. It is the first of its kind in the Kovalchick Complex, along Wayne Avenue adjacent to the IUP campus.
Financial sponsors for the fair are Environmental Land Surveying & Solutions Inc., Environmental Service Laboratories Inc., Farfield Electric, Mascaro Construction Company, Renda Broadcasting, S.P. McCarl & Company, and Schneider Downs & Company Inc.
State Senator Don White will offer opening remarks for the event with Dr. Cornelius Wooten, IUP vice president for Administration and Finance.
In addition to the traditional business displays, this year's fair will offer a keynote luncheon presentation by Rhys R. Reese, cofounder of Superior Well Services.
The fair is intended to provide business-to-business and business-to-government matching and networking opportunities. It is open to the community as well as businesses. Special giveaways, including a signed Harlem Globetrotters basketball, will be offered during the event.
The exhibition area of the event in the Ed Fry Arena of the Kovalchick Complex is free and open to the community, but only registered participants will be permitted to attend the luncheon keynote presentation.
The public is encouraged to participate in free breakout sessions and matchmaking sessions. Public participation must be requested before the day of the event by e-mailing rfmoreau@iup.edu.
Sixteen businesses will participate in the matchmaking sessions, which allow participants to have one-on-one, private meetings to discuss business opportunities. A limited number of matchmaking sessions will be available throughout the day in breakout rooms at the Kovalchick Complex. All matchmaking arrangements must be made in advance.
Preregistration for exhibitors is required by April 8. Late registrations will be accepted until April 15, but a $50 late registration fee will be added to the registration cost.
More information about registration and fees is available by calling the Procurement Services office at 724-357-3077 or by e-mailing ad-buyer@iup.edu. Participants can also register online on the Business Opportunities Fair webpage.
A concession stand with refreshments available for purchase will be open the day of the event.
Event Presenters
Rhys Reese, Cofounder, Superior Well Services
Reese, the keynote speaker, will discuss his company's fifteen-year journey from a “what if” among three coworkers to its $900-million cash buyout in 2010.
The various steps, milestones, entities, acquisitions, partners, and relationships required to reach Superior's current status will be discussed. The company grew from five employees in spring 1997 to a 1,000-employee NASDAQ-listed company in the summer of 2004. The company grew through acquisitions to 3,800 employees in 2009, ending with a merger-buyout with the world's largest land-based driller, Nabors Industries, Ltd., in 2010.
The discussion will provide insight into what strategies and relationships proved successful.
About Superior Well Services
Superior is an oil- and gas-well service company operating in the continental United States, providing oil and gas companies with technical pumping and downhole surveying services. The company places special emphasis on protecting the environment and equipping and training employees to perform their functions without undue risk. Clientele include large independent oil and natural gas companies operating in key markets of international and domestic oil- and natural gas-producing regions.
Krish Krishnan, IUP Marketing Department
Also speaking at the Business Opportunities Fair will be Dr. Krish Krishnan, a faculty member in the IUP Marketing Department and director of the MBA program. He will give the presentation “New Trends in B2B and B2G Marketing.”
Krishnan joined the Marketing faculty in IUP's Eberly College of Business and Information Technology in 1986 and served as the Marketing Department chairman from 1991-2002.
Before his current position, he was in the marketing department of Pennsylvania State University (Smeal College of Business), the University of Louisville, and the University of Pittsburgh (Katz Graduate School of Business). He has taught a broad range of undergraduate, MBA, and executive MBA marketing-related courses in these universities.
Classes he has taught include marketing management, marketing research, Internet marketing, e-commerce strategies, global marketing strategies, and ERP software applications in marketing. He has received several outstanding teacher awards over the years.
Krishnan's research in the areas of buyer behavior, Internet marketing, and marketing strategy has been published in major marketing and strategy journals over the last twenty years.
In addition to his academic activities, Krishnan also serves as a marketing consultant to both large and startup companies in the areas of marketing planning and Internet marketing. He also acts as the coordinator of Eberly College's international exchange program operations with business schools in 20 different countries.
Krishnan has his doctoral degree from the Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh; his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, India; and his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India.
Other Presenters
Additional presenters for the event are as follows:
Kim Auchenbach, PASSHE
Kim Auchenbach, director of Strategic Planning, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, will present “Doing Business with PASSHE—The Qualified Contractor Certification Process.”
Auchenbach has more than twenty years of business experience including procurement, bidding, project and personnel management, computer and business process training, and business process design. In her current role, she leads efforts to meet contracting needs, including collaborative procurement and support of strategic initiatives, System-wide and for the Office of the Chancellor.
Helena Koch, Office of Small Business Utilization
Helena Koch, codirector, General Services Administration's Office of Small Business Utilization, has worked with the small business community for twenty-five years, assisting small businesses in identifying opportunities with GSA and across government.
She also maintains contacts with professional business organizations, chambers of commerce, small business development centers, entrepreneurs and trade groups to provide information on how the federal government conducts business and how small business firms can best position themselves to participate in government contracting.
Marisa Fentzel, U.S. Small Business Administration
Marisa Fentzel, business specialist, U.S. Small Business Administration, will address the new federal set-aside for women-owned businesses that took effect February 4.
Fentzel has worked with the Small Business Administration for nineteen years. In her current role, she assists clientele with business development and works to disseminate information about the Small Business Administration's programs, including women-owned small business contracting programs.
Participating Companies
Public Sector
Registered participants in the public sector category are as follows:
- ALCOSAN
- Allegheny County Department of MWCBE
- Allegheny National Forest
- California University of Pennsylvania
- City of Pittsburgh/EORC
- Clarion University of Pennsylvania
- Cheyney University
- Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
- Government Contracting Assistance Program
- Indiana County Revolving Loan Fund
- Indiana University of Pennsylvania
- IUP Center for Family Business
- National Energy Technology Laboratory
- Penns Manor School District
- Pennsylvania Department of General Services
- Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
- Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
- State Correctional Institute—Pine Grove
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- U.S. General Services Administration
- U.S. Small Business Administration
Nonprofit Sector
Participants from the nonprofit sector:
- Catalyst Connection
- Diversity Business Resource Center
- Indiana County Development Corporation
- PA CareerLink of Indiana County
- Rand Corporation
Private Sector
Registrants in the private sector category:
- ACSS
- Advanced Fire Company, Inc.
- Advantus Engineers
- Appalachian Production Services Inc.
- Aramark Higher Education
- AZCAR
- Advantus Engineers
- Bergad Inc.
- Blanc Printing Company
- Burnett Process Inc.
- Burt Hill, a Stantec Company
- Business Wedding Clickers Trade Shows
- Cablelinks Inc.
- Cartridge World
- ClearChoice Energy
- Cleveland Brothers Equipment Company Inc.
- Continental Office Environments
- Copies Plus, LLC
- CORE Environmental Services Inc.
- CPI Creative
- Dobil Laboratories Inc.
- Don Huey Custom Building & Remodeling Inc.
- DSHinkson Lumber and Supplies
- Electronic Communication Services Inc.
- Elkin Hi-Tech Inc.
- Enterprise Rent-A-Car
- Environmental Land Surveying & Solutions Inc.
- Environmental Service Laboratories Inc.
- Farfield Electric
- Farmers & Merchants Bank of Western PA
- FCG Solutions
- First Commonwealth Bank
- First National Bank of Pennsylvania
- GAI Consultants Inc.
- Gazette Printers
- Global Spectrum
- H&W Global Industries Inc.
- Hot Shot Huey, LLC
- Indiana First Bank
- Knapp Acquisitions & Production
- Knox Consulting and KBSA
- Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
- Marion Center Bank
- Mascaro Construction Co.
- Measurement Instruments
- Mid-Atlantic Investigations
- Northwind Engineering, LLC
- PJ Dick Incorporated
- Penn Terra Engineering Inc.
- Peoples Natural Gas
- Pittsburgh Business Times
- PNC Bank; Premier Safety & Service Inc.
- Prism Response Inc.
- Pro-Am Safety Inc.
- Randall Industries LLC
- Ronco Communications & Electronics Inc.
- S.P. McCarl & Co.
- Semaphore Hill Associates LLC
- Shaka Inc.
- SimplexGrinnell Inc.
- Solutions4networks
- Stiffler McGraw
- Superior Well Service
- SupplySource
- The Allegheny Group/DMR/ADG
- The Hite Co.
- The Media Stop
- The Temple Group
- TIGG Corporation
- Total Asphalt Management Systems
- Total Service
- Wood Technologies, Inc.