Last month I had the privilege of joining over 1,500 entrepreneurs attending the Dell-sponsored Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo (BEEC) in Chicago. This is the country’s premier business conference and networking event for African American entrepreneurs, executives, and professionals.
IV interviewing BEEC Expo Attendees
The quality and quantity of Dell representatives present–and their commitment to this group of black entrepreneurs–was absolutely thrilling. We are all grateful to BEEC for welcoming us with such warmth and enthusiasm.
Dell’s own Lauren Kramer-Dover, Global Executive Director, Strategy & Corporate Development, lent her expertise to ‘Merger Ahead – The Art of Strategic Partnerships & Mergers & Acquisitions’. Lauren joined moderator Alfred Edmond Jr. (@AlfredEdmondJr), Multimedia Editor at Large, Black Enterprise, Ronald Hall Jr., Vice President & General Counsel, Bridgewater Interiors, L.L.C., and Leon Richardson, CEO of ChemicoMays. The group discussed intelligent ways to form and strengthen the strategic alliances so many entrepreneurs need to take their success to the next level. Their insight into the challenges and (potentially indispensable) benefits of successful partnerships was both pragmatic and inspiring. When carefully crafted and executed, joint ventures can afford access to new markets, shared economic risk, and collaborative management expertise. “In the best collaborations, everyone comes out a winner.”