Small businesses create roughly two out of every three new private sector jobs – and job growth is priority number one in Detroit. To support the city’s small businesses and the region’s economic revitalization, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Wayne State University last week hosted more than 400 small business owners, Michigan stakeholders and major corporate and federal buyers for an afternoon of supplier matchmaking and networking.

Link Detroit: A Small Business Matching Summit took place Dec. 10 in Wayne State’s Community Arts Auditorium and McGregor Memorial Conference Center. SBA arranged the event under the umbrella of its American Supplier Initiative, a federal government-wide initiative designed to increase government and commercial supply chain opportunities for small firms.

Senior officials from the Obama Administration, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s team and Wayne State welcomed attendees to Community Arts Auditorium for a plenary session, featuring a panel hosted by CBS 62’s Carol Cain. “We’re here to help connect small businesses with the capacity to grow and create jobs with businesses and federal agencies that are looking to hire small firms and purchase their goods and services,” SBA Acting Administrator Jeanne Hulit, a member of President Obama’s Cabinet, said at the event. Hulit described the event as a win-win for the community and the economy: “Larger firms get great high quality products. Small businesses get increased revenue and growth. And Detroit sees economic revitalization. “

After remarks and a plenary panel, the afternoon was dedicated to matchmaking. More than 230 small businesses secured appointments with buyers, and nearly 400 face-to-face matchmaking meetings took place during the event. Corporate buyers included firms as large as Chrysler, DTE, Ford, General Motors, Quicken Loans and Walbridge. On the federal side, dozens of agencies participated in the event, ranging from the Department of Defense and NASA to the Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Transportation – both of which are recruiting small businesses to compete for upcoming local construction and demolition contracts. Wayne State buyers were also in attendance, as well as procurement officials from Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, and the Cleveland Clinic.

“Hosting this event, designed to help small businesses find new customers at larger organizations is a part of our broader commitment to help small businesses across metro Detroit,” said Ned Staebler, Wayne State University vice president for economic development. 

“We help small businesses turn in to larger ones through programs like the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program, Source Detroit, the Front Door and through partnerships with Techtown, the New Economy Initiative, Midtown Detroit Inc. and others.”

For small firms, being a supplier to a large business provides tremendous opportunities.  Small businesses who are suppliers to large corporations reported revenue growth of more than 250 percent and employment increased by more than 150 percent on average.  As a part of the American Supplier Initiative, SBA has been holding supply chain events in collaboration with federal agencies and private companies throughout the country to provide the tools and resources needed for small businesses to become effective suppliers. 

“The SBA provides… what I would classify as fuel to businesses,” said Wilbert Williams, president of Williams Bayer Industries, a Michigan firm that has added dozens of employees after receiving a SBA-supported 504 loan in 2012. “We are the catalyst that ignites this fuel to provide jobs and grow our economy.”

Photo: Detroit News photographer Max Ortiz's photo of Don Graves, executive director of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, who spoke during the event. An article ran Dec. 12, 2013.