Blog: City Blog

Business Opportunities Breakfast Helps Small Companies, Local Entrepreneurs

For small businesses hungry to grow, knowing what contracts and purchasing orders are coming from local governments in the coming year is primo info.

Scouting out prospects - and doing some good old-fashioned networking at the annual Business Opportunities Breakfast - works.

Just ask local business folks like Tavis Bailey and Cynthia Bullard.

"This was my third breakfast with the City," said Tavis Bailey, who co-owns Printing Image with his wife, Cassie. "What I'm looking for, at this point in our journey with the City, is to turn our smaller orders into big orders."

Check out this video clip of Bailey at the Business Opportunities Breakfast.

Showing up, building relationships, asking questions about a contract, and figuring out how to efficiently deliver a product - those are the key first steps in growing a business.

Turns out, it's a two-way street. The City also benefits through excellent service that's the hallmark of small, local businesses.

More than 250 business owners and managers attended the 16th annual Business Opportunities Breakfast on June 10 at the Civic Coliseum.

Hundreds of business owners and managers attended the 2025 Business Opportunities Breakfast.

Hundreds of business owners and managers attended the 2025 Business Opportunities Breakfast.

At the Business Opportunities Breakfast, owners can discuss upcoming contracts, ask questions and describe their products.

They drilled down with City department heads and partner agencies, like the Public Building Authority, Knoxville Area Transit, KUB and KCDC, and got the nitty-gritty details on more than $200 million in upcoming contracts. Most are competitively bid, but smaller jobs are made at the purchaser's discretion.

For Scientific Sales Inc., doing business with PBA was a mutual win-win. The local company did some intense research and found specialty items that PBA needed ASAP - animal-resistant trash receptacles for a parking lot for the new stadium that was about to open.

"I've been attending the City's Business Breakfasts for years - I was at the very first one," said Bullard, Scientific Sales' Director of Outside Sales. "Getting to connect with the actual buyers and decision-makers - that's huge.

"You don't have that all the time. It's nice, having everybody in the same room and being able to ask questions and really understand what the customer needs."

And in the case of the animal-proof trash receptacles?

"It was a specialty item - we're good with that," Bullard said. "We researched it, found it, negotiated with the manufacturer, and worked out a solution - in a timely manner."

Having one-on-one conversations with customers - and small businesses being willing to adapt tailored solutions - that's a formula for success, Bailey agreed.

"Businesses try to build some initial trust with people through some smaller orders, build some relationships - then grow with our clients as we grow ourselves," he said.

Posted by evreeland at 4:22 PM