How TYS & Local Municipalities are ‘Leveling the Playing Field’ for Minority-Owned Businesses

Episode Description This episode explores the vast amount of resources available to minority-owned businesses through airports and their local municipalities. Alan Jones, Director of Administration and DBE Liasion Officer with the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, and Pamela Cotham, Assistant Purchasing Agent and Small Business &amp; Diversity Outreach Manager for the City of Knoxville, share their passion for fostering relationships and opportunities for companies that qualify as a Disadvantage Business Enterprises (DBE). Through their wealth of experience, learn how to qualify as a DBE, become eligible for consideration for projects, and tap into a multitude of beneficial programs. Guest in this Episode <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="224" height="300" src="https://i0.wp.com/fromtherunwayup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AJ-Art-photo-14-006.jpg?fit=224%2C300&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/fromtherunwayup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AJ-Art-photo-14-006.jpg?w=359&amp;ssl=1 359w, https://i0.wp.com/fromtherunwayup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AJ-Art-photo-14-006.jpg?resize=224%2C300&amp;ssl=1 224w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px" data-attachment-id="1939" data-permalink="https://fromtherunwayup.com/2021/02/25/how-tys-local-municipalities-are-leveling-the-playing-field-for-minority-owned-businesses/aj-art-photo-14-006/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/fromtherunwayup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AJ-Art-photo-14-006.jpg?fit=359%2C480&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="359,480" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Picasa&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 4&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1382279080&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;3.85&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;1000&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.066666666666667&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}" data-image-title="Alan Jones" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="&lt;p&gt;Alan Jones, Director of Administration and DBE Liaison Officer for the MKAA&lt;/p&gt; " data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/fromtherunwayup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AJ-Art-photo-14-006.jpg?fit=359%2C480&amp;ssl=1" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="146" height="300" src="https://i0.wp.com/fromtherunwayup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/pic_in_blue_jean_jacket.jpg?fit=146%2C300&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/fromtherunwayup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/pic_in_blue_jean_jacket.jpg?w=1960&amp;ssl=1 1960w, https://i0.wp.com/fromtherunwayup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/pic_in_blue_jean_jacket.jpg?resize=146%2C300&amp;ssl=1 146w, https://i0.wp.com/fromtherunwayup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/pic_in_blue_jean_jacket.jpg?resize=498%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 498w, https://i0.wp.com/fromtherunwayup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/pic_in_blue_jean_jacket.jpg?resize=768%2C1580&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/fromtherunwayup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/pic_in_blue_jean_jacket.jpg?resize=747%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 747w, https://i0.wp.com/fromtherunwayup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/pic_in_blue_jean_jacket.jpg?resize=996%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 996w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 146px) 100vw, 146px" data-attachment-id="1938" data-permalink="https://fromtherunwayup.com/2021/02/25/how-tys-local-municipalities-are-leveling-the-playing-field-for-minority-owned-businesses/pic_in_blue_jean_jacket/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/fromtherunwayup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/pic_in_blue_jean_jacket.jpg?fit=1960%2C4032&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="1960,4032" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="Pamela Cotham" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="&lt;p&gt;Pamela Cotham, Assistant Purchasing Agent and Small Business &amp;#038; Diversity Outreach Manager for the City of Knoxville&lt;/p&gt; " data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/fromtherunwayup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/pic_in_blue_jean_jacket.jpg?fit=498%2C1024&amp;ssl=1" /> Mentioned in this Episode Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Alan Jones&#8217; DBE Presentation to the MKAA Board of Commissioners History of the Department of Transportation DBE Program East Tennessee Purchasing Association Diversity Business Alliance, which is made up of the following eight agencies:  City of Knoxville Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority Knox County University of Tennessee Knoxville&#8217;s Community Development Corp. Blount County  Public Building Authority Knoxville Utilities Board  TDOT&#8217;s DBE Certification Process  More than 800 vendors are certified through TDOT&#8217;s process 4th Annual (Virtual) Diversity Business Expo: March 4, 2021 Tennessee Veterans Business Association  Music in this Episode Birdy by KV https://soundcloud.com/kvmusicprod Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/dSCbsObNJo0 The post How TYS &#038; Local Municipalities are ‘Leveling the Playing Field’ for Minority-Owned Businesses appeared first on From the Runway Up.