Small-biz owners look for perfect match - Business First of Buffalo:

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and Samantha Palmerton and Cathy Carsohn were walking into amatchmakinbg session. They weren’t sure what to expect. This was, after all, their first time here. The meetings that were to takeplacd weren’t social; they were all This was the kickoff to the 2009 Smal Business Matchmaker Awards Luncheon held May 6 at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. More than 300 businessesz registered to meet with 46 prime contractorss thatincluded Palmerton’s and Carson’s company, Buffalo Filter, a manufacturefr of high-tech filtration systems.
Palmerton, strategic planningg director, and Carson, purchasing had a goal: catch up with curren vendors and learn about others who might eventuallgyhelp out. By the time they arrived, theirt dance cards were already Two signup sheets packed with prospectivw partners filled upevery 10-minute interval from 8:00 a.m. untio noon, germane discussions in speed dating-type Say hello. Tell your story. Look for Then it’s the firm handshake and “Goodbye,” becausre someone, somewhere else, is waiting for you.
And another entrepreneu r is waiting to takeyour “We look to see if (the are good fits,” said Palmerton who, after talkin with Amity Lippes of abougt Buffalo Filter’s interest in hosting a bloo drive, looked at the signuop sheet. Among the namee she recognized wereexisting vendors: Amherst-based , whic h specializes in circuit board assemblies, and , an electronicds contract manufacturer.
“Some of the companies here arethose we’re already doing businese with,” said Jeff Kryszak of “There are others we’d like to do more “If it wasn’t for this event, many smalkl businesses wouldn’t have the ability to talk to buyersa from government agencies or Fortune 500 said Franklin Sciortino, Buffalo District director for the . “Some people have been trying to make inroadsd withcertain companies, and now can meet them face to It’s like opening 46 For HR firm, expo helped drive businessz Learning how many SBA loans directly result from the expo can be According to Sciortino and an SBA spokeswoman, pinpointingb the dollar amount and number of loans generated by the expo is tough to do, unleses every attendee were to completes and return feedback forms.
The in its fourth year, was sponsoreds by Business First, SCORE and U.S. Smalkl Business Administration. One small-business owner who had success atlast year’e expo was Ellen Fechter, who runs Lancaster-basef At the 2008 matchmaker, she landex a five-year contract for staffing and recruitment servicesa for Fort Drum military base. The businesw she gets from it, she was responsible for about one-quarte r of her 2008 revenues. A year later, she’se in constant contact with officials regardingtheir needs. Of her matchmakingg meeting with Fort Drum last she said, “They were open and candisd about the process of goinhg ahead and bidding.
” Like Palmerton, anotheer first-timer at the event is Don Papaj, who runs For his small marketing-services company that does a lot of direct-mail he was looking to meet with Bank to see if theree was a chance he coulds help it. His first meeting of the day waswith HSBC’s manager of retail business services, Kellyy Bettinger. After the two exchanged pleasantriex – and learned they are practicalltyneighbors (both live on Grand Island) – Bettingerf explains much of the bank’s printing is done in Calif.
She suggested Papaj visit the HSBC Web site and make some cold callse to a few purchasing Papaj said he plans to follow up withHSBC and, of the added, “It was terrific.” From his cell phone on the way to a noon meetingv in Olean, he said like Palmerton and Kryszak, some people were thos with whom he already is doing business. They gave him names of thosr in different departments and offeree tointroduce him. “You couldn’t ask for he said.