If you’ve ever attended the Economic Development Forum before, it’s possible to walk out with a business contact or contract that changes the trajectory of your business — and your life.
It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened, said Jozelle Luster Booker, president and CEO of the Mid-South Business Continuum, organizer of the forum.
“At its core, the EDF is about networking. It is the ultimate convening,” Booker said. The key for attendees, she added, is to approach the event strategically and “design your experience based on where you are right now, where you want to go and where you want your business to grow.”
The 19th annual forum, set for Aug. 25-27 at the Renasant Convention Center, carries the theme “Power Forward: Built for Momentum. Designed for Movement.” Along with expanded matchmaking, the event will explore how Memphis can turn its growing artificial intelligence, robotics and data-center presence into local jobs, stronger businesses and new industries.
Three presenters will approach that question from different angles: Kevin Russell, a senior fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute; AI strategist Bethanie Nonami; and Calvin Zhou, a White Station High School graduate and co-founder of Silicon Valley-based Magnus Labs, which develops humanoid robotics.
The forum will be packed with opportunities, Booker said, and the ones who win will go in with a certain mindset.
“How do you power forward as an individual?” Booker asked. “How do you power forward as a corporate leader? How do you power forward as a small-business owner? “How do we power forward collectively as a community and within industries?”
Matchmaking by design
The forum has long brought entrepreneurs, corporate buyers, lenders, government officials and business-development organizations into the same space. This year, Booker said, the Continuum is placing more structure around connections that previously might have happened informally or by chance.
“What we have done this year is design the event around specific matchmaking streams,” Booker said. “That allows us to facilitate those connections and encourage those conversations — and, from an economic perspective, widen the outcome. It’s almost like a ripple effect.”
Organizers have created the matchmaking streams around corporate procurement, employment and human resources, banking, capital and investment.
A small-business owner might approach a corporate booth looking for a buyer. Another attendee may want to ask about jobs. Someone visiting a bank’s booth may need financing, while another wants to become one of the bank’s vendors.
By identifying those conversations as distinct streams, Booker said, organizers can more easily guide attendees toward the right people.
Building the pipeline
The approach also reflects information the Continuum has gathered from entrepreneurs across Memphis. Booker said the organization surveys businesses and works in communities throughout the city to understand the barriers companies encounter while forming, finding capital, onboarding with buyers and growing.
“If we’re going to truly convene the community and the marketplace, it can’t just be large public and private corporations and the larger small businesses,” she said. “It’s about nurturing and supporting the pipeline.”
That means creating room for companies at different stages — including entrepreneurs who may not yet be ready to pursue a major corporate contract but need the financing, knowledge or relationships that could help them down the line.
Booker said repeat attendees often become the forum’s strongest advocates. At a recent Continuum session, nearly half the people in the room raised their hands when asked whether they attended last year’s EDF. They then began telling other entrepreneurs why they should come.
The challenge is helping newcomers understand that EDF is not a one-size-fits-all experience and guiding them to craft their own individual experience, Booker said.
“We have a lot of amazing things that are going to happen and be presented this year, and it can be quite overwhelming,” Booker said. “How do you craft your own individual experience within this big event?”
From computing power to community power
The “Power Forward” theme takes on added meaning as Memphis and the surrounding region attract major investments in data centers and advanced technology.
“The computing power is here,” Booker said. “But what do we do, sitting here in Memphis?” She added the forum will explore ways to educate the community on how to best use and benefit from the new technology to strengthen Memphis economically.
Russell will open with the widest lens, examining global economic trends, AI-powered markets and industries expected to drive growth. Booker said his intent is to help policymakers, corporate leaders, business owners, educators and parents understand how trend shifts could affect the Mid-South.
Nonami will discuss practical application during a Wednesday Lunch and Learn session on the exhibit hall floor. Booker said Nonami will show individuals, professionals and business owners how AI can support brainstorming, research, project design, efficiency and competitiveness.
“You look at the efficiency and the speed with which people can learn and the access to information,” Booker said. “Now, in this time of AI, with all these apps, it’s on steroids.”
During a free noon session, Booker said, participants will scan a QR code, answer questions and leave with a complimentary AI certification provided through Nonami’s organization.
Zhou will offer the most futuristic — and most homegrown — perspective. A 2004 graduate of White Station High School, he will discuss humanoid robotics and its possible applications in education, business and industry. Booker said Magnus, Zhou’s company’s humanoid robot, is expected to appear.
Robots must be programmed, trained, maintained and adapted to specific industries, she said, creating possibilities for new educational pathways, jobs, suppliers and business sectors.
“That’s education. That’s training. That’s opportunities,” Booker said. “That’s growth, with new industry sectors coming to the community.”
Her larger concern is whether Memphis will simply host the infrastructure driving the next economy or prepare local residents and businesses to benefit from it.
“How do we use it to help our youth understand this technology?” she asked. “How do individuals use the various technologies and platforms to be better, more competitive individuals in the marketplace, which then helps small businesses, large businesses and the total community and region?”
Designing the experience
The forum will also include banking and media sessions, the returning “Booked for Business” author component, a fireside chat with a leader involved in construction of the Obama Presidential Center and the Robert R. Church Sr. Achievement Awards.
This will be the first EDF since the organization repositioned itself from the Mid-South Minority Business Council Continuum to the Mid-South Business Continuum. Booker has described the change as reflecting a broader business-development model while maintaining its commitment to minority-owned companies.
The exhibit hall will be open without charge, although registration is requested, and the free experience includes Nonami’s Wednesday AI session.
“There’s no reason why anyone in this community does not take advantage of what is available,” Booker said.
Her advice is to review the program in advance and decide what would make the event worthwhile — meeting a buyer, finding capital, promoting a business, exploring employment, learning about AI or building relationships for the future.
“Everyone who can should find a way to engage and participate based on where they are,” she said.
