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Listen to this articleIt’s like wining the Golden Ticket, but instead of small children getting a chance to tour the Wonka Chocolate Factory small business owners and entrepreneurs get a chance to meet face-to-face with some of the state’s top CEOs and C-Suite executives for an innovative mentoring/coaching session.
“This really an unprecedented opportunity because these are not the kind of business people you meet on an average day, even if you work for the same copay they do,” explained Colette Phillips of Colette Phillips Communications. “An event like this might not have even happened a few years ago, but there’s a new generation of business leaders in Boston who are committed to actively supporting the culturally diverse professionals, women, and small business owners of this city.”
The event, Get Konnected!, which takes place at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston on Tuesday, May 31, 2016 from 5:30 to 8 PM, will play out like a game of musical executives, Phillips said, with the CEOs taking turns facing small groups of business owners to both share their stories and answer any questions they are asked. “They’ll meet with a group of about 10 individuals for about 20 minutes and then a gong will sound and the speaker will move on to the next group,” she explained in an interview with Color Magazine. “The intimacy of the groups is key because it really helps the small business owners and entrepreneurs get a better sense of exactly who the leaders of the Boston business world really are and how they achieved their success. Let’s face it, nobody starts out in the 12th grade; we all have to go to school and work our way up through to graduation.”
The need for mentoring/coaching like that being offered at the Get Konnected! event has never been greater, Phillips explained. Small businesses are an economic driver in Boston and across the United States. There are 40,000 small businesses in the Boston area and they represent 95 percent of all businesses in the region. These small businesses generate nearly $15 billion in annual revenue and are responsible for 170,000 jobs.
“The CEOs and C-Suite executives speaking at the Get Konnected! event are really working hard to change the paradigm of this city,” Phillips added. “There’s a feeling out there that Boston is not an attractive place in terms of attracting and maintaining diverse talent, that it isn’t as inclusive as other cities like Chicago or Dallas. We need to shed that old image and show the world that Boston truly is a leader for the diverse professionals, women, and small business owners looking to be successful.”
Phillips credited the business leaders speaking at the event for making that change a reality. “You can really feel the change in the business culture in Boston,” she said. “I felt it when I reached out to people to join the event: Nobody I asked said no. They all recognize the importance of inclusion in today’s business world and want to be a part of making it happen in Boston.”
To register, visit www.getkonnected.com/gkevents.
