Small business owners, corporate leaders and capital providers are converging on downtown Memphis Wednesday morning for the 19th annual Economic Development Forum, a free, two-and-a-half-day event built to turn networking chatter into actual contracts. The forum cuts its ribbon Wednesday at 10:15 a.m. at the Renasant Convention Center, kicking off a schedule packed with speakers, matchmaking sessions and an information zone aimed at connecting entrepreneurs with the resources they need to grow.
The event is organized by the Mid-South Business Continuum, whose president and CEO, Jozelle Luster Booker, said the forum will tackle hard facts about artificial intelligence and its effects on jobs and people, according to WREG. Booker also said that as of this week, crews were still setting up the event's stages and audiovisual equipment ahead of the ribbon-cutting and opening, per the station's report. This year's theme, “Power Forward: Built for Momentum. Designed for Movement,” folds in sessions on AI, robotics and data centers, with presentations from McKinsey Global Institute senior fellow Kevin Russell and AI strategist Bethanie Nonami, according to the Tri-State Defender.
Matchmaking Built to Outlast the Handshake
Rather than leaving business owners to work a crowded room on their own, this year's forum has expanded its matchmaking format to include seven structured, pre-scheduled streams designed to connect small businesses directly with corporate buyers, commercial lenders and media representatives, the Tri-State Defender reports. The idea, per the outlet, is to convert initial contacts into leads that can carry into 2027 rather than fizzling out once the conference ends — a concern the seed report also raises, noting that conference connections can lead to business leads through the end of 2026 and into 2027.
The forum brings together small business owners, corporate leaders, capital providers and other innovators over two and a half days, with registration required to attend. Beyond the matchmaking streams, an information zone will host informal information-sharing sessions with accountants, attorneys and small-business resource organizations, giving founders direct access to the kind of technical help that's often out of reach for smaller firms.
A Rebrand Six Months in the Making
The forum's host organization enters this year's event in the middle of its own transformation. In February, the Mid-South Minority Business Council Continuum officially rebranded as the Mid-South Business Continuum, a change meant to reflect its multi-decade shift from a procurement referral council into a broader business infrastructure engine, according to the Tri-State Defender. The council's service model dates back to the early 1980s, when it expanded beyond traditional minority vendor lists.
That evolution comes with numbers to back it up. Per the organization's 2022–2025 Economic Impact Report, businesses connected through the Continuum generated more than $1.4 billion in contract awards, supported over 31,000 jobs, and received more than $319 million in capital awards, the Tri-State Defender notes. The Continuum also operates the Tennessee MBDA Business Center under the U.S. Department of Commerce, making it the state's only federally funded Minority Business Development Agency center, according to The Tennessee Tribune.
Leadership Rooted in Supplier Diversity
Booker joined the Continuum in 2017 after a 31-year career at Memphis Light, Gas and Water, where she managed a supplier diversity program that spent half a billion dollars with diverse firms, according to the Develop HER Women's Summit. That program became a benchmark for supplier diversity across West Tennessee before she took the helm of the Continuum.
The forum traditionally closes with the Robert R. Church, Sr. Achievement Awards Gala, which honors high-performing minority and women business enterprises along with corporate diversity advocates, the Tri-State Defender reported ahead of last year's event. Church is widely recognized as Memphis' first Black millionaire, and he bought the city's first municipal bond in 1879 to help restore its charter.
A Venue Upgrade — and a Hotel Question
This year's forum takes place at the Renasant Convention Center, a 300,000-square-foot downtown facility that completed a $200 million modernization featuring a 118,000-square-foot column-free exhibit hall, according to hospitality research firm HVS. The renovated venue, formerly known as the Memphis Cook Convention Center, was built to attract larger regional business conferences. Even so, HVS analysts note that surrounding downtown hotel capacity remains an ongoing consideration as multi-day business conventions like this one continue to grow.
The forum's focus on entrepreneurship lands in a city with a notable track record on that front: a study drawing on Small Business Administration and U.S. Census Bureau data found Memphis is the only major U.S. city where women own more small businesses than men, with a female-to-male ownership ratio of 1.01 to 1, according to a Memphis regional report. Last year's 18th annual forum, held under the theme “Future Focused,” introduced an interactive exhibit hall called The Vision Vault, featuring live product demonstrations and silent workshops, per the Tri-State Defender's coverage at the time — part of a programming arc that has steadily shifted from leadership panels and author workshops toward hands-on tools for founders.
The Continuum's work extends beyond the annual forum. Hoodline previously reported on a developer academy that paired the Continuum with municipal housing agencies and regional financial partners to address local housing and community development needs, underscoring the organization's reach into sectors well beyond the convention floor.
