Hy-Vee to host expanded business summit
Hy-Vee to host expanded business summit
Hy-Vee Inc. will host its Opportunity Supplier Impact Summit Sept. 18-19 in central Iowa, expanding the event's format to provide more businesses and entrepreneurs with valuable resources and the opportunity to pitch their products directly to Hy-Vee category managers. The summit will take place at Hy-Vee’s corporate headquarters in West Des Moines.
Over the course of the two-day event, the Opportunity Supplier Impact Summit will offer comprehensive insights about doing business with Hy-Vee, along with industry-specific educational sessions and opportunities for networking with key Hy-Vee leaders across various sectors, including procurement and retail store management.
“At Hy-Vee, our focus is on supporting the communities that support our stores, which means elevating the businesses and entrepreneurs who call those communities home,” said Tina Potthoff, senior vice president of communications. “We are elevating our commitment to entrepreneurs by offering capital, coaching and connections so these brands can grow and succeed.”
Hy-Vee will accept submissions for small businesses to attend the summit online at https://www.rangeme.com/opportunitysupplierimpact. Entrants must offer retail products in one of the following categories: produce, grocery, deli, general merchandise, frozen, dairy, beauty or health and wellness. Hy-Vee will select 80 small businesses from all applications to attend the summit in person. Deadline for all submissions is 11:59 p.m. on July 14.
A live pitch competition will be featured on the first day of the event, open to all small businesses across the country that are in the early stages of building their operations. From all applications, three businesses will be chosen to participate in the live pitch competition. Hy-Vee is providing a $30,000 prize pool to the three pitch participants.
All selected attending businesses will meet one-on-one with retail and supply chain leaders to pitch their products and explore opportunities for potential partnerships with on-the-spot item approval and increased visibility within the Hy-Vee market. Select suppliers will be able to participate in a supplier expo demoing products with key Hy-Vee decision-makers. A resource roundtable will also be made available to all attendees that includes discussions with Hy-Vee leaders on topics from distribution and food safety to finance, merchandising and marketing.
