The Kansas African American Affairs Commission and Geary County Commission Economic Access and Opportunity Summit is October 2-3, in Junction City.

The summit will offer access to procurement opportunity critical to counteract inequity in spending and contracting at all levels to minority and women owned businesses. It is free to all participants and will be held at the Geary County Convention Center.

Larry Hicks, Conference Co-Chair and Geary County Commissioner has been planning the summit since this past spring and said that he’s interested in the issue because Junction City and Geary County are one of the most singularly diverse counties in the state of Kansas. “There are a number of people who have tremendous skills who are looking to go into business, and many of them are in business here in the area, but they have little information about contracting opportunities that are present and those that may exist in the future.”

Hicks hopes to create an environment that will allow those business owners to access that type of information. The summit will feature multiple speakers from both private and public organizations. Governor Sam Brownback will also speak during the luncheon on Oct. 3rd. He will discuss opportunities for minority and women business owners in growing the Kansas economy.