The City of Virginia Beach has organized a Small, Women-owned and Minority-owned (SWaM) Business Forum on Sept. 18 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event will be held at the TCC Virginia Beach Student Center at 1700 College Crescent in Virginia Beach.

The event is co-hosted by Councilwoman Dr. Amelia Ross-Hammond and the Virginia Beach Department of Economic Development. The Honorable Maurice Jones, Secretary of Commerce and Trade for the Commonwealth of Virginia, is the featured speaker.

The event will provide the local small business community the opportunity to learn how several of the Commonwealth’s largest companies have structured and operate their diversity programs. Representatives from businesses including Sentara, Walmart, Virginia Natural Gas, Dominion Virginia Power and NEXCOM will provide informational sessions to outline small business partnership opportunities and programs within their companies.

The SWaM Business Forum is one of several initiatives the Virginia Beach Department of Economic Development has launched to grow and support small businesses within the city. The other initiatives include special programs and workshops, business mentoring program with higher education partners, networking, resource identification and connections, consultation with the regional office of Virginia Department of Minority Business Enterprise, Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) free business counseling, online support about How to Start a Business and online Defense Business Center resources for information about how to do business with the government. For more information, visit www.yesvirginiabeach.com.