MILWAUKEE — Along with Wednesday’s debate, we are also 11 months out from Milwaukee hosting the 2024 Republican National Convention.
The host committee held a vendor’s fair before the debate.
About 300 local businesses were at the Baird Center, hoping to get a piece of the $200 million economic impact expected to come from next year’s RNC.
Even visitor centers were ready to show off their wares, like Milwaukee County Parks. Nick Spence said, “We have 13 golf courses so they’re thinking where are these golf courses and how can we get into them.”
Frank Meiland hopes his Racine-owned graphics company Wisconsin Screen Process Inc. will be selected as a vendor, “It would mean the world to us to be part of that. We do floor graphics as well.”
Ryan Reppis with New Berlin business Wristband Resources already made the lanyards and showed off their hi-tech wristband abilities to customers, “Which is a near communication band to a bar code, you can do cashless payment and your tracking,” he explained.
Nearly 50 of these businesses were minority-owned and 45 were owned by women. Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican Party hopes more Milwaukee businesses will partner with them, as the Party will be around often for the next year, “We’re going to be here setting up shop to get every single vote because we know electorally were not going to win without Wisconsin.”
If you did not make it to the Vendor Fair, there is a link to the vendor portal on the Milwaukee 2024 Host Committee online here.
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