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Upcoming SBM Events

St. Louis Business Expo 2025

Oct. 9, 2025 | 11AM - 5PM | St. Charles Convention Center

The Expo is the largest business-to-business conference in Missouri, where 2,000-3,000 professionals come to learn, network and grow their business. The day includes an opening workshop, a full day’s worth of seminars and workshops, an awards luncheon, more than 100 exhibitors and a networking happy hour. For a booth at the event, contact Pat Coates at 314.569.0076, ext. 109 or email her at pat@sbmon.com. For more information on the Expo, click here.

Best In Business Award Luncheon

Oct. 9, 2025 | 11AM - 1PM | St. Charles Convention Center

Succeeding PRESENTED BY BANK OF AMERICA. We asked St. Louis area businesses to help us identify the 70 BEST businesses in the St. Louis area. Not the biggest, but the best businesses. We've counted the nominations and votes, and we'll bring the top 70 companies to one luncheon to honor them. Come and meet these outstanding companies and find out what makes them the very BEST. Event Sponsors: Bank of America, Alliance Technologies and Vistage. Cost: $55, Tables of 10 are $550. Click here to order tickets. Call 314.569.0076

Best In Business Speaker Series

October 2025 | 7:30AM - 9AM | Vue 17

PRESENTED BY BANK OF AMERICA. BUILDING A ONE-OF-A-KIND CULTURE. Learn from the area's top business owners what it takes to build a one-of-a-kind work culture. Join a panel of experts as they share their best practices on sales and marketing, and learn what it takes to build one of the BEST companies in St. Louis. FREE to attend. Click here to RSVP.

Top Women Business Owner Luncheon

February 2026 | 11AM - 1PM | Hilton Frontenac Hotel

Each year SBM highlights the area's top women-owned companies. We've profiled more than 200 over the past 19 years. We bring them together for one luncheon. Event Sponsors: U.S. Bank, Anders, HireLevel, Spry Digital, nimble solutions and United Healthcare. Cost: $55, Tables of 10 are $550.

Recent Videos/Articles

Leading During A Crisis

How Small Businesses Can Lead in Times of Crisis: Lessons from the May 16 Tornado

by Julie Tuggle-Nguyen

When a natural disaster hits home, small businesses are uniquely positioned to make a meaningful difference. We are often closer to our communities, more connected to our teams, and better able to mobilize quickly than larger, more bureaucratic organizations. The May 16 tornado that tore through parts of St. Louis was a stark reminder that in times of crisis, leadership matters — and it begins with taking care of your people. While this article is rooted in that experience, the lessons apply to any unexpected event — from floods and fires to power outages and other unexpected disruptions — that can suddenly shake a business, a team, or a community.

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Marketing Matters

Show, Don’t Sell: The Trust-Driven Customer Journey

by David Meyer

If you’ve read my last couple of SBM articles (and really - who hasn’t?), you’ve seen how trust is the new currency and substance beats style in content. Now let’s tackle what’s next: your customers’ journey.

Let’s be brutally honest. Most customer journeys are designed around what businesses want – not what customers need to believe. In other words, as we like to say at Spoke, “It’s not about what you want to say; it’s about what they want to hear.”

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