Upcoming summit in Troy hopes ease phobia around technology needs for local businesses

TROY, Mich. (FOX 2) - What would a Birmingham jewelry shop and a business automation company be doing at the same technology conference?

As it turns out, companies from opposite ends of the spectrum of business have more in common than they may realize. And a new kind of technology conference hosted by AWEcomm taking place later in September in Troy hopes to marry them together, filling vital gaps from a technology standpoint that small businesses may not be aware they need.

That includes business owners like Armen Darakjian, who owns Darakjian Jewelers on Willitts Street in Birmingham.

They have spent 60 years selling all kinds of glamour, from watches to jewelry, providing all kinds of brands and styles. But keeping up with the technology that increasingly helps businesses succeed - or fail - is not easy.

"And for somebody who is not in the tech business, it's even more intimidating," said Darakjain. "You just figure this stuff happens all the time. The world is tech."

As the industry's new inventions speed up how business can be run, it's key for small businesses to keep up with them, lest they fall behind. Darakjian Jewelers is not alone.

"In Michigan alone, there are 33,000 small businesses," said Brent Yax, the CEO of AWEcomm.

AWEcomm is a tech management company that identified the hole that people like Darakjian was falling into. A lack of one-stop shopping when it comes to answering tech questions for the less-than-tech-savvy business owner. 

"And we were hoping we could just take part in something that already existed," said Yax, "but the reality was, was that you have to go remote, you have to go somewhere else to get to this type of content."

Instead of going on the search for the companies that can facilitate that, he decided to bring the experts all into one place. 

The upcoming conference called Beyond Business 2024 will have 20 different speakers and over 200 business owners slated to attend, offering networking opportunities and resources. 

"So we are trying to hit it from a number of different angles, a number of different things that are out there, like A.I., cyber, risk mitigation," said Yax.

One company ready to help is Digital Interiors, which does everything from home and business automation to video conferencing. Their expertise is the kind of help that a local jeweler would benefit from. 

"It's the first-of-its-kind and I'm excited to see where it's going to go. There is nothing like it," said Craig Cushing, the owner of Digital Interiors. "It's up to me to go in and educate them and hopefully take away the intimidation of technology."

The organizers of the summit are well aware of that kind of phobia,, which is why a conference of the size they're planning will include opportunities to ask questions of the companies, allowing everyone to benefit from each other's quest for knowledge.

"The technology conversation can sometimes be scary. So for a business owner that's not sure what questions to ask, or not sure what technology to look at or are not sure what other businesses are doing, it's hard to approach that conversation," said Yax.

The conference is scheduled for Sept. 27 at the Troy Marriott. Tickets range from $150 to $299. Learn more at beyond.awecomm.com.