DNC vendors represent the small business “Chicago landscape.”

Glenn Charles Jr. grew up on the South Side of Chicago. This week, his company was the first Black-owned business hired to provide exhibit services at the Democratic National Convention.

Speaking to ABC News outside the United Center, Charles spoke about the journey to get here and what it means for him and his team – which has doubled in size in preparation for the conference.

“Our name is on most of the signs around the property, right?” he asked. “So just walking into the building and seeing the Show Strategies branding next to the DNC sign, that's a moment for me.”

The four-day conference attracts thousands of visitors to the city, and officials expect it to have a $150 million to $200 million impact on the local economy.

Christy George, executive director of the Democratic National Committee's Chicago 2024 Host Committee, called the event “an amazing opportunity to showcase what Chicago is made of.”

“The heart of Chicago is our people and all of our small businesses,” she said.

She said the committee sought to include as many local vendors as possible, held outreach conferences throughout the city and worked alongside businesses through the application process.

She said: “On the workers’ front, the number is in the hundreds. On the vendors’ front, the number is in the dozens.”

The committee previously announced that eight of the 17 major contracts were awarded to minority- and women-owned companies.

“What has resulted is a really diverse group of vendors for a number of our key contracts,” she told ABC News. “This will truly be the most comprehensive conference in history.”

Brooke Guy, CEO of All Terrain Collective, said being selected by the Democratic National Committee has been a blessing for her work.

“I think having the DNC on our resume will do nothing but good things for this company,” she said. “We've been around since 1998 and have done some of the most amazing projects you can imagine. But this was definitely a highlight, and I think it really sparked our interest in doing more things in politics.”

Jay said her company, which does experiential marketing, partnered with another woman-owned company and a Latino-owned company.

“We really are a true representation of what the Chicago landscape looks like,” she said.

Both Jay and Charles said organizing a large-scale event like the DNC was a challenge, but it was also an opportunity for their companies to learn and grow.

“This industry is underrepresented by people who look like me, as well as people from the South and West sides of Chicago who may not know that the hospitality and convention industry is a thriving industry that you can make a good living out of,” Charles said. “So I wanted to be a representative of these individuals and give them first-hand insights into something they may not have experienced before.”