June/July 2009
WBENC honors businesses for WBE support
Washington, DC – Early each year, the WBENC Top Corporations awards recognize corporations with programs that level the playing field for WBEs competing for corporate contracts. “This year we have reached a record high of nineteen corporations selected for outstanding, enterprise-wide supplier diversity programs and measurable results,” says Linda Denny, president and CEO of WBENC. 
For the year 2008, the WBENC Top Corporations for WBEs are: Accenture, Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, Avis Budget Group, Bank of America, Chevron, Coca-Cola, Dell, Energy Future Holdings (formerly TXU), Exxon Mobil Corporation, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Manpower, Office Depot, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Shell Oil, UPS, and Verizon. Shown above are execs of the companies, with WBENC’s Connie Rankin and Linda Denny in top row, far left and far right.
Sixteen of the companies have been recognized in the past, many of them multiple times. Energy Future Holdings (formerly TXU Corp), UPS, and AT&T, including its predecessor companies, have been recognized by WBENC every year since the award was created nine years ago. Accenture, Dell, and Manpower join the group for the first time this year.
Boeing names
2008 suppliers of the year
Seattle, WA – In early April, Boeing announced the top nine supplier companies for 2008. Over 10,800 suppliers were compared on quality, delivery performance, cost, environmental initiatives, customer service and technical expertise before the nine top firms were selected. Of the nine top companies, two are diverse businesses.
WBE Exotic Metals Forming Co (Kent, WA), producer of complex formed tubing, ducting, and high-strength sheet metal designs and fabrications for the commercial airplanes and IDS divisions, was named top supplier for outside production. SDVBE Fort Walton Machining (Fort Walton Beach, FL) provides complex manufacturing of components and assemblies and was named top diversity/veteran-owned small business.
JPL High-Tech Conference for small business
Pasadena, CA – In early March JPL hosted its twenty-first annual High-Tech Conference for Small Business. The two-day conference focused on subcontracting and marketing opportunities for small, minority, women-owned and veteran-owned businesses in high-tech industries. Over a thousand diverse business enterprises (DBEs) and 250 or more corporate and government buying agents attended.
There were workshops to teach DBEs about major programs in supplier diversity and small business initiatives from government and corporations. Some DBEs met one-on-one with representatives of over 100 corporate and agency reps to learn about what is needed. Participating agencies include NASA centers, the U.S. Department of Defense, Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Native entrepreneur honored
 Bethesda, MD – Jonathan K. Wilber, CEO of Master Key Consulting, a Native American-owned management, training and IT government consulting firm, was named among the top twenty-five “CEOs you need to know” by Maryland’s Gazette of Politics & Business. Wilber was nominated by the Montgomery County, MD Department of Economic Development for his ability to execute his business strategy and inspire others to follow his vision.
Since opening in 2000 with three employees, Master Key has won federal contracts totaling more than $100 million and has grown to more than 140 employees in eleven states and the District of Columbia. The company’s projects include work with the Environmental Protection Agency; the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and the Departments of Education, Justice, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security.
Along with grants management consulting, IT services, communications and marketing, the firm works with agencies and organizations that serve Native people. Wilber is a member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.
Supplying the cable industry
 Washington, DC – In April the Walter Kaitz Institute held the tenth annual Supplier Diversity Connection workshop at Cable Show 09. Panels, exhibits and talks helped MBEs learn what they can do to better serve the cable industry and earn more contracts.
A panel addressed supplier diversity in a recession economy and another, “Cable’s new business opportunities in technology,” was focused on providing technical services to the industry.
Cox Communications, Comcast, NBC Universal, Pepco Holdings and Time Warner Cable were among the large companies there to meet suppliers.
DiversityNXT joins CTIA Wireless conference
Las Vegas, NV – When supplier diversity conference DiversityNXT convened as part of the International CTIA Wireless 2009 conference this past April, it was the first time CTIA Wireless conference sponsor Telecommunications Industry Group (TIG) brought supplier diversity programming to the event.
“We decided to join DiversityNXT with CTIA because the wireless arena is where a lot of companies are going. We wanted to bring our message of supplier diversity to that arena,” says Jeffrey Espiritu. Espiritu works in supplier diversity at Motorola (Schaumburg, IL) and is one of the DiversityNXT coordinators.
 At DiversityNXT, global procurement execs shared their strategies for success in driving supplier diversity through the supply chain. The conference had three main components: a ninety-minute panel discussion that included supply chain execs from Motorola, AT&T, Alcatel-Lucent and other companies; a buyer/supplier matchmaker reception, and DiversityNXT awards.
Paul Novak, CEO of the Institute for Supply Management, moderated the panel discussion. “They were talking supply chain realities,” reports Espiritu: discussing the economy, the credit market, access to credit for suppliers, and supplier health: “all very important for sustaining a business, growing a business, and weathering these economic times.”
The buyer/supplier matchmaker reception is a popular segment of DiversityNXT. “Matchmakers are a great opportunity for diversity businesses to hook up with big corporations and talk about their companies,” Espiritu explains. “It’s a kind of speed dating,” he adds with a smile. The one-on-one meetings last just a few minutes before the small business rep moves on to a conversation with another corporation.
“And of course, registration for DiversityNXT gave participants access to the CTIA Wireless show,” Espiritu adds.
The DiversityNXT top corporate award went to AT&T. “AT&T’s commitment to supplier diversity is evident in the benchmark best-spending results achieved, which are among the highest in the nation,” says Espiritu. “The company has mentored several diverse suppliers to support nontraditional areas of the company’s business. It has also helped diverse businesses break into other industries, like contract manufacturing and advertising.”
Other awardees included MBE Genesis Networks, a nationwide business solutions provider of telecom equipment for major service providers and manufacturers of next generation equipment; and John K. Lopez, chair of the Association for Service Disabled Veterans.
The Telecommunications Industry Group has been holding DiversityNXT in one form or another for the past ten years, Espiritu explains. “Our goal is to mainstream supplier diversity,” he says. “This is an opportunity to bring supplier diversity into a mainstream industry event.”
2009 sponsors of DiversityNXT included Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, Cisco, Fujitsu and Verizon at the platinum level. Gold sponsors were Brocade and CommScope, Inc. Silver sponsors were Agilent Technologies and Motorola. Bronze sponsors were CTDI, Embarq, Nortel, Sprint and Tellabs. Other TIG members include Comcast, Ericsson, Purcell, Qwest, Samsung, Sanmina, SAS and Windstream.
April/May 2009
WBENC names new directors
Washington DC – The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC, www.wbenc.org) has named twelve new members to its board of directors. The WBENC board includes representatives of regional partner organizations, WBEs and corporate business leaders.
The new directors are Tara Abraham, CEO, Accel; Nancy Allen, president and CEO, Women’s Business Development Center Florida; Shelly Brown, manager for supplier diversity and business development, Johnson Controls; Holli Dorr, president and founder, Hollister Construction Co; Carol Dougal, co-president, Women’s Business Development Center Chicago; Carol Hoffman, senior supplier diversity program manager, Microsoft; Betsy Hosick, general manager midstream procurement, Chevron; Ruby McCleary, director of supplier diversity, United Airlines; Dianne McClelland, co-founder, president and CEO, Astra Women’s Business Alliance; Rosemarie Schmidt, VP and senior counsel, Marriott International Inc; Al Williams, chief procurement officer, Accenture and Beverly Williamson, VP of business process excellence, Johnson & Johnson.
Cheryl Stevens, WBENC board chair and VP of supplier diversity for Energy Future Holdings, notes that “We are fortunate to be able to call on the collective expertise of this extraordinary board, and to know that, as individuals, each is committed to advancing WBENC’s mission.
“Ensuring opportunities for women business owners is more important than ever, since they represent not only a rapidly growing group of small businesses in the U.S., but also a significant consumer market.”
Battelle and Native enterprise team up to help the Army
Columbus, OH – Battelle and Native American business enterprise Tyonek Fabrication Co work together to update aging components in the U.S. Army’s Black Hawk helicopters. This past winter their work earned them the 2008 Army aviation materiel readiness award for contribution by a major contractor.
Battelle and Tyonek use current electronics technologies and innovative practices to update aging components, improving fleet readiness and lifecycle cost control. The program is now expanding to maintain other Army legacy systems.
The award was presented at the Cribbins Symposium, hosted by the Tennessee Valley chapter of the Army Aviation Association of America.
MBE Intelius
gets superstar award
Bellevue, WA – Minority-owned Intelius Screening Solutions’ general manager Todd Owens has been named a “provider superstar” by HRO Today magazine.
Intelius was founded in 2003 by its current CEO, Naveen Jain, and a group of other execs with experience in technology development, engineering and security. The company provides customized, automated online employment screening solutions that integrate with clients’ own human resources apps as well as screening services. The company was named one of HRO Today’s top screening solutions providers of 2008, and was also honored by Workforce Management magazine.
For more about Intelius Screening Solutions visit hr.intelius.com.
February/March 2009
AT&T supplier programs
win utility advocate award
 Dallas, TX – Last fall the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) gave its Utility Marketplace Access Partnership (UMAP) advocate award to Joan Kerr, AT&T’s head of supplier diversity.
UMAP awards recognize people, companies and public service commissions that have made strong contributions to promoting the group’s supplier diversity mission. In 1968, AT&T’s minority business enterprise effort was one of the first corporate-wide supplier diversity programs.
WBENC names new regional partner
Washington, DC – The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) recently named the Ohio River Valley Women’s Business Council (ORV-WBC) to serve as the certifying body for WBEs in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. ORV-WBC is a new program offered by the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati. WBENC also realigned several regional partner organizations (RPOs) to better serve the WBEs of Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.
 “The Ohio River Valley Women’s Business Council is a welcome addition to the national organization,” says Linda Denny, president and CEO of WBENC. “With its roots in the Urban League of greater Cincinnati, this new partnership demonstrates WBENC’s nationwide commitment to diversity while delivering on our mission to provide access to business opportunities for all WBEs.”
Two existing RPOS, the Women’s Business Enterprise Council South (WBEC South) and the Georgia Women’s Business Council (GWBC), will extend their territories. WBEC South will now cover Tennessee in addition to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle. GWBC will extend its services beyond the Georgia border to North and South Carolina.
“Our RPOs deliver the certification, opportunities and resources that are our core values and the lifeblood for successful women’s businesses” Denny notes.
For more information, go to www.wbenc.org.
WBENC partners select a slate of WBE stars
 Washington, DC – WBENC has recognized an exciting slate of fourteen WBEs as 2009 WBENC women’s business enterprise stars. Each star was selected by one of WBENC’s fourteen regional partner organizations.
Among those honored is Janice Pellar, president of Emco Technologies. Emco is a member of the Women’s Business Enterprise Council South; it provides IT and communications services.
This year WBENC expanded its annual awards event by adding a summit, including strategic educational workshops and industry meetings, to address current and future business needs of WBEs and WBENC’s corporate members. Topics include “Bridges for growth: a multi-prong approach to accelerating the growth of businesses owned by women of color,” and “Maximizing results in the current economy.”
For more information on WBENC and its new WBENC women’s business enterprise stars, check out www.wbenc.org.
NASA and JPL host
brand-new small business symposium
Pasadena, CA – Last November NASA and JPL hosted an inaugural small business symposium and awards ceremony. Organized by the business opportunities office at JPL and NASA’s office of small business programs, the event included participants from industry, academia and small businesses.
Attendees had the chance to network and learn how to do business with NASA and its prime contractors. NASA reps revealed plans for future earth and space missions and other agency programs, initiatives and business opportunities. They also discussed the skills, resources and technologies needed to work with NASA.
Topics at the two-day event included NASA’s mentor-protégé program and small business program, how to reach NASA’s prime contractors for subcontract ops, and how a small business might go about building a high-tech industrial base.
For more about NASA’s office of small business programs visit www.osbp.nasa.gov. For more about JPL’s business opportunities office try acquisition.jpl.nasa.gov/boo.
Native-owned consultant
expands Justice contract
 Bethesda, MD – Native American-owned Master Key Consulting has been awarded a contract to provide training and user support services to the office of audit, assessment and management within the U.S. Department of Justice.
The MBE provides grants management consulting, monitoring and evaluation; IT services; communications and marketing. It specializes in work with agencies and organizations that serve Native people.
Since opening in 2000 with three employees, Master Key has won federal contracts totaling more than $100 million and grown to a team of more than 140; it is the largest Native American-owned company in Maryland. Jonathan K. Wilber, owner and CEO, is a member of the Menominee tribe of Wisconsin.
The company’s existing federal projects include work with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, departments of Education, Justice, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security. The new $3.7 million contract expands Master Key’s services into a new office of the Justice Department.
Techies among Stevie
award winners
Sunnyvale, CA – The Stevie awards for women in business were created
in 2004 to honor achievements and contributions of woman-led organizations and female entrepreneurs and executives worldwide. The award process is governed by a board of judges and advisors including nearly fifty leading figures in business; one of them is Helen Greiner, co-founder of iRobot.
There are fifty award categories for women and WBEs. Techies and technical companies that received awards include:
Best Asian executive: Sangita Singh, head of enterprise application services, Wipro Technologies, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
Best entrepreneur, non-services business up to 100 employees: Dr Christina Lampe-Onnerud, founder and CEO, Boston-Power, Inc, Westborough, MA.
 Best entrepreneur, service businesses up to 100 employees in computer software and services: Janine Popick, CEO, VerticalResponse, San Francisco, CA.
Best Latin American entrepreneur or executive: Nellie Borrero, senior director of global inclusion and diversity, Accenture.
For more information on the Stevies, see www.stevieawards.com/women.
December 2008/January 2009
Women’s Business Ownership Act celebrates its twentieth
 Washington, DC – Members of the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC), along with women business owners, organization leaders and policymakers, gathered at the U.S. Capitol to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988. That legislation created the NWBC, the SBA Office of Women’s Business Ownership and the Women’s Business Center program.
The legislation also banned financial institutions from requiring women to have a male relative co-sign a business loan by amending the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
Today there are more than 10 million women-owned businesses in the U.S.: nearly 40 percent of all businesses. These firms employ more than 12.8 million workers, about one in eleven private-sector workers. They contribute nearly $1.9 trillion in annual revenues to the nation’s economy.
For the past two decades, majority women-owned firms have continued to grow at around twice the rate of all firms. As of 2002, professional, scientific and technical businesses made up 14 percent of WBEs.
“This is an exciting time in the evolution of women’s entrepreneurship,” says NWBC Chair Carole Jean Jordan, owner and founder of Jordan Sprinkler Systems. “Women business owners are realizing greater success, causing their economic and political influence to greatly increase.”
 UTC hosts minority business exchange
Hartford, CT – In late summer 2008 United Technologies Corp hosted its seventh annual Minority Business Exchange (MBX). The event featured workshops and one-on-one matchmaking meetings aimed at helping diverse suppliers start or expand their business with UTC companies and large UTC suppliers.
More than 100 minority suppliers and about forty senior UTC supply management execs attended the 2008 MBX. Some 80 percent of suppliers who went to the conference came home with new business opportunities in hand.
In the past five years UTC has spent more than $1.3 billion with minority suppliers; its annual spending growth averages 18 percent. In 2007 MBEs supplied UTC with more than $367 million in goods and services. The company expects to grow its spend with diverse businesses at a double-digit rate.
“A broad base of suppliers encourages competition and innovation and drives productivity,” says Jothi Purushotaman, UTC’s VP of ops. “Our ability to identify minority and diverse suppliers gives us a competitive advantage and an opportunity to grow our business and satisfy our customers.”
UTC president and CEO Louis Chênevert presented this year’s supplier excellence award to the Bernd Group (Dunedin, FL). Bernd is UTC’s top minority supplier based on dollar value. Over the past fifteen years it has grown its sales to UTC from $350,000 to more than $30 million.
Women Presidents’ Organization launches
second Boston chapter
 Boston, MA – This past September the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO) added a second chapter in Boston, MA, just five years after staring up the first one. WPO is a peer-advisory organization that connects women entrepreneurs who own multi-million dollar companies. Its chapters are limited to twenty members each to encourage interaction among the WBE members.
The rapid growth of WPO reflects the growth of WBEs. A 2006 survey estimated that there are some 233,445 privately held women-owned firms in Massachusetts alone. They generate more than $46 billion in sales and employ more than 280,000 people.
Marsha Firestone, PhD, president and founder of the organization, comments that WPO is a resource already used by 1,300 women entrepreneurs to reach higher levels of professional success. A recent survey found that 78 percent of WPO members believe their membership “helps them manage their business concerns.”
WPO lets women presidents tap into the collective wisdom of their peers. Membership is restricted to women who own companies that generate at least $2 million in annual revenue, or $1 million for service-based businesses.
Local chapters are coordinated by a professional facilitator. They meet monthly to share business expertise and experience in a confidential and collaborative setting.
In its ten years of existence, the WPO’s membership has grown to more than 1,300 members in the U.S., Canada, Peru and the UK. For more information see www.womenpresidentsorg.com.
NASA chooses WBE
contractor for Landsat
mission operation element
Greenbelt, MD – NASA selected a WBE, the Hammers Co (Greenbelt, MD), to build the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) mission operations element. Hammers is a high-tech software engineering development company offering software engineering services for aerospace.
The company was formed in 1990 to provide aerospace and embedded real-time software systems. Over the years Hammers has worked for JPL, the NRL and Hopkins APL as well as NASA.
The company will provide design, development, integration, testing, delivery and installation of the MOE, as well as support for ground system and mission-level integration and test, support of ops readiness activities, engineering support during launch and early orbit and a period of sustaining engineering.
 Healthcare Alliance
program helps MBEs
Charlotte, NC – Late in 2008 the Premier Healthcare Alliance created a program to help W/M/VBEs do business with it. Premier’s “sourcing education and enrichment for diverse and small suppliers” (SEEDS) program prepares participants to enter the group purchasing contracting process at Premier.
Premier Healthcare Alliance is owned by not-for-profit hospitals. It serves 2,000 U.S. hospitals and more than 53,000 other healthcare sites. SEEDS introduces diverse- and small-business suppliers to Premier members and provides resources to help them sell to members.
“Premier understands the challenges all suppliers face in the contracting process,” says senior director of supplier diversity Deborah A. Williams. “By participating in SEEDS, diverse and small business suppliers will receive coaching and mentoring; assistance in how to work with member hospitals and distributors to achieve local, regional and national distribution capabilities; and business education tools that focus on marketing and communication materials.”
Premier Purchasing Partners president Mike Alkire notes that “Premier has established a broad definition of diversity that encourages our members to support minority-, women- and veteran-owned enterprises and small business suppliers.
“Through this initiative, diverse and small business suppliers will be able to grow incrementally within the Premier contract portfolio. This will lead to the establishment of long-term relationships across the alliance.”
For more information visit www.premierinc.com.
October/November 08
W.W. Grainger’s Nancy Conner honored
 Chicago, IL - Nancy Conner, diversity procurement manager for industrial facility supplies distributor W.W. Grainger, has received the 2008 corporate support award of the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC). The honor was presented at the WBDC’s twenty-second annual entrepreneurial woman’s conference in September.
WBDC co-president Hedy M. Ratner notes that Conner was honored “for her steadfast personal commitment, and W.W. Grainger’s commitment, to the development and growth of women- and minority-owned businesses.”
Conner has an outstanding record of support for diverse suppliers. She’s a founder of the “Corporate Bridges” entrepreneurial education program for MBEs, sponsored by the Chicago Minority Business Development Council (CMBDC), an NMSDC affiliate. She serves on the national board of directors for the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), and is active locally with both the WBDC and the CMBDC.
WBDC is a not-for-profit organization established in 1986 to work with WBEs in the Chicago area. Its annual awards recognize women entrepreneurs and their advocates. For more information on WBDC and its programs, check out www.wbdc.org.
Duke Chung is a “Top 35”
Vienna, VA - Duke Chung, president and CEO of customer service software firm Parature, was named to the Bisnow on Business “Top 35 under 35” list of rising young entrepreneurs in the Washington, DC area. Selected from 120 nominees, Chung was recognized for his firm’s success with on-demand, online distribution of the software it develops.
Chung has a BS in ops research and IE from Cornell University.
Fortune 500s meet at Billion Dollar Roundtable
 Milwaukee, WI - In August, Billion Dollar Roundtable (BDR) member Johnson Controls hosted more than a hundred leaders, strategic planners and procurement officers from Fortune 500 companies at the third Supplier Diversity and Business Development Showcase. The event is held just once every five years.
All thirteen current members of the Billion Dollar Roundtable attended,
as did representatives from more than sixty other firms, many of them NMSDC members.
A number of themes were developed during the discussion. They included the need to transition programs from supplier diversity compliance to supplier development; to create senior executive advisory committees to help develop strategies; and to hold more companies accountable for fulfilling their commitment to minority business development.
Each member of the BDR spends upwards of $1 billion annually with minority- and women-owned businesses.
In 2006 NMSDC member companies accounted for $100.3 billion in purchases of goods and services from minority-owned businesses. Their spend topped $360 billion in the five preceding years.
NMSDC sponsors mission to Australia
New York, NY - NMSDC leaders and representatives of corporate sponsors visited Australia this September. The trip supported the launch of the Australian Indigenous Minority Supplier Council (AIMSC), which aims to build native-Australian-owned businesses using a supplier diversity model. The NMSDC delegation’s visit was designed to help promote indigenous minority supplier development in Australia’s government and corporations.
The mission was sponsored by NMSDC corporate members Cisco Systems, Coca-Cola, GlaxoSmith-Kline, IBM and Pfizer. It included stops in Canberra and Sydney. Participants visited with elders of the indigenous community, toured indigenous business enterprises and met with senior corporate procurement execs and government officials from Australian state and local territories.
Mission leaders also testified before a federal government committee on Aboriginal affairs, describing the gains made in minority supplier development in the U.S.
With the launch of AIMSC, there are now four organizations around the world modeled on NMSDC. The Canadian Aboriginal Minority Supplier Council (CAMSC) was launched in 2005, followed by Minority Supplier Development United Kingdom (MSDUK) in 2006 and Minority Supplier Development China (MSDC) earlier this year. For more on NMSDC visit www.nmsdc.org.
U.S. Department of Commerce hosts MED Week
Chicago, IL - This August, the Chicago regional office of the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) hosted the twenty-sixth Chicago Minority Enterprise Development (MED) week. A series of seminars and one-on-one matchmaking sessions promoted MBE growth, and an awards evening recognized recent accomplishments by companies large and small.
Chicago MED week attracted more than 2,000 MBEs, corporate professionals and government representatives. The goal was to create $100 million in contract opportunities.
A number of awards were presented at the closing gala. They included:
CEO leadership circle of excellence awards: Jim Skinner, vice chair and CEO, McDonald’s; John W. Rogers, Jr, founder, chair and CEO, Ariel Investments; and Ellen M. Costello, CEO, Harris Bankcorp.
Minority technology firm of the year, local: John Sterling’s Synch-Solutions; regional: Michael Gaines’ Computer Resource Solutions, Inc.
Regional directors’ awards for MBE advocacy: supplier diversity professional of the year: Margaret Klinsport of Allstate; minority business advocate of the year: Phillip Barreda; Chicago Minority Business Development Council lifetime achievement award: Emmett Vaughn, Exelon Corp.
August/September 08
CMSDC names United Technologies Connecticut corporation of the year
Hartford, CT - United Technologies (UTC) has been named 2008 corporation of the year by the Connecticut Minority Supplier Development Council (CMSDC). The company was honored for its increased MBE spend. Over the last five years, UTC has spent more than $1.3 billion with diverse suppliers, averaging 18 percent yearly growth.
“UTC is committed to growing our existing suppliers, encouraging promising new suppliers and ideas, and strengthening a culture that values diversity and the innovation it brings,” says Anand Stanley, UTC director of supplier development. “Supplier diversity is not a program; it’s the way we do business.”
At the award presentation, CMSDC president Dr Fred McKinney noted that “UTC consistently performs with excellence in the area of minority supplier development. The high-level support for the UTC supplier development program demonstrates the strategic importance of minority business development.”
CMSDC is an affiliate of the NMSDC. Its membership consists of local and national Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, universities, financial institutions, associations and organizations. The organization works to help small MBEs develop into companies that add value to prospective clients.
UTC, based in Hartford, CT, is a diversified company that provides high-tech products and services to the building and aerospace industries.
HBE TechMD is a small business award finalist
Round Rock, TX - Dell and the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) sponsor
a small business excellence award program for technology-oriented companies. TechMD, a Hispanic-owned business enterprise (HBE), was one of the top ten finalists.
Also recognized was TecAccess, (Rockville, VA). This company was lauded for its business focus. It employs people with physical, emotional and intellectual disabilities, including veterans with disabilities, to work in IT roles that help federal government agencies and large corporations design and use technology that is more accessible and user-friendly for all.
More information is available at www.dell.com/ceaward.
TIG DiversityNXT awards honor telecom diversity
Las Vegas, NV - In June, DiversityNXT: Ahead of the Evolution became part of NXTcomm08, the telecom industry conference. Presented by the Telecommunications Industry Group (TIG), the conference offered leadership sessions and networking opportunities.
At a gala DiversityNXT event, an outstanding individual and two firms were recognized for their supplier diversity accomplishments. The Trailblazer award went to Stephen G. Welch, SVP of business development for Assia Inc, president of Value Propositions and former chief procurement officer at SBC, for exemplary leadership as a long-term diversity pioneer in the telecom industry.
The NXTGen corporation award went to CommScope for its use of diverse suppliers in its supply chain, providing a solution to a business challenge in next-generation telecom.
The NXTSolution supplier award went to Avion Systems for creating the most innovative solution to solve a customer problem, demonstrating value and reducing costs in the next-generation arena. Kanchana Raman, president and CEO, accepted the award. For more information on DiversityNXT, visit www.diversitynxt.org.
NMSDC president announces retirement
New York, NY - In January 2009, Harriet R. Michel, president of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), will retire after twenty years in office. She was named president of NMSDC in September 1988.
During her tenure NMSDC corporate membership nearly quadrupled, and corporate member purchases from minority-owned businesses increased from $10.5 billion to more than $100 billion. The organization’s staff increased from eight to twenty-two and its annual budget grew from about $2 million to $16 million.
“I’m very proud of what the NMSDC has accomplished in my twenty years with the organization,” says Michel. “We have created programs to assist our corporate members in improving their minority supplier development processes, offered valuable training for supplier development professionals, and provided thousands of minority business owners with the opportunity to compete for corporate contracts.
“While it saddens me to leave NMSDC, I have the comfort of knowing that the organization is as strong as it’s ever been. It will certainly remain an invaluable asset to corporate America and minority business owners.”
For more information about NMSDC, visit www.nmsdc.org.
USPAACC recognizes fast-growing Asian businesses
Washington, DC - The U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (USPAACC) recently recognized the fifty fastest-growing Asian-owned businesses. Recognition was based on percentage revenue growth from 2004 through 2006; of the fifty fast growers, twenty-eight are technical firms.
“We congratulate our fifty fastest-growing Asian American businesses
for generating robust growth over the years,” says USPAACC education foundation national president and CEO Susan Au Allen. “This is yet another indicator that through innovation, hard work and ingenuity, Asian Americans are at the forefront as engines of growth in our national economy.”
The recognized technology firms are: Altum, AppLabs, ASI System Integration, Astir IT Solutions, Avineon, Binary Group, Global Business Dimensions, HTC Global Services, Indotronix, International Corp, Information Technology Experts, iTech US, Lancesoft, Lanmark Technology, Logistic Solutions, Metasys Technologies, Miracle Software Systems, Nexage Technologies USA, Northbound LLC, PERI Software Solutions, Planned Systems International, Software Paradigms International, Super Micro Computer, Sutherland Global Services, Syntel, VIVA USA, VXI Global Solutions, Westech International and Zones.
For more information, check out www.uspaacc.com.
VHA Inc announces new supplier program
Irving, TX - National not-for-profit healthcare alliance VHA has unveiled a new supplier diversity initiative to help member healthcare providers establish new supplier
diversity programs and enhance existing programs.
VHA, which recently joined NMSDC, is asking its member hospitals to increase the services they contract from
veteran-, minority- and women-owned businesses.
“When you have an economically healthy community, you have a healthy hospital,” says Lamont Robinson, director of business development and supplier diversity at VHA. “Supplier diversity allows hospitals to improve the communities they serve by supporting their local economies.
“Pursuing supplier diversity has become a smart, revenue-generating business imperative that helps our hospital members and their local communities.”
VHA has also created a supplier diversity best-practices checklist for developing new programs. To learn more about the VHA supplier diversity program, check out the “join us” link at www.vha.com.
Woman business owner heads association
Bryan, TX - WBE Rebecca Boenigk, chair and CEO of Neutral Posture, a company that makes office seating, was recently named president of the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association. Boenigk is the first woman to hold the position.
Women’s Enterprise USA recently recognized Boenigk as a top woman business owner who advances the cause of supplier diversity through mentoring and other work.
Boenigk currently serves on the WBENC board of directors (www.wbenc.org) and is a past chair of the Women’s Enterprise Leadership Forum. She serves on the board
of directors of the Institute for the Economic Empowerment
of Women.
She’s also active on the Enterprising Women advisory board and the Texas Buildings & Procurement Commission Vendor Advisory Council.
She has also been part of the Texas Governor’s Business Council and the U.S. SBA National Advisory Council.
June/July 08
MBE talks business with the president
Washington, DC - Several small and medium business owners, including MBE Anthony R. Jimenez of
MicroTech, LLC, met with President George W. Bush
in April to discuss the government’s economic stimulus package and how
it will affect small and
mid-sized businesses.
Discussions lasted more than an hour. They covered small business incentives, housing costs, fuel costs, the impact of the economy on business and more.
The president noted that “A lot of folks from different backgrounds and different states... were talking about the effects of the pro-growth economic package... and how that package is causing them to make capital investments that they might not have made in the year 2008.”
WBENC announces new directors
Washington, DC – The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) has appointed four new members to its board of directors.
Newly appointed are Nancy Allen, president and CEO of the Women’s Business Development Center, Florida regional partner of WBENC; Susan M. Repka, executive director for the Women’s Business Enterprise Alliance, the Houston, TX regional affiliate of WBENC;
Mary G. Tacher, VP and acting general counsel at JC Penney; and Sharon Castillo,
principal and founder of SB Services, a management consulting firm.
Linda Denny, WBENC president and CEO, notes that “WBENC is truly fortunate to have new board members with such outstanding qualifications. They bring expertise that will help guide WBENC in its second decade.”
The new directors will serve terms of up to three years on the fifty-seven member WBENC board.
Harrah’s named Nevada’s SD firm of the decade
 Las Vegas, NV - The Nevada Minority Business Council (NMBC) selected Harrah’s Entertainment as its first-ever corporation of the decade for fifteen years of dedication to supplier and workforce diversity and inclusion.
“It was our pleasure to induct Harrah’s Entertainment into the minority business hall of fame,” says NMBC president Dianne Fontes. “The company’s continuing support throughout the years reflects its commitment to be a star supporter of diversity and equality among minority businesses.”
Fred Keeton, Harrah’s VP for external affairs and chief diversity officer, and Tony Gladney,
VP of national diversity, were awarded medals of excellence for their contributions to the company’s supplier and workforce diversity efforts.
For more information on the NMBC, see www.nmbc.org.
 Harrisburg U brings in M/WBEs for major project
Harrisburg, PA - When the trustees of Harrisburg University of Science and Technology planned its new academic center, they set a goal of 20 percent MBE participation, 5 percent higher than the school’s usual MBE spend goal, and 5 percent WBEs to work on the construction.
Combining tier one and tier two suppliers, the goal was met several months before completion of construction.
 AACA recognizes Vaughn
Chicago, IL - In March the African American Contractors Association (AACA) presented its community achievement awards for 2008. Emmett T. Vaughn, Exelon director of diverse business enablement, was given the outstanding business development and corporate outreach award.
The AACA is a 2,500 member group representing black construction firms and contractors in Illinois. For more on AACA call (312) 915-5960.
|
