| · Show Exhibitors | |
| We are happy to announce that every available booth has been sold for the GNEMSDC Business Opportunity Expo and Conference. On behalf of the GNEMSDC board of directors, the Expo committee and all of the volunteeers, we thank the following companies for making this show a great success. I encourage all of our MBEs and corporate members to visit the show on Friday to meet some of these outstanding companies.
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| · A Note on the One on Ones | |
| Corporate members and MBEs received their One on One schedules last week. Please bring a copy of your schedules with you for this program. We will have the master schedules for referral purposes, but are counting on you to have the schedules we sent last week. There will be plenty of volunteers at the event to direct traffic and to answer questions. The schedules that were sent are firm and we are unable to make changes in those schedules. We realize that there are some corporations who did not make it on an MBE's schedule and there maybe some corporations that the MBE may feel might not be a good fit. But we ask the MBEs to prepare as best they can for the schedules we have laboriously created in the hope that you will be pleasantly surprised; serendipity is alive and well. There have also been some late additions for corporate members who have agreed to participate in the program (AT&T and Partner's Healthcare). We will be making appointments for them at the show. So check in to see if you can get an appointment with them or other firms who are joining us. For corporate members, we also realize that there may be some MBEs on your schedule that did not fit exactly the requests that you made. We ask you also to be patient and gracious and see all of the MBEs on your schedule enthusiastically. You also may come across some unexpected surprises and may figure out some ways to assist the MBEs you meet with. Remember, "development" is in our mission! So we admit imperfection, but we wish all the best in these important meetings. Please both MBEs and corporate participants in the One on Ones, come prepared with plenty of business cards and some knowledge of what company will be sitting across the table from you. We are so excited that these meetings are often the starting point in the words of Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship". | |
| · Raffle at the Show | |
| One of the most exciting parts of the GNEMSDC Business Opportunity Expo and Conference is the raffle. This year you will be able to start purchasing raffle tickets on the first day of this program. All tickets are $10.00 and you will be able to select which raffle items you want your raffle ticket to be for. Once again we have some excellent items and there is still time for corporate members and MBEs to make donations. Here are some of the items that have come in so far:
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| · NMSDC Business Opportunity Fair and Expo Alert | |
| MBEs who have registered for the conference, NMSDC will be checking the MBISYS database to see if the certificate has expired. If the certificate has expired, the MBE will be charged the higher price, $1,800. MEMBERSHIP AND CERTIFICATION VALIDATION Corporate members are procurement entities paying national and/or local dues. MBEs are suppliers certified as minority-owned by an NMSDC-affiliated Regional Council only. MBEs must be listed in the MBISYS® database or provide a copy of their NMSDC-issued certificate in order to validate MBE status and take advantage of registration discounts offered. If your corporate membership or MBE certification is not current or cannot be verified by NMSDC, you will be charged the corporate non-member or non-certified supplier registration | |
| · Small Business Bill Goes to President Obama to Become Law | |
| The Senate last week approved HR 5297, the "Small Business Bill" that is designed to address the impact of the recession and financial crisis on small businesses. The bill extends several features of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) from 2008 by extending the SBA guarantee from 75 percent to 90 percent and lowering the fees associated with SBA loans. The bill also provides up to $30 billion in new capital that will target small banks and community banks that are lending to small businesses. The bill also offers some temporary tax relief for small businesses who are facing higher health insurance bills because of the new health care law passed earlier this year. In coming weeks, as we learn more about the contents of the law, we will keep our community informed. | |
| · And Finally, | |
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In your service Dr. Fred | |
