Dr. Fred McKinney: 10/17/10

· "Going Global - Buying and Selling in Global Markets" Seminar This Week
	On Tuesday in Hamden and Wednesday in Boston, the GNEMSDC will hold the "Going Global" seminar. This seminar is the beginning of a series of seminars that will hopefully culminate in a trade mission to at least one BRICK (Brazil, Russia, India, China, S. Korea) in 2011. Please RSVP and join us for this stimulating session and pizza. The seminar starts at 10:00 AM and concludes at 1:00. No need to bring your passport yet.

· Leaders in Diversity Breakfast - October 21
	The Boston Business Journal is hosting its first "Leaders in Diversity Breakfast on Thursday, October 21 at the Westin Waterfront Hotel starting at 7:00 AM. The event recognizes individuals and companies who are making a difference within their organizations and the community. Among the honorees are James Sturgis of Stop and Shop and Kim Duke Rivers of Diversity Staffing Pros. Also being recognized are MassHousing and Deloitte. I will be serving on a panel discussion on the subject of diversity along with Alberto Vasallo of El Mundo, Beth Williams of Roxbury Technology, Steve Crosby of the Commonwealth Compact and the McCormack School of Business, and Paul Francisco of Foster and Francisco. The panel will be moderated by Howard Manley of the Boston Banner. I hope that you can join us for what will be an informative and important event. For more information and registration information click on the link below. The proceeds for this event will go to the Urban League of Eastern MA. James Sturgis of Stop and Shop has generously offered some tickets on a first come - first serve basis. If you are interested, please contact Mr. Sturgis directly at james.sturgis@stopandshop.com.
	Leaders in Diversity

· Opportunity at Mass Bay Commuter Railroad
	The Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad is seeking contractors for the snow plowing, salting and snow removal as required for parking facilities at the following stations: Rowley Station, 70 Railroad Ave, Rowley MA Gloucester Station, 75 Railroad Ave, Gloucester, MA Montello Street and 150 Sparks Street, Brockton, MA Worcester Layover Lot, Shrewbury Street, Worcester, MA Randolph/Holbrook lot Union Street and Center Street, Randolph MA Fairmount Lot at Fairmount Ave. Hyde Park MA For more information contact Karl Bernhardt at 617-222-8593 or karl.bernhardt@mbcr.net.

How Do Corporations Judge Suppliers?

Jerry Burris, the President of Precision Components, a division of the Barnes Group and a speaker at the GNEMSDC Business Opportunity Expo and Conference gave an excellent inside view of how his company and many other large corporate organizations judge their suppliers. Knowing this, is like understanding the game you are playing and who you are playing against. We have long stated that being an MBE cannot be your strategic advantage, simply because there are so many MBEs within the same field, that this status provides no protection from competitive forces from outside the MBE community or inside the MBE community. What can be and is often a strategic advantage for a supplier is the fact, the verifiable, independently validated fact, that the MBE is not only good, they are great! Here is what Mr. Burris had to say on the subject.

Mr. Burris laid out a grid that included three columns: Company Characteristics, Quality and Technical Capabilities.

Under Company Characteristics he listed the following:

Number of Employees
Geographical Locations
Business Size Classification
D & B Rating
Union Affiliation
Number of Shifts
Square Footage of Office and Plant(s)
Annual Sales
Organizational Structure
Employee Turnover

These characteristics tell the corporate customer the basic information on the supplier and provide some insight into their general capabilities. They might answer the question, can this supplier handle the global needs, or even the national needs of the company? Is the supplier subject to risks that could impact operations of the corporate client? How strong, financially is the supplier? These and other questions are addressed with the answers to these questions.

In the Quality column, Mr. Burris listed the following:

Certifications
Material Handling - Receiving/Inspection
Inventory Controls
Process Inspection Standards
Design Revision Control
Failure Modes Clearly Defined/Measured
Defective Material Control
Measuring Instruments Control
Training Programs
Lean Management

These quality measures give even deeper insight into the operational management of the supplier or potential supplier. These measures are clearly relevant to a manufacturing supplier, but any supplier in any industry will have quality measures that are relevant as a point of comparison to other suppliers. MBEs need

The final column on Technical Capabilities includes:

Types of Machines
Types of Processes
R&D Capabilities
Staff Skill Sets & Training
ERP/MRP Systems
Production Capacity

Once the corporation has this information they then compare the suppliers in their supply chain to each other and to standards set by the company. Many companies decide that if a supplier, regardless of racial/ethnic/gender status, does not measure up they are targeted for replacement. That is why it is vitally important for MBEs to make certain that they know how they are being judged and that they take the necessary steps to be in the top of their class.

These capabilities are often critical factors when it comes to a corporate consumers decision to buy from a supplier. To the extent that the MBE can quickly and effectively address these issues the better their chance to get that contract.

· AEG Worldwide is Looking For MBEs
	AEG Worldwide is looking for certified MBEs who are attending the NMSDC conference and who are in the following areas: Janitorial HVAC General Contractors Building Finishing Contractors Cleaning Supplies Uniforms AEG Worldwide would like to set up One on One meetings with MBEs in these fields during the Miami conference. If your firm supplies these products and services AND you will be in Miami, please contact the GNEMSDC office. AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or controls a collection of companies including facilities such as STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, CA), Prudential Center (Newark, NJ), Sprint Center (Kansas City, MO), Citizen's Business Bank Arena (Ontario, CA), The Rose Garden (Portland, OR), WaMu Theatre (Seattle, WA), American Airlines Arena (Miami), Verizon Theatre (Grand Prairie, TX), Colosseum at Caesars Palace (Las Vegas, NV), Target Center (Minneapolis, MN), NOKIA Theatre Times Square, Acer Arena (Sydney, AU), Wukesong Arena (Beijing), Ahoy Arena (Rotterdam), Globe Arenas (Stockholm), Qatar National Convention Centre (Doha), O2 Hamburg arena (Hamburg), O2 World arena (Berlin) and The O2, a 28-acre development located in the eastern part of London along the Thames River which includes a 20,000-seat arena and over 650,000 sf of leisure and entertainment use; sports franchises including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), Manchester Monarchs (AHL), Reading Royals (ECHL), Houston Dynamo & Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS), two hockey franchises in Europe, the Hammarby (Sweden) Futbol Club and management of privately held shares of the Los Angeles Lakers; AEG Facilities, a stand-alone affiliate that operates or consults with more than 90 of the industries preeminent venues worldwide; AEG Merchandising, a multi-faceted merchandising company; AEG Creative, a full-service marketing and advertising agency and AEG Global Partnerships, a division responsible for worldwide sales and servicing of sponsorships naming rights and other strategic partnerships.

· GSA Opportunity
	GSA's Federal Acquisition Service and EPA's Climate Leaders program are conducting a pilot program to help 60 federal small business contractors measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), in an effort to reduce the federal government's supply chain carbon footprint per Section 13 of Executive Order 13514. This is an important effort to build capacity among small businesses like you to measure and reduce GHGs to help you remain competitive as the government better defines and enforces environmental purchasing preferences. As you may know, the President has tasked GSA and a group of agencies to explore contract incentives or preferences for vendors who voluntarily measure and reduce their GHG emissions. This is an opportunity for small business to get ahead of the learning curve on a new government sustainability initiative. Pilot participants will receive dedicated help desk support to complete their GHG inventories, free third-party assurance services (for which other businesses pay thousands of dollars), and other benefits. Interested parties should submit the following information to Maleka B. Greene at Maleka.Greene@gsa.gov: Company name and address Pilot point of contact Pilot point of contact telephone number and email address

· Congratulations Susan Hogan of PSEG
	I received this note from Joseph Jackson, Manager of Procurement Services at PSEG last week: "I am pleased to announce that our Supplier Diversity Manager, Susan Hogan, has been named to join a select group of women from all over the world who will receive the 'World of Difference' Award, created and bestowed by The International Alliance of Women ("TIAW"). Susan's name, along with all the other recipients, will be announced at the TIAW World of Difference Awards Luncheon, being held on October 25th in Toronto, Ontario, Canada." Congratulations Susan on a well deserved honor.

· Join GNEMSDC and ACINDO in Miami
	The GNEMSDC and ACINDO will be hosting a BBQ reception Sunday, October 24 at the Clevelander Hotel South Beach (1020 Ocean Drive) from 4 pm to 6 pm. All are welcome to join us by the pool for drinks food and networking. Please RSVP by October 21 by calling either Ipsy Banerjee at 732-303-8400 ext. 7020, or Tatiana Paredes at 888-874-7114. If your in Miami for the NMSDC conference this is a great way to kick it off. We already have over 100 attendees signed up to attend, but the more the merrier! Tell a friend.

· Thank You 2010 Annual Sponsors
	This year still has several seminars and other major networking functions and events that are on our busy 2010 calendar. None of these things would be possible without the support of our generous Annual Sponsors. Once again I want to thank these sponsors from A to Z over the next few weeks and encourage our MBEs and corporate members to visit their websites and also thank them when you next see them. Each week we will focus on ten Annual Sponsors. Here are the first ten: A.C.P. Cleaning - Gold MBE Sponsor Aetna Official Corporate Sponsor AI Engineers Silver MBE Sponsor Aladdin Capital Official MBE Sponsor AT&T Silver Corporate Sponsor Banneker Industries Silver MBE Sponsor Bank of America Gold Corporate Sponsor BNY Mellon Gold Corporate Sponsor Cartus Official Corporate Sponsor Comcast Gold Corporate Sponsor
	Tuck School of Business "Building a High Performing Minority Business"

· And Finally,
	Now that the glow of the GNEMSDC Business Opportunity Expo and Conference has dimmed, it is time for MBEs and corporate members to move into their post-show buying and selling mode. This is perhaps the most important phase of trade show marketing, since it is unlikely that in the B to B world that deals are made at any show. The deals are made after the show. And as Jeffrey Fox our excellent speaker noted, the primary purpose of MBEs at the show is to schedule appointments. If you followed that advice and you were able to make appointments with the "right" corporate representatives, then you are "golden". But if you did not make appointments and are in that difficult process of trying to get in touch with people you met at the show in order to make appointments, then you are likely to be experiencing some frustration. To our corporate members, I ask, in fact I implore you to take the calls of the MBEs you met and encouraged to get in touch with you. Everyone is busy but most of these calls only require 2 minutes or less of your time. I wish I had the ability to see the quality of these follow up activities, but I trust and hope that both our MBEs and corporate members are leveraging the opportunity we created by having the Expo and Conference. I wish both MBEs and corporate members the best and offer my services to make thing move forward. In your service Dr. Fred

· Office For Rent at GNEMSDC Boston Office

The GNEMSDC is looking for a certified MBE to rent a beautiful large office within the GNEMSDC offices at Copley Plaza. The rent is $800 per month. The office is furnished and if you rent before November 1, 2010 we will provide wireless Internet and a computer for the office. Call 888-874-7114 for details.

· Diggs Construction

If you are looking for a certified MBE construction management firm that can handle large and small corporate jobs, I suggest you consider Diggs Construction.

"Diggs is a construction management firm offering a full range of construction services. We serve both the private and public sector, including commercial construction, industrial construction, and educational facility construction. As a minority owned Company, Diggs Construction's philosophy is simple: there are no challenges, only opportunities. This philosophy allows Diggs to find solutions other firms overlook. From individual projects to concerns commonly associated with the building industry, our unique insight has lead us to be one of the best construction service providers available. We believe in up-front and honest communication, enhancing the quality of life of the communities we build in, reducing environmental impact through green building techniques, and as always, providing excellent service."

Diggs Construction

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