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 My holiday present came a week early when I learned last Friday evening that Rev. Jesse Jackson accepted my invitation to be the Keynote Speaker at the GNEMSDC Awards Gala on April 28, 2011. Rev. Jackson has been a witness to the evolution of American society from a racially closed and oppressive one to one that has made possible a President Barack Obama. His work in social change has always had an economic focus and continues today in the form of the Rainbow Push Wall Street Project. Mark your calendars for Thursday, April 28, 2011 for what will be one of the most important events in New England in 2011. Visit our website to view Rev. Jackson's full bio. | |
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 The Connecticut Lottery Corporation (CLC) is a quasi public corporation that sells lottery tickets to the public. Last year the CLC sold more than $900 million in lottery tickets and returned over $250 million to the state of Connecticut. The CLC spends close to $50 million a year on its operations and the marketing and advertising of its games of chance. Last year the CLC spent less than $20,000 with Black, Hispanic and Asian owned companies certified by the State of Connecticut. Academic studies show conclusively that state lotteries are played disproportionately by ethnic and racial minority players and the poor. These and other studies also show that state lotteries are a regressive way to pay for state expenditures because of where the money comes from and for the types of expenditures that are supported by these gambling derived resources. The image above is a billboard that will be on display at two locations in the Greater Hartford area. There are several targeted audiences of this message and several desired outcomes. First the desired audiences:
The desired outcomes are the following:
We will see in coming weeks, if not days, if the CLC gets the message that the status quo is not acceptable. | |
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| As we close out the old and bring in the new, it is time for MBEs and corporate members to nominate outstanding MBEs, corporate buyers, supplier diversity advocates, and corporations for award recognitions that will be presented at the 2011 GNEMSDC Awards Gala on Thursday, April 28, 2011 at the Aqua Turf in Southington, CT. Each year, at our Annual Awards Banquet, the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. (GNEMSDC) recognizes those certified minority suppliers (MBEs) who have distinguished themselves and their businesses by: Successfully demonstrating growth in sales and employment while overcoming significant obstacles; Consistently providing high quality products and services at competitive prices and offering innovative approaches and cost saving ideas: Continuously growing MBE to MBE purchases; and Significantly contributing to the growth and development of society and their community. All corporate members are invited to nominate MBEs in each of the following categories:
By the end of the first week of 2011 all corporate members will receive a form that should be completed by February 28, 2011 with the names of their nominees. Give the office a call if you have any questions about the appropriate category of your nominees. The important thing is to get your nominees in. MBEs will also be making nominations for the following awards:
Certified MBEs will be provided with nomination forms in the first week of 2011 in an email attachment. We are requesting that the nominations by MBEs also be back by February 28, 2011. The staff is here to assist MBEs with any questions they have about the process or the categories. It is appropriate for companies, corporate representatives and MBEs to ask their supporters to consider nominating them for these prestigious awards. Although you cannot nominate yourself, sometimes you have to toot your own horn with a gentle reminder to your friends who you have supported throughout the year. | |
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| We are looking for volunteers to assist us in the planning of the 2011 GNEMSDC Awards Gala. If you are interested, you are welcome to join us in person or by phone on Friday, January 7 at 10 AM. The meeting will take place in the Hamden, CT office. Lunch will be served. Call the office if you can only join us by phone, 888-874-7114. | |
Save the Dates - Preliminary 2011 GNEMSDC Calendar We are looking forward to a productive 2011. We have many of our events already deep into the planning process and other events under consideration. We would like to hear from you if there are things that you want to see the GNEMSDC doing in 2011. Here are the four big GNEMSDC events for 2011 are as follows:
In addition to these major events, we will have Quarterly Meetings, "Meet and Greets" workshops and other activities for MBEs and our corporate membership throughout the year. Here are some of those activities:
We are putting together a series of events with with MBE Input Committee entitled "How to do business with". If you are a corporate member and would like to host one of these meetings in 2011, please call the office. We would like to work with you to schedule as many of these important sessions as possible. This year we are also looking to expand our seminar series for both MBEs and corporate members. Our goal is to have at least one seminar a month starting in February. The Regional Advisory Committees in Fairfield County, Boston, Providence, Western MA and Hartford are also looking to have at least one reception in each of these regions in 2011. If you would like to host one of these receptions, we are interested in working with you. All in all it is going to be another busy and productive year for MBEs and corporate members throughout the region. We know that you cannot make every event, but we welcome you at all events. | |
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 Some commentators have labeled this recovery the "jobless recovery". While the economy did start to grow in 2009 and continued that growth through 2010, it was disappointing, but not unexpected that unemployment remains higher than what is desired by all. However, economists know that unemployment is a lagging indicator because of the way workers are hired, fired, quit and search for employment. Unemployment rates lag a downturn because firms are reluctant to let workers go for a number of economic and non-economic reasons. And during an upswing, firms are slow to bring new workers on until they are convinced the recovery will take and their own finances are more conducive to bringing on new employees. But it looks like this is the year that employment will turn around as firms realize that doing work with fewer employees is possible, but not ideal. Added to this phenomenon is the reality that firms that once had very talented pool of unemployed workers to choose from will begin to see the most talented of those unemployed workers picked up by their competitors and those in other industries. So when unemployment does turn around, as I suspect it will by the second quarter this year, it will be rapid. So for those who are looking for work, do not get discouraged. And for MBEs who are looking to hire, don't wait until the best have already been chosen. And for our corporate members, the same applies, but also consider MBEs to fill in the gaps that are needed to position your companies to grow in the coming expansion. It's gonna be a great year! In your service Dr. Fred | |
