JUne 27, 2011

The mission of the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council is to significantly increase business relationships between our corporate members and our certified MBEs. We believe that minority business development is a key component of reducing poverty, unemployment, increasing wealth, and integrating American society. You are receiving this email in order to keep you abreast of developments with the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Supplier Diversity Issues and Minority Business Development. If you like what you read please share internally and externally.

NMSDC Quarterly Meeting in Boston - July 18-21

Kevin

Kevin Kelleher

President & CEO

Cartus

The GNEMSDC will be hosting the NMSDC Quarterly Meeting in Boston at the Westin Copley from July 18 through July 21. We welcome the NMSDC executive staff and theleadership from the 36 regional councils.

GNEMSDC corporate members and certified MBEs are welcome to join us for the luncheons on Tuesday and Wednesday and on the Cruise of Boston Harbor on Wednesday, July 20. See the link for registration information. This should be a great event for the region as we showcase Boston, our corporate membership and our outstanding MBEs. The NMSDC Quarterly Meeting Agenda is full of activities and events for the primary stakeholders, Regioal Presidents, MBEIC Chairpersons, Regioal Council Chairpersons and the NMSDC executive staff, and there are events that are open to the GNEMSDC corporate membershp and certified MBEs. We look forward to this important and exciting event. One highlight of the event will be the Wednesday Luncheon Keynote by Kevin Kelleher, President and CEO of Cartus.

MBE of the Week - IMMI, International Marketing Management, Inc

IMMI

Celeste Wunder, President & CEO, IMMI International

IMMI International Marketing Management, Inc. is dedicated to serving the Federal State and Local government markets, Prime contractors and Industrial and Commercial establishments with the best alternate supplies and customizations that larger suppliers cannot offer.

IMMI is an integrated supplier of quality industrial, medical, health care and scientific laboratory products and services. IMMI has spent years refining the art of Vendor Managed Inventory. Whether it's packaging supplies for shipping departments, hand tools for machine shops, Industrial computing products, or gloves and safety supplies for laboratory and production lines, or lab coats for your clean rooms, you can say goodbye to overages, shortages and the panic of emergency orders.

As an Integrated supplier, IMMI has been managing MRO Inventory programs and supplies for customers in various industries for over 10 years, especially for their Maintenance, Repair, Operations, Shipping & Packaging, Safety and Facilities management.

Connecticut Hospital Association Event Connects Hospital Buyers to Certified MBEs

CHA

It was a pleasure to see the large and enthusiastic number of hospital procurement professionals who attended the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) Supplier Diversity Program this past Thursday at the Aqua Turf. Along with my presentation, Pam Scaglarini, System Director of Supply Chain Management from Yale New Haven Health Systems and Jennifer Cox of Cox and Powers spoke. (McKinney, Scaglarini and Cox in photo. Photo taken by Tom Ficklin.) The attending buyers were able to receive continuing education credits for their attendance and participation. Along with the presentations, the GNEMSDC and CHA invited 25 certified MBEs to set up table top displays to meet the buyers. (Click here for my presentation)

An additional treat was to have the Presidents and CEOs from the 29 hospitals attend the program and meet directly with the attending MBEs. We had local MBES, but also certified MBEs who came from as far away as Chicago.

The CHA members purchase goods and services through the Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) organized and managed by the CHA. Most of the hospitals in the CHA also have relationships with other large national GPOs. The hospital industry is a complex and unique industry that MBEs have not had a great deal of success cracking. We hope that events like this help to increase MBE success with this large and important sector of our economy. If you are a certified MBE and want to participate in this $1 trillion dollar industry, give us a call, we might just be able to help you.

The CHA, under the leadership of its board of directors and executive leadership have recently engaged in an effort to address diversity in all of its forms, from supplier diversity, board composition, executive staff diversity, contributions to minority based non-profits, and health care outcome disparities. We applaud the work of the CHA and the CT NAACP for bringing these important issues to the front burner and we look forward to making change in the industry that will make us all proud.

NMSDC/GNEMSDC Upcoming Events, Activities and Information

Please take a close look at the events listed below. The links will take you to detailed information about the events. We will have more information for those events that do not currently have live links, but please mark your calendars and call the office.


Events and Activities

  • Annual Supplier Diversity Golf Classic - July 15, Lyman Orchards Golf Club
  • NMSDC Quarterly Meeting, Westin Copley Boston, July 18-21. (This meeting is for Regional MSDC Presidents, Regional Council Corporate Chairpersons, Regional MBEIC Chairpersons and NMSDC executive leadership. MBEs and corporate members who are not a part of the NMSDC leadership are welcome to register for luncheons and networking/cruise dinner on Boston Harbor, July 20. There are also advertising and sponsorship opportunities, call the office for details.)

Information

Non-GNEMSDC Events

Most of these activities our corporate members, MBEs and Council staff have been invited to attend. The links will take you to detailed information about the events.

If you have events and activities that you want to share with our network send us a PDF file at least two weeks before the event.

We reserve the right to publish or not publish events and activities.

Golf Alert! GNEMSDC Supplier Golf Classic - July 15

golf 2

It is time for ALL PLAYERS and SPONSORS to submit the names of their players. This coming week, we will matching players to foursomes and to courses. If you are a sponsor and have not submitted your names, we want to thank you for your support and hope to see you at the event, but if we do not have names by the end of this week, we will start to take names off the waiting list and put them in your slots.


Contact Raffle Item Donation

Preview Raffle Items

2011 GNEMSDC Supplier Golf Classic

Opportunities with Corporate Members

If you are a corporate member, and want the Council to spread the word about your opportunity we would be happy to do that for you anonymously and for free!

And Finally II & Essays on Minority Business Development

eBook cover

The Book is Now Available in Paperback!


Click here to Order Book Today!


Why you should buy?

Minority business owners who are looking for practical advice on better managing their enterprises will find a wealth of information in the book.

And anyone interested in the best practices in supplier diversity will find the book instructive and inspiring.


***All of the proceeds for the book will be donated to the GNEMSDC. So this is a great way to have your own personal record of this historic time and support the Council. And since all proceeds are going directly to the GNEMSDC your purchase is tax deductible. Our plan is to only sell the book on line. You can read it on all I-Pads, other tables, cell phones and computers. Your purchase supports the work of the Council. Thank you for your support.

View Book Table of Content

And Finally...

Fred in ohio

I am currently reading the late Manning Marable's treatise, Malcolm X. I knew Manning Marable when I was a student at UCLA and he was a rising star in academic circles. The book hit the world of African American history with a force not seen in many years because the author stated in the pre-release material that he wanted to take a fresh look at the man that partially defined America in the 1960s along with Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. If you do not think understanding the role of Malcolm X to the supplier diversity movement, you are not aware of the deep and important connections.


The work was also controversial because Professor Marable used sources that were not available to seminal work of Alex Haley in the Autobiography of Malcolm X. (Alex Haley was also the author of the classic book and mini series Roots that captivated America.) Haley a black Republican and supporter of Richard Nixon wanted to make Malcolm X more of an "acceptable" persona, particularly as Malcolm made his break with the Elijah Muhammed and the Nation of Islam. Marable's work deserves credit (posthumously) for bringing fresh attention to this volatile time in American history. I particularly appreciated the connections that Marable brings out that shows a connection between the struggle for freedom, civil rights and economic participation from the days just after the Civil War to the years when Malcolm was a dominant figure. Most people have short memories and understanding of history. This year represents the 150th year since the start of Civil War - a blink in the eye in the historical scheme of things.) But I recommend the book without reservation. History should be told and learned so that we understand that even those that achieve greatness are imperfect men and women trying to make a difference.


In your service,


Dr. Fred