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.
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| GNEMSDC and MBDA to Release Economic Impact Study at Best Practices Forum at Fenway Park November 15 |
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 The GNEMSDC and the Boston MBDA Business Center will release its first economic impact report on November 15 at the Best Practices Forum at Fenway Park, Boston. The economic impact of both the GNEMSDC and the MBDA program is substantial. Our MBEs and corporate members are major employers and economic actors in the region. The report will look at how the relationships between corporate members and certified MBEs impact total employment, minority employment, and income in every state in our region.
We are also requesting certified MBEs to submit a short article that can be included in the final report. The short article can address how the Council has assisted the development of your company or how your company has contributed to increasing employment in the area. Articles need to be submitted to fmckinney@gnemsdc.org no later than November 1, 2012.
In addition to the economic impact report, the Best Practices Forum will feature presentations by leading corporate supplier diversity professionals and some of our most successful MBEs. The event is free, but there is limited space. We encourage you to contact Sarah James at sjames@gnemsdc.org to register. And please, do not register if you do not plan on attending! This event has a capacity of 175 attendees, and we will be oversubscribed. So register early. |
Upcoming Events
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There are several events coming up on our calendar that are designed specifically for MBEs to learn about corporate opportunities. We know how busy everyone's schedule is, but these are events often hosted by our corporate members with the expressed purpose of finding out more about you and your business with the ultimate aim, to make you a valuable supplier to their companies. Here are some events you should consider:
- October 22 - St Francis Hospital Supplier Diversity Vendor Fair, Hartford, CT
- October 23 - Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce- Jump Start Your BusinessProgram 7:30 am to 10:45 am at Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA 401 Park Drive, 4th Floor, Boston MA.
- October 28-31 - NMSDC Conference and Business Opportunity Fair - Denver, CO. For more information visit www.nmsdc.org.
- October 28 - Sunday, October 28, 1 PM - 5 PM, All MBEs are encouraged to attend the National MBEIC Meeting at the National Conference. Details on the agenda and location are attached. We look forward to seeing you there. SPREAD THE WORD!
- October 29 - Nestle has an interesting offer to MBEs to visit their virtual trade show booth. Please view the attached flyer for details.
- October 30 - CBIA "Shaping Connecticut's Future: 2012 Manufacturing Policy Forum" 7:45-11:30 am at the Legislative Office Building, Rooms 2c and 2D, 300 Capitol Avenue, Hartford. For information and registration, contact Adam Ney at adam.ney@cbia.com or 860-244-1933.
- November 15 - Supplier Diversity Best Practices Day at Fenway Park, Boston, 8:00 am to 11:30 am. Join us for this joint meeting of MBEs and corporate members to demonstrate case studies of the best practices of minority supplier development in New England. There is limited space for this meeting. Contact Joanne Wang to register atjwang@bostonmbdacenter.com.
- November 15 - 5th Annual Massachusetts Housing Authority MWBE Trade Fair - 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Clarion Hotel, 1080 Riverdale Street, West Springfield, MA. For more information contact James Fortune at jfortune@masshousing.com, or 617-854-1831.
- December 4 - 9:30 - 12:00 noon - GNEMSDC MBE Input Committee (MBEIC) Meeting at NSTAR in Westwood, Mass
- December 13 - GNEMSDC Quarterly Meeting at Banneker Industries 582 Great Road, North Smithfield, RI. The final Quarterly Meeting of the year is hosted by a certified MBE. On behalf of the GNEMSDC board of directors we thank our friends at Banneker Industries for inviting us to their headquarters.
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MBE Smart-Track GNEMSDC Supply Management Portal is Shutdown
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On the advice of NMSDC, the GNEMSDC has closed down the MBE Smart Track program. The NMSDC ruled that the site would be an inappropriate use of MBISYS data, and would prefer that the GNEMSDC wait until a NMSDC solution was created to facilitate transactions between corporate members and MBEs.
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Opportunities
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1. The State of Connecticut announced last week that they had received a commitment of $121 million in new funds that would build a high speed rail link between New Haven, CT and Springfield, MA. This project will have plenty of opportunities for MBEs.
2. The University of Massachusetts has several opportunities, including one for IT staff augmentation. Click here for more information.
3. Two employment opportunities from Triad Construction Services LLC. See details.
7. If you need Capital or Debt, the Business Consortium Fund (BCF) has recently announced an aggressive campaign to help certified MBEs with their capital needs. Please visit them at www.bcfcapital.com. Tell them where you heard it. This is a service explicitly for certified MBEs in the NMSDC network. Please take advantage of this opportunity.
8. The town of Derby, CT is looking for companies interest bidding on rehabilitation construction (heating, windows, doors carpentry and insulation) work on the 15 North Avenue, Derby, CT property. Proposals will be received until Thursday, October 25 at 11:00 AM. Proposals should be delivered to City of Derby, Office of Economic and Community Development, 2nd Floor, 1 Elizabeth Street, Derby, CT 06418. Copies of project specifications (Project # 037-06) are available Monday through Friday at the above address. Pre-bid conference on Thursday, October 18.
9. State of Connecticut Contract Analyst Exam is coming up. Interested individuals are encouraged to apply.
10. Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC) is inviting MBEs in the Greater Springfield area and other high growth MBEs throughout the Commonwealth to participate in its Tools to Grow Pilot program. For more information see the attached document.
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Nomination Season is Upon Us
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| The Small Business Administration is seeking nominations for 2013 awards in CT. The various categories of awards and the award nomination instructions are included in the link here.
It is also not too soon for corporations and MBEs to begin thinking about the 2013 GNEMSDC Awards Gala on April 25 in Framingham, MA. Corporate buyers and supplier diversity managers should begin reviewing the performance of their top MBEs. And MBEs need to begin thinking about corporate supplier diversity managers and corporate buyers who have gone the extra mile on their behalf.
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SBA Reports Record Lending
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WASHINGTON - With loan volume steadily increasing for the past six quarters, the U.S. Small Business Administration's loan programs posted the second largest dollar volume ever in FY 2012, supporting $30.25 billion in loans to small businesses. That amount was surpassed only by FY 2011, which was heavily boosted by the loan incentives under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010.
Overall, the pace of SBA loan-making is a healthy sign for the economy and the credit markets and is one of the foundations for ensuring the availability of financing to small businesses trying to establish themselves, grow and create new jobs for Americans.
The near-record pace was driven in part by a record year for the Certified Development Company (504) loan program, which supported $15.09 billion in small business credits. The strong performance of 504 loans was boosted by the temporary 504 refinancing program, which was responsible for 26 percent of the 504 program loans made in FY 2012 and 34 percent of the dollar volume. The recently expired 504 refinancing program was part of the incentive package under the Jobs Act.
"Reaching such strong numbers is a clear sign that both the business and lending communities are regaining their confidence in the economic climate of the country," said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. "It means that the credit markets are increasingly willing to help small businesses establish themselves, grow and create new jobs for Americans."
Over the past year, SBA began streamlining and simplifying many of the loan programs in order to provide more access and opportunity for both lenders and small businesses. As part of this effort, SBA encouraged lenders to use more of their own paperwork and the agency's updated processing systems, so that more than 80 percent of its loan applications can now be processed online.
The reengineered CAPLines loan program recorded an increase of almost 400 percent in loan volume and 249 percent in dollar volume. The revamped program, which provides working lines of capital to small businesses such as manufacturers and government contractors, jumped from 108 loans and $118 million in FY 2011, to 532 loans and $410 million in FY 2012.
SBA's streamlining of the Small Loan Advantage (SLA) and Community Advantage programs also produced encouraging results. The Advantage loan programs entice lenders to make low-dollar loans, which are an important tool for small businesses. Community Advantage jumped from 15 loans and $2.1 million in FY 2011, to 188 loans and $25.2 million in FY 2012, an 11-fold increase in both the number of loans and dollar amount. As of the end of May 2012, SLA had a volume of 188 loans for a little over $20 million. The program ended the fiscal year with 820 loans for $105.6 million. Nearly 80 percent of the year's SLA loans came after SBA implemented simplified processes on June 1.
These efforts, among other loan enhancements, have resulted in nearly 1,300 lenders returning to SBA lending, and have opened up more points of capital access for small businesses wherever they do business.
During the fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, SBA loan approvals supported $30.25 billion (53,848 loans) to small businesses in its two main loan programs, 7(a) and 504, compared to $30.5 billion (61,689 loans) in FY 2011 and $22.6 billion (60,771 loans) in FY 2010.
The totals for FY 2012 include 44,377 loans, $15.15 billion approved under the agency's largest loan program, the 7(a) General Business Loan program, and 9,471 loans supporting $15.09 billion in small business lending under the 504 Certified Development Company program. The "supported" amount for 504 loans includes the SBA-backed portion and the third-party loans made by commercial lenders as part of the funding package.
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MATLET Group Announces New Executive Team Member
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The MATLET Group hires Sheldon Ross to head National Accounts
Pawtucket, RI - October 17, 2012 - Solid veteran leadership is always in high demand and The MATLET Group values it, hiring Sheldon Ross as Director of National Accounts. He will be based in Chicago.
Mr. Ross has more than 30 years of domestic and international experience in sales, marketing and business development. He joins The MATLET Group after managing the national accounts team and working with Fortune 100 clients at Creative Printing Services, Inc., a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) print communications manufacturing company in Des Plaines, IL.
The MATLET Group is a member of the prestigious National Minority Supplier Diversity Council's Corporate Plus® group of certified MBEs, the unprecedented membership program of the highest caliber MBEs which have the proven capacity to handle contracts for major corporations.
"Sheldon Ross has an impressive background and his experience with well-known corporations is second to none," said Gary Stiffler, The MATLET Group's President and CEO. "His dedication to Minority Supplier Development is admirable as he serves on the Board of Directors for several organizations. With all of the developments taking place within our company, including our investment in digital printing for 2013, his hiring is another key piece to the puzzle for our company."
A native of Boston and graduate of Williams College, Mr. Ross completed Executive Management programs at the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan. Prior to Creative Printing Services, Inc., he worked for LP Thebault Printing, Lindenmeyer Paper and Scott Paper. Mr. Ross currently is a member of the Board of Directors for the Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance (MFHA), Mosaic Supplier Development Committee for the American Advertising Foundation, and the Chicago Business Opportunity Fair Committee for the Chicago Minority Business Development Council.
A member of the American Institute for Graphic Arts (AIGA) Chicago chapter, Mr. Ross also is a member of Illumedia and the Advertising Production Club of New York City. He is a dedicated community leader in the Chicago area, serving as Director of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), a Second Lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol (U.S. Air Force Auxiliary) and Deacon at Park Community Church. Mr. Ross can be reached at (773) 234-3156 or via email: sross@thematletgroup.com.
The MATLET Group, headquartered in Pawtucket, RI, consists of two manufacturing companies - Central Florida Press in Orlando and Packaging Graphics in Pawtucket - and NOVA Marketing Services, a direct mail, inventory management and fulfillment company in St. Louis. The MATLET Group relies on the strength of its technology and equipment with the development of creative solutions. Combined, they deliver outstanding product packaging, exceptional promotional campaigns and sales materials, and offer warehousing and distribution capabilities to Fortune 100 companies. Visit www.thematletgroup.com. |
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