July 30, 2012


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. 
MBE Smart-Track GNEMSDC Supply Management Portal is Now Open

We are pleased to announce that the Smart-Track GNEMSDC Supply Management Portal is now open.  This exciting new program will allow corporate buyers to go to one portal in order to identify and contract with certified MBEs.  Only certified MBEs are in the system and the system documents critical performance data that corporate buyers are looking for. 

Here is what is going to happen next:

1.  MBEs interested in having their companies profiled in this transactional solution will need to contact Jerilynn Clarke at jclarke@gnemsdc.org. 

2.  She will check the status of the MBE and if the MBE is currently certified with the GNEMSDC we will email the MBE a link to a sign in form. 

3.  The MBE will complete the form.  All required fields will have to be completed. 

4.  Once completed, the MBE's form will be uploaded into the database of certified MBEs. 

5.  Corporate members will be contacted and instructed on how to access the portal once we have a critical mass of MBEs covering a wide array of goods and services.  Only GNEMSDC corporate members will be allowed in the system. National NMSDC members who want to participate in the program will have to provide service points to the GNEMSDC.

6.  Corporate members will then be encouraged to utilize the system to purchase directly from MBEs. 

7.  The system will also act as a "Angie's List" with corporate members given the opportunity to rank their experiences with MBEs they have utilized. 

We have the names and emails of over 20 MBEs currently.  They will be receiving notification and the link to begin completing the portal application to Smart Track this week.  Other MBEs interested in participating in the innovative approach should send an email to jclarke@gnemsdc.org. 

Our sincere hope is that this new program will encourage corporate members to utilize certified MBEs for projects and opportunities.  We know that this will not be a one shoe fits all solution for all corporate procurement, but we feel that this solution will help corporations initially with smaller, one-off, or unique procurement opportunities.  We have heard repeatedly from smaller MBEs of the difficulty they have accessing corporate supply chains.  We believe this system will have particular benefits for high quality Tier 1 and Tier 2 MBEs.  Later on with development of the system ,we hope to develop the capacity to facilitate larger more complex opportunities. 

The Smart Track system was also designed to address the needs of corporate members to have a technological solution that takes the MBISYS system to the next level.  Right now MBISYS is limited to only one person within a corporate member's team.  We encourage our corporate members to share this portal with all members of their procurement team.  The system will allow for us to report back to supplier diversity managers their procurement team's use of the system.  Secondly, corporate members will benefit from the one-stop-shop aspect of the system.  Once we start transacting business and corporate members begin to provide feedback on their experiences with MBEs, the system will generate momentum and support the development of the best MBEs, thus encouraging MBEs to shine, as I know they already do.  And finally, the system will have detailed performance and certification information about MBEs in the system.  Right now, MBISYS only shares information on certification.  This program will focus on performance, certification is a given.   

The GNEMSDC is on the cutting edge of MBE development.  We are hoping you give this a try.  We want to hear back from you as we strive to constantly improve this system.
 
GNEMSDC Quarterly Meeting At TJX August 23
TJX will be hosting the GNEMSDC Quarterly Meeting on August 23 from 1:30 to 4:30 PM .  This is an excellent chance for MBEs to learn about opportunities at TJX and with other corporate members.  At this Quarterly Meeting we will also have a presentation from the Massachusetts Export Center (see the article above).  Please register by emailing sjames@gnemsdc.org. 

We are also planning a very special session that will look at how smaller MBEs can partner with other MBEs to successfully win larger contracts from corporate members. We have heard on numerous occasions how difficult it is for Category 1 MBEs to not only win contracts, but get the attention of large buying organizations.  The key to success for many MBEs is to partner with other firms and grow from there.  The Quarterly Meeting will explore concrete examples of how to do this successfully.
 
And to top things off, TJX, our corporate host, will have a full contingent of buyers who will conduct one on one sessions with MBEs to discover opportunities at TJX. 
 
To view the preliminary Agenda Click here.  Also check your email for the invitation to this event. 
 
If you are an MBE and have experienced this frustration, this is the Quarterly for you to attend.
Upcoming Events
There are several events coming up on our calendar that are designed specifically for MBEs to learn about corporate opportunities.  In order to help you organize your own calendars and keep things straight, we have begin sending out invitations using Constant Contact.  This way we can include directions, agendas, share with you who else is attending and allow you to register.  If it seems like we are busy, it is because we are.  As I like to tell people, business is a contact sport.  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:
  • 2012 Upcoming Events 
  • August 2 - American Express "Victory in Procurement: Government Contracts"  The GNEMSDC will be exhibiting at this event.  We encourage you to stop by our booth and attend the other activities at this conference.  There will be plenty of opportunities for MBEs to meet with potential customers in the Federal and private sector.  
  • August 9 - Purchasing Managers Association of Boston -Click Here for Registration Details This event is co-sponsored by the PMAB the MBDA Boston and the GNEMSDC.  The keynote speaker is Mark Faulkner from Partners Healthcare. Mark is a senior procurement executive at Partners Healthcare. Both MBEs and Corporate Members are invited. 
  • August 23 - GNEMSDC Quarterly Meeting at TJX in Framingham, MA
  • August 31- MBDA CEO Roundtable - At Raytheon 8:00 am to 11:30 am.  Come and meet other MBE CEOs and learn about opportunities at Raytheon from the Raytheon procurement team
  • September 12-14 -GNEMSDC Business Opportunity Expo and Conference
  • September 17-18 - PA-DE-NJ MSDC Conference and Business Opportunity Conference - Caesars Casino Hotel, Atlantic City, NJ  - I will be a keynote speaker at this event on September 17.  For more information visit affiliate.nmsdc.org/panjde/app/template/index.vm.  
  • September 29 - Ritmos De Salud Joslin Hispanic Diabetes Initiative Gala Click Here for More Information  The GNEMSDC is proud to support improving the health of all residents in Boston.
  • October 28-31 - NMSDC Conference and Business Opportunity Fair - Denver, CO.  For more information visit www.nmsdc.org.  
  •  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 at jwang@bostonmbdacenter.com.
Jeffrey Fox To Speak at GNEMSDC Trade Expo
 
 Back by popular demand, author, consultant and sales guru, Jeffrey Fox will be speaking at the 2012 GNEMSDC Trade Expo.  If you missed his presentation two years ago, you missed one of the highest rated programs we have ever hosted.  At the time Mr. Fox had just published the book How to Be a Fierce Competitor.   Now Mr. Fox's visit is timed perfectly for the release of his new book:  The Transformative CEO.

For over 25 years, Jeffrey Fox has been helping clients grow revenues and increase gross margins. Jeffrey is founder of Fox and Company, a management consulting firm that shows clients how to dollarize their value proposition to overcome the price objection and to shorten the sales cycle. Fox has written eleven best-selling business books that have been translated into over thirty languages.

Jeff is the author of "How to Become CEO," which was on the NY Times, Business Week, Wall Street Journal, Knight-Ridder, Amazon.com, best seller lists. His books have been best sellers in France, Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong and Russia. His book, "How to Become a Rainmaker," was selected as one of the 100 best business books ever written. His "Dollarization Discipline" was selected as one off the top thirty business books of 2006. He is a popular speaker, appearing regularly before senior management groups and sales forces. Jeff is a graduate of Harvard Business School. Fox and Company is in Chester, CT.

To view the preliminary agenda for the entire program, click here.  Annual Sponsors will need to call the office to submit the names of their attendees.  There are sponsorship opportunities available for the event and registration are open now, see the link below.   Also, look for an email invitation later this week with registration information. This Trade Expo is the largest three day program in the Northeast focusing on MBEs and corporate supply chains. 

Registration for the Trade Expo, September 12-14 will open July 8.
NMSDC Success Story - Eaton Corporation and Natinal Material, LLP

Michael Tang is the chairman of National Material LP, an NMSDC certified minority owned business established in 1988.  The firm became an electrical steel supplier for the Eaton Juarez, Mexico transformer facility in the early 1990s.  After more than 15 years, National Material continues to strive for excellence in serving Eaton.  National Material typically supplies 40-60% of the 13 million pounds of electrical steel consumed by the Eaton Juarez facility and also supplies Eaton Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico and Ashville, North Carolina, plants.  Their total annual sales to Eaton exceed $6 million.

National Material is more than a processor and distributor of electrical steel. The company has partnered with steel mills around the globe to help meet the demand of North American customers seeking steel with improved electrical efficiencies at competitive prices.  It has been instrumental in supporting the development of improved grades of steel.  National Material also understands the needs of their customers and the capabilities of the dozen or so electrical steel mills around the world, and uses that knowledge to create value uup and down the supply chain.

As electrical steel experts, National Material representatives led by Mo Esteghamat, hold an annual technical conference at the Eaton facility for engineering, marketing, manufacturing and purchasing teams.  These teams look forward to the conference as an opportunity to brainstorm solutions and look for opportunities for future product and process improvements.  Throughout the year, the National Material technical experts remain available to trouble shoot problems with local designs and generously offer their lab time and equipment to Eaton's engineers.

While National Material's technical support is outstanding, the responsiveness of their sales team is extraordinary.   When the last tsunami hit Japan and the fire hit the other electrical steel supplier for Eaton, National Material immediately sprang into action.  The company procured tons of steel around the world - and, in the second case, before Eaton was even officially notified of the facility fire.  this proactive step ensured that Eaton had an uninterrupted supply of product without being subjected to spot-buy prices.  Likewise, during periods whine world demand for electrical steel exceeded supply, National Material was always proactive at understanding Eaton's needs and anticipated that Eaton could win additional customers if they had an additional supply of material available during these periods.  Sales engineer, Rob Gentile constantly works to understand Eaton's needs (sometimes before EAotn does) so that he can be prepared to support any "miracle" the company might be called to perform.

To support engineering development projects, it is not uncommon for the sales engineer to go to such extraordinary lengths as approaching another customer of the company on Eaton's behalf to procure 200 or 300 pounds of a rare material type that National Material does not stock.  National Material is the rise source the Eaton facilities consult when seeking market information or a contact to address other questions related to the production process or the final product.


This story was one of the many success stories featured in the 40th Anniversary NMSDC Awards Gala booklet.   All of the stories can also be found at www.nmsdc.org.  -

Opportunities 

NMSDC Purchasing Activity Reports - Thank You!
On behalf of the board of directors of the GNEMSDC, I want to thank the many GNEMSDC corporate members for submitting their Purchasing Activity Reports.  Although the deadline for reporting to the NMSDC has passed, I would greatly appreciate it if you could still submit your reports to us.  We believe what you do in the area of minority business development has great impact.  Your reports help us to make the case that what you and your companies do everyday of the week is extremely important for your company, the MBEs that you support and the community.  Thank you.

The NMSDC every year sends out a request to all NMSDC national corporate members for information documenting their spend with certified  MBEs.  The NMSDC asks the 37 Regional Councils like the GNEMSDC to collect similar information from our local corporate members.   The attached document should be completed by our local corporate members and returned to the GNEMSDC to my attention (fmckinney@gnemsdc.org).  The results will be summarized and submitted to the NMSDC.  Individual local corporate member information is not shared with NMSDC, MBEs or anyone.  We appreciate your cooperation.  Knowing how well you are doing helps us continue to improve.  
 
Opportunity with NMSDC Member for MA Based MBEs
A NMSDC corporate member from outside of New England recently won a contract with the Commonwealth of MA. The Commonwealth has a 5 percent M/WBE goal on the contract.  The corporate member is looking for MA based certified MBEs in the following categories:
  • Cleaning, Maintenance and Facilities Management
  • Electrical Services
  • Tooling
  • Lighting
  • Fluid Power
  • HACR
  • Material Handling
  • Metal Working
  • Motors
  • Power Tools
  • Power Transmission
  • Pumps and Test Equipment
  • Safety and Security
  • Ventilation
If you are a MA based MBE in any of these categories, please contact me at fmckinney@gnemsdc.org.
Job Opportunities
There are several job opportunities that have been brought to our attention:
  1. Trearurer's Office Commonwealth of Massachusetts - hr@tre.state.ma.us
    • Director of Information Technology
    • Field Service Technician
    • Senior Investment Officer
    • Director of Finance
    • Web Application Developer
  2. Bridgeport Hospital Foundation 203-384-3522
    • Director of Special Gifts
  3. Connecticut Lottery hr@ctlottery.org
    • Director of Social Media
All of the above organizations are equal opportunity employers.  If you are a corporate member or a MBE looking for diverse talent, this newsletter goes out to over 10,000 procurement professionals and MBEs.  We might be able to help. 
GNEMSDC Trade Expo One on One Meetings September 13
 
We listen!  One of the most productive aspects of our Business Opportunity Fair and Conference is the One on One Program. Last year we tried something new, and it worked.  But we also had to give up the very successful One on One meetings between MBEs and Corporate members.  This year we are going to do both the MBE showcases and the One on One meetings.  On the morning of Thursday, September 13 we will have MBE showcases.  There is still room for MBEs to sign up to make 20 minute presentations on their companies.  After lunch, we will hold the One on One meetings between MBEs and Corporate members.  We are asking that corporate members sign up to sit at a table for three hours to meet with MBEs.  Corporate members can share with us information on what they are looking to procure, and perhaps more importantly, what they are not looking to procure.  This way we can make sure that both the MBE's time and the corporate member's time is used wisely.

Two years ago we set up over 1,000 meetings between MBEs and corporate members.  I know that some of those MBEs who met with corporate members are now doing business with each other.  It works!

Please contact Jerilynn Clarke at jclarke@gnemsdc.org to sign up for the One on One meetings.  Both corporate members and MBEs must be registered to participate.  On-line registration is now open. Corporate members are encouraged to ask some of their prime contractors to also register for this event. This will help them, help you and help some MBEs and the Council at the same time.

We are also looking for MBEs and Corporate Members to serve on the Trade Expo Committee.  If you are interested contact Arvin Chaudhary (Nadicent Technologies) arvin.chaudhary@nadicent.com or Ruth Johnson (TJX) at ruth_johnson@tjx.com.  Arvin and Ruth are the Trade Expo Committee Co-Chairs.  There is also a specific request for MBEs and corporate members to consider joining the Trade Expo Marketing Sub-Committee led by Cheryl Clarke (NU).  Contact Cheryl at cheryl.clarke@nu.com if you are interested.  
And Finally...
Fred in ohio

After more than 12 years in beautiful Hamden, CT, the GNEMSDC will be moving its offices to Bridgeport, CT.   The move is a strategic move and will represent a significant increase in our rent.  In a time when every overhead dollar is precious, you might ask why move knowing that your cost will increase?  My answer to this question is that we are moving to Bridgeport because we need to be where the problems are the greatest.  Bridgeport is the State of Connecticut's largest city. Bridgeport is a majority minority town.  The crime rates and poverty rates are some of the highest in the country.  But there are minority businesses and minority entrepreneurs in this town that need our help.  I believe that the Council can be a force for sustainable good in Bridgeport and throughout troubled communities in the region.  I could be wrong and if I am, there will be those who question my executive judgement.  But I also could be right that if we as an organization do not see the potential in the most distressed minority communities, who will?  I hope that you will support our move to Bridgeport.  We are looking for a few MBEs to join us in our new space on the corner of Lafayette and State Streets.  We are looking for a few corporations in the region to provide us with some additional resources to defray the cost of this move.  We are next to Housatonic Community College and across the street from the Mayor's office and the Connecticut Post.  We are down the street from Congressman Himes' Bridgeport office and walking distance from the Bridgeport train station.  We anticipate moving in early October.  I believe this move represents one of the most significant things we have done under my tenure.  In many respects it  is a return to our roots.  Over 35 years ago a group of corporate leaders, Hispanic and Black business leaders got together in Bridgeport and decided that they wanted to start a chapter of this little heard of organization out of Chicago, called the National Minority Supplier Purchasing Council.  Those were leaders who perhaps would be proud of our return to Bridgeport.  I hope we make them proud.  I am committed to try. I hope 35 years from now, after I am long gone from the scene, that people will say that was a good move!

In your service,

Dr. Fred
Dr Fred QR 
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