| If You Are Attending the NMSDC Conference in San Antonio - You're Invited! |
 If you are attending the NMSDC National Conference next week in San Antonio, the GNEMSDC will not be exhibiting, but we will be there in full force. We will also have folks in our Boston offices, so feel free to call if you need any assistance, whether you are an MBE or a corporate member.But if you are attending, the Boston MBDA Business Center is co-sponsoring a breakfast on Tuesday morning at the Hyatt. to talk about a new tool that can help large corporations contract with pre-vetted MBDA clients.
And on Wednesday morning, the GNEMSDC is hosting a breakfast for corporate members interested in a brand new on-line supplier diversity course. I am certain you will enjoy the presentation, the networking and the meal.
If you are interested in attending either or both of these sessions, feel free to contact the office. Space is limited and the meals are free. And it is great way to start your day at the conference.
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Corporate Member of the Week: Pfizer
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Pfizer is a member of the National Minority Supplier Diversity Council (NMSDC), Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), WeConnect International, United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), and US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (USPAAC). Pfizer encourages all suppliers to obtain the proper certifications based on the diversity status they are classified as. Please contact us via email at the following address for further information.
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MBE of the Week: NADICENT
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Our MBE of the week, Nadicent Technologies, is a great example of the value our minority business community brings to the corporate members. Nadicent Technologies, LLC. is a telecom and systems integration consultancy serving large and medium enterprises with focus on Video, Web, and Audio Conferencing, Cloud Services, Colocation & Data Centers, Internet and MPLS Networks, Hosted Contact Centers & IVRs, Multi-location hosted phone systems, and Telecom Expense Management (TEM) for wireline and wireless services.
Click here if you'll like to know more about this video conferencing solution.
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2013 GNEMSDC Business Opportunity Expo Survey:
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Please let us know about your experience and suggestions for this past Business Opportunity Expo by completing this survey.
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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:
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Anniversary Symposium of the CHA Diversity
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You're invited to attend the Anniversary Symposium of the
CHA Diversity Collaborative on October 31st. The attached brochure includes program details as well as a registration form that can be faxed, e-mailed, or mailed to Education Services at 203-284-9318 (fax), educationservices@chime.org (e-mail), or 110 Barnes Road, Wallingford, CT 06492 (mail). However, you may also register online by clicking here. If you have any questions or would like additional information, please feel free to contact CHA Education Services at educationservices@chime.org or 203-294-7263. In the event of inclement weather, call 203-265-7611 after 6:30 a.m. and select option #4 for a cancellation update. |
FCCF's Immigration Forum
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 You're invited to FCCF's attend the Immigration Forum Supported by CT Humanities.
900 Lafayette Boulevard, Bridgeport, CT 06604
Walk-ins are not accepted, please register in advance.
Who Should Attend
The Immigration Forum includes breakfast, lunch and networking.
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Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Supplier Diversity & Inclusion Forum:
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You are cordially invited to attend the Harvard Pilgrim Supplier Diversity & Inclusion Forum on Thursday, November 14th from 5:00-7:00 PM in WellesleMA.
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care recognizes the importance of diverse suppliers to the region's economic vitality.
Event Goals
Create opportunities for business partnerships with minority and women owned suppliers
Promote awareness of how to do business with Harvard Pilgrim
Strengthen awareness of Harvard Pilgrim's Supplier Diversity & Inclusion program and mission
Learning and development opportunity
Agenda
5:00-5:05 Registration & Reception
5:05-5:15 Welcome Remarks by David Westervelt, V.P, Finance, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Dr. Fred McKinney, GNEMSDC
5:15-5:30 Introduction to Supplier Diversity @ HPHC: Harvard Pilgrim's inclusive approach to doing business - David Westervelt, VP Finance, Harvard Pilgrim
5:30-6:50 Networking - Harvard Pilgrim Purchasers and Suppliers/Vendors
6:50-7:00 Closing Remarks - David Westervelt, V.P. Finance, Harvard Pilgrim
How can I get involved?
Please RSVP to sjames@GNEMSDC.org and include attendee(s) name(s), company, and title.
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Best Practices Forum - At Fenway Park Home of the 2013 American League Champions!
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 You are invited to attend the 5th Annual Supplier Diversity Best Practices Forum.
Dates are: November 21st, from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm
Location: State Street Pavilion at Fenway Park, 40 Yawkey Way, Boston, MA.
The event will be featuring a discussion of winning Supplier Diversity practices by Corporate and MBE Business Leaders.
RSVP by Nov 5 at: https://www.eventbrite.com/event/8573857639
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| FYI |
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| Refreshed GNEMSDC Website |
 Please check out the refreshed GNEMSDC website, www.gnemsdc.org. |
Economic Impact of Shutdown Survey
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Please feel free to complete this survey about your opinion on the impact of the Federal Government Shutdown. Complete the survey here.
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Opportunities
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Advertisement for MBE Subcontractors
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 Solicitation for Minority Business Enterprises (MBE and WBE)
Associated Construction Company seeks letters of interest from qualified and certified minority business enterprises (MBE and WBE) for the following bid packages relating to a high end corporate dining facility located in the greater Hartford Area. The project consists of a first class corporate kitchen, servery and dining seating space. The total facility will occupy 36,500sf., of which 21,000sf. will be new construction and 15,500sf. will be renovation of existing space. Upon prequalification, bids from subcontractors will be received during the months of November and December. The work will take place from March 2014 through June 2015:
1. Temporary Fencing
2. Dumpster
3. Portable Toilet
4. Sitework
5. Piles
6. Demolition
7. Concrete
8. Masonry
9. Steel
10. Carpentry
11. Millwork
12. Fireproofing
13. Roofing
14. Waterproofing
15. Metal Siding
16. Doors, Frames and Hardware
17. Windows
18. Overhead Doors
19. Gypsum Drywall
20. Flooring
21. Painting
22. Ceilings
23. Toilet Partitions
24. Toilet Accessories
25. Fire Extinguishers
26. Elevator
27. Fire Sprinkler
28. Plumbing
29. HVAC
30. Electrical
Interested contractors may inquire by sending a Letter of Interest, Company Profile, List of Similar Projects and Certification via email to Joseph Jankowski at jdj@accgc.com on or before November 1, 2013.
The Associated Construction Company is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
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Jobs and Contracting Opportunities Community Forum:
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 You are invited to attend The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport's Jobs and Contracting Opportunities Community Forum. Who should attend: General Contractors, Subcontractors, Municipal, State, and Public, Housing Agencies, Small Business and Local Business Enterprises, Minority, Women, and Section 3 Business Enterprises. The event will be hosted on Wednesday, November 20, 2013 8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. at Testo's Restaurant at 1775 Madison Avenue, Bridgeport, Connecticut. |
And Finally...
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I enjoy reading Aesop's Fables. His stories, or it could very well have been her stories,. use common experiences to illustrate the profound, often with the use of the humanization of animals. One that I recently read made me think of a similar example in my own life. So I recount that story here.
Back in the early 1960s, I was living in Washington, DC. I loved the Washington Redskins and playing football on the street. It really was amazing that no one got run over while running a post pattern. As a city kid we did not have equipment or footballs. For footballs, we usually relied on one of the less talented kids with money to provide the ball. It was almost his guarantee that he would be picked when sides were chosen despite his liability to the team.. Kids are really brutally cruel about these serious matters.
One year the local Coca Cola bottling company ran a promotion. The promotion put the logos of the NFL teams on the inside of the bottle caps. The promotion was that if you collected all of the teams logos, you would win a football. Sounds like a really good way to encourage demand, at least from football crazed fans.
As a 10 year old with very limited resources, buying enough Coca Colas to win a football was not an option. But my best friend, Donald Keene and I decided that we would figure out a way to get enough bottle caps to win a football. First like most budding entrepreneurs we went to our families and encouraged them to buy more Coca Colas. Obviously what the company wanted to happen. But for us, this was a process that took way too long and was not feasible to our mothers who satisfied our sugar addiction with the much less expensive Kool Aid.
So our dilemma was to get bottle caps without buying the product. So we thought and we thought and then it hit us. Where are the bottle caps? The answer to that questions is that the bottle caps are in the receptacles that are under the bottle opener in the Coke machines. When you open the bottle at a machine, the cap falls into the receptacle. So now the problem was how to get the bottle caps out of the Coke machines. We began to solve this problem by discovering that the bottle caps were metal and were attracted to magnets. So we invented probably the world's first bottle cap recapture system! It was a stick with a magnet at the end of the stick that was long enough and flexible enough to reach down into the cap receptacle and attract caps. We got all kinds of caps, but we sorted through them for the treasured Coca Cola caps. The rest was history.
We were bottle cap collecting fools. We visited the pool rooms, the bowling alleys, the pin ball joints, and anywhere we could find a Coke machine. Within a day we had enough matching caps to return to the Coca Cola bottling facility to exchange them for two footballs. We came back the next day to pick up three more footballs. By the end of the week we had 7 footballs apiece.
Soon we realized what economists call the "Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility". Enough is enough. And it got to the point where the managers at the Coca Cola bottling company banned us from ever returning
The Aesop-like fable here is: Ingenuity and hard work can help you accomplish your goal, but at some point you need to realize that the value of your goal has limits.
In your service
Dr. Fred
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