May 20, 2013

GNEMSDC  Massachusetts & Connecticut Supplier Diversity Golf Classic
golf
The GNEMSDC Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Golf Outing is coming to 
Ferncroft Country Club on Monday, June 10.   The Connecticut Supplier Diversity Golf Outing is at the Lyman Orchards Golf Club on Friday, July 12.  Annual Sponsors have the choice of participating in either the Ferncroft Country Club MA outing or the Lyman Orchards Golf Club CT outing or both. 

We are asking for sponsors to provide us with the names of their guests by May 15. Due to the limited space, we will not be able to hold your slots if you do not send your names to the office by June 1.  One of the main attractions of this event is getting MBEs and Corporate members together.

If you are interested in a fun morning of golf, networking, food, drinks and relationship building please fill out the registration form and email it to Jerilynn Clarke at jclarke@gnemsdc.org

GNEMSDC MA Golf Classic June 10, 2013
We have reserved a block of rooms at the rate of $139.00 a night at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Boston North Shore, 50 Ferncroft Road, Danvers, Massachusetts 01923.
To Reserve your room please click here or you can call : 978-750-7987
Group Name: GREATER NE MINORITY SUPPLIER COUNCIL
Group Code:  GNE
Deadline to reserve your room: May 10, 2013
 
GNEMSDC CT Golf Classic July 12, 2013
We have reserved a block of rooms at the rate of $89.00 a night at the Fairfield Inn Wallingford -
100 Miles Drive, Wallingford, CT 06492.
 To reserve a room please call (203) 284-0001 Reference Group Name: GNEMSDC
Deadline to reserve your room: June 20, 2013

 If you would like to donate any items for our very popular raffle, please contact the office (888-874-7114).                                              
 ***Volunteer  Opportunity  available for July 12, CT  - Contact Office***
Upcoming Events
 
2013 GNEMSDC Expo Date and Location Set
September 24-25 at Connecticut Convention Center,  Hartford, CT
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:   
  • TODAY!!! May 20, 9-11am,  MBE Orientation (GNEMSDC CT Office)
  • May 21 8:30-11:00am Commonwealth Compact's 5th Anniversary Celebration: State of Workforce Diversity and Inclusion at Umass Boston - additional information 
  • May 22, NMSDC Minority Business Leadership Awards Dinner-Dance, Hilton New York and Towers, New York
  • May 29, 9-11am MBE Orientation (Massachusetts), GNEMSDC Office, 100 Huntington Ave, Copley Place, Boston, MA 
  • June 6, 9:00am - 4:00pm   CT Business Expo at the Connecticut Convention Center  Hartford, CTadditional information
  • June 10, 6:30 -2:30pm, GNEMSDC Supplier Diversity Golf Classic - MA, Ferncroft Country Club, 10 Village Rd, Middleton, MA 01949
  • June 11,9:00am - 11:00am "What Government Can Do for Small Business" Seminar from NW CT Chamber of Commerce -  additional information
  • July 12, 6:30-3:00pm, GNEMSDC Supplier Diversity Golf Classic: CT, Lyman Orchards Golf Club- Middlefield, CT
  • July 25, How to do business with Stop and Shop, MA
  • August 14, 1-4:30pm, GNEMSDC 3rd Quarterly Meeting, CVS Caremark, 200 Highland Corporate Drive, Cumberland, RI 02864
  • August 19, 9-11:00am , MBE Orientation (CT),GNEMSDC Office, Bridgeport, CT
  • August 21, 8:30 -11:00am, MBE Orientation (Massachusetts), GNEMSDC Office, 100 Huntington Ave, Copley Place
  • September 24-25, GNEMSDC Business Opportunity Expo, Hartford Convention Center, 100 Columbus Boulevard, Hartford, Connecticut 06103
  • October 4 - Promising Scholars Golf Classic Laurel View Country Club, Hamden, CT (to benefit inner city New Haven high school graduates matriculating into 4-year colleges and universities.)
    October 27, - November 31,  NMSDC Business Opportunity Fair and Conference, Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio, TX   
Welcome Diversified Automotive Inc. as a New Local Corporate Member
On behalf of the GNEMSDC Board of Directors, I welcome Diversified Automotive Incorporated as a new local corporate member of the GNEMSDC.  The company is based in Chalsetown, MA and provides logistics services to automotive industry.  The company is major tier one supplier to Chrysler and other automotive companies.  We want to thank Chrysler for recommending to the leadership at Diversified Automotive that they become active members of the GNEMSDC.  We are looking forward to working with them.
FYI
5th Annual MBE Economic Survey
The 5th Annual GNEMSDC MBE Economic-Business Survey is going out to MBEs later today.  We encourage all of our MBEs to complete the questionnaire.  It will take only 10 minutes.  Your answers are anonymous and confidential.  We report the summary data only.  The information you provide helps us to design programs that better meet your needs.   Thank you for your support.
Opportunities
Free Office Furniture
The GNEMSDC Boston Office is giving away a large, ornate wooden desk.  If you are interested and would be able pick up the desk, please call Sarah at 617-578-8900.  Pictures available.    
 
The GNEMSDC Connecticut Office is giving away several items of office furniture.  If you are interested please call Tatiana at the Connecticut Office at 203-288-9744.  She can email you pictures.
Are You Looking for a Business Loan or a Line of Credit?    
loanAre you a MBE looking to purchase large assets and/or increase long-term liquidity at flexible terms, or manage cash flow and prepare for long-term success by purchasing short-term assets, such as inventory and accounts receivable, or funds to help you finance a contract?

The GNEMSDC and the Boston MBDA Business Center can help!  
We have relationships with numerous banks and non-bank lenders who can help you get the financing you need.   Even if you have been turned down, we can help.   Contact the  office at 888-874-7114.  

One of our banking partners - Webster Bank  - saw this note and contacted the Council last week and sweetened the pot!  Any MBE who successfully gets a loan with Webster Bank will receive a $5,000 credit on the loan repayment. 
Do You Need to Reach 2,000 MBEs and Corporate Buyers a Week?
ad
One of the great things about this newsletter technology is that we can track readership, clicks on links and forwards.  I am pleased to report that this newsletter is reaching over 2,000 readers a week.  If you are an MBE or a corporate member, this is an excellent vehicle to get your message out.  If you are interested in becoming a GNEMSDC e-newsletter sponsor, send an email to Sarah James at sjames@gnemsdc.org.  We would like to hear from you.  This ad space will be limited to no more than five MBEs and five corporate members. 
And Finally...
Fred in ohio
I belong to a number of organizations as a member, a director, or just a supporter.  I am a member of the oldest African American fraternity in the country, Sigma Pi Phi, commonly known as the Boule.  It was founded in Philadelphia in 1904.  Historic luminaries such as WEB Dubois, Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall were members.  Congressman John Lewis, Attorney General Eric Holder, Vernon Jordan and dozens of college presidents, elected officials and corporate leaders  are all current members of the Boule. The chapter I belong to includes Carl Highsmith, Dr. James Comer of Yale, Dr. Curtis Patton, the former dean of Yale Medical School, and many other leaders from our community.  The New Haven Chapter of the Boule is also the organizer of the Edward Bouchet Promising Scholars program.  This program provides scholarships to inner city high school graduates who will be attending 4-year universities and colleges. 

I make this long introduction because this weekend we awarded $6,000 scholarships to five outstanding young students.  The students will be attending some prestigious schools such as Brown, Stamford and the University of Connecticut.  One of the students that received the award is the son of a former certified MBE.  But I want to focus my remarks on the life of Edward Bouchet in whose honor we present these awards.  His story is a uniquely American story.

Edward Bouchet was born in1852 in New Haven.  His father had come to New Haven as a slave of a South Carolina plantation owner who was attending Yale.  In those days, it was not uncommon for wealthy slave owners to bring a "man servant" to attend to their needs.  While in New Haven, Edward Bouchet attended the segregated Artisan Street Colored School.  The school had only one teacher.  After showing great academic promise, Bouchet enrolled in the prestigious Hopkins School.  Here he graduated number one in his class, but was prevented from making the valedictorian address because of his race.

Undeterred, Bouchet graduated and enrolled at Yale College, ironically, where his father had served as a slave.  Bouchet was 6th in his graduating class and immediately enrolled in the graduate school of Physics at Yale.  Bouchet received his Ph.D. in physics (1876) becoming the first African American in the Phi Beta Kappa society, and only the 6th person to receive a Ph.D. degree in physics in North America.   Even with these honors, Bouchet was unable to find a teaching position at any university in America.  So Dr. Bouchet taught high school in Philadelphia and later in Virginia and Ohio. 

We have come a very long way as a society from the days when race and ethnicity trumped talent and aspiration.  There are so many lessons we can learn from this story of the first African American Ph.D.  One is that we are often not rewarded when we should be for our efforts.  And though we may not witness the fruit of those efforts, in time, they will manifest. So MBEs, aspire for great things.  Be excellent.  Your reward will come.
  
In your service,
   
Dr. Fred    
Dr Fred QR