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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Corporate Member of the Week: Connecticut Health Foundation
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 At CT Health, we are passionately committed to creating more access to better quality health care for populations of color and underserved communities across Connecticut. Not only that, but we are dedicated to doing it by fundamentally changing the health care system to make quantifiable, sustainable change with tangible impact. Through our grant making, leadership development and public policy work, we are leveraging our resources and relationships to change how society views health and health care so that everyone-regardless of race, background, income level or age-can achieve optimal health.
We see health equity not just an aspiration, but as a framework for understanding problems and generating solutions that will help more people, especially populations of color, gain access to better health care.
To learn more about how Connecticut Health Foundation improves lives through health equity, please visit www.cthealth.org. |
MBE of the Week: US Asset Realty, LLC
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U.S. Asset Realty, LLC is considered one of the top REO and Short Sale Real Estate Firms in the State of Connecticut. It is co-owned by Jihad Shaheer who is a Broker firm and has offices in Stratford and Stamford, CT. Our brokerage brings 20 combined years of REO expertise and knowledge to the organization. We currently service, Wells Fargo, PAS, LPS, HSBC, Green River, IAS, Veriquest, Carrington, Sun Trust, Keystone, M.D. Webb, EMC, One West Bank, Bank of America, ASHMI (Homeward Residential), FDIC, Fannie Mae, Citibank, Chase, Bankers Asset, Service Link, and HUD.
We focus on Distressed Properties ranging from Bank Own to individuals who owe more than what their properties are worth. We at U.S. Asset Realty have over 40 combined years of dealing directly with financial institutions regarding distressed properties. We dedicate ourselves in offering services of satisfaction for all parties involved. So, if you are looking for Great House and Great Price or need assistance in selling your home in these difficult times, then you have found the Right Company.
For more information on US Asset Realty, LLC services visit www.usassetrealty.com or via phone at (855)518-HOME.
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| Printabilitees Celebrates 10th Anniversary | ||
Congratulations to Jere Eaton and PrintabilTees for making it to 10 years. Jere had a wonderful celebration in Stamford, CT last Monday evening. The festivities were attended by supporters, vendors, and customers of PrintabiliTees as well as Jere's lovely family.
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| Penn National Exceeds MBE Goals |
 Congratulations to Penn National and Turner Construction for blowing their MBE and WBE goals out of the water on the construction project in Plainville MA. |
Can your business survive a disaster?
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According to the Red Cross 40% of businesses do not reopen after a disaster. A Disaster Recovery Plan can increase your chances of survival. Please go to www.PrepareCT.com for more information or email Andres Lopez alopez@gnemsdc.org for one on one consultation. Get ready today to develop a Disaster Recovery Plan.
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Save the Date: 1/21/15 Boston MBDA CEO Roundtable Event
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Please save Wednesday, January 21 for the Boston MBDA Business Center's first Roundtable Event of 2015. This event will be held from 10am - 12pm in the Palladium Room at the Towers in the Copley Place Mall (2 Copley Place, 4th Flor, Boston).
Jonathan DePina, the City of Boston's Assistant Director, Capital Construction in the Property & Construction Management Department will be speaking about opportunities with the city of Boston. Additional speakers will be added shortly!
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Invitations for Bid and Opportunities
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| FYI |
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| And Finally... |
Ferguson, Staten Island and Supplier Diversity
I was born 89 years after the legal end of slavery in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. I was born not a slave, but not quite free. It was the dying days of segregation and Jim Crow. Eighty-nine years ago today does not seem that long ago. We probably know friends and relatives of this age and older. Is it any surprise that in 1954 the legacy of slavery 89 years from that point in time still cast a dark shadow over the life chances and outcomes of my and succeeding generations of Americans of African descent? The recent grand jury proceedings in Ferguson and Staten Island can be tied directly to the history of slavery and exploitation of Americans of African descent. But what do the recent events in Ferguson and Staten Island have to do with supplier diversity? I believe the answer to this question illustrates a clearly defined connection between what we are attempting to accomplish in corporate supplier diversity and these tragic events. I believe that corporations have a specific and important self-interest in redressing the concerns of Americans of African descent. I believe MBEs and WBEs have an interest in social and racial justice with specific regards to the conditions of the overwhelming majority of African-Americans. For some, it seems like déjà vu all over again. Some are shocked by the lack of indictments. Personally and sadly I was not shocked. Perhaps it was from being racially profiled many times and even being brought in on suspicion of the crime of murder back in 1983 when the only connection I had was that the victim was a customer of mine and the main suspect was Black- talk about business risks! (She did owe me $40 which the NY Police claimed was my motive!) These personal experiences of walking while Black, driving while Black and doing business while Black provide the lens through which I see police interactions with other Blacks. And unfortunately, my personal experiences are the norm not the exception for Black men. Today, over 1 million Blacks are in the nations prisons and jails. The rate of incarceration of Black men is six times that of whites. Black men born today have a greater chance of spending time in prison than they do spending time in a university. I would never argue that all incarcerated Black men are innocent, or that there are behaviors within our community that need to be addressed but it strains credulity that the distribution of men in jail does not reflect population proportions. And guilty or not, it is a damning testament to where we are as a society, particularly as we preach to the world the virtues and value of American democracy. As a society, we attempted to address the legacy of slavery with the Civil Rights Act (1964), the Voting Rights Act (1965) and court decisions (Brown vs. Board of Education, 1954). Things did materially get better as a result of theses judicial and legal interventions for many African Americans and Americans in general. But even with these interventions, there were over 100 street riots in reactions to the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968. In response to the over 100 street protests, and riots, in 1969, newly elected President Richard Nixon, using an executive order (11458), created the Office of Minority Business Enterprise. (It isironic that President Obama is being vilified for using executive orders today to improve the rights of certain immigrants.) The Office of Minority Business Enterprise was to become the Minority Business Development Agency in 1979. The National Minority Supplier Development Agency was largely funded by this agency before we adopted our current model of primary corporate support in the early 1980s. Today the GNEMSDC is the holder of two MBDA grants for our Boston and Bridgeport offices. We are directly connected to the Civil Rights struggle. It was the struggle for African American rights that influenced, informed and preceded the struggle for immigrant rights, gay rights, veteran rights, rights for the disabled, women's rights and minority rights in general. All Americans benefited by having a more humane America because of the African American struggle for basic civil, human and economic rights. All Americans stand to gain if we can provide the security and development in African American communities today. Now it seems we have come full circle. African Americans and other Americans are in the streets crying out for justice and basic human rights. And once again, it forces us to examine why are we at this point of confrontation between the dream of America and the reality of America. I and others contend that the reason why Eric Garner was selling single cigarettes on the street on Staten Island, and the reason why Michael Brown was stealing cigars, and the reason why 12-year old Tamir Rice was killed while playing with a toy gun, is because the communities where they lived do not have the economic opportunity to realize their human needs for employment or business ownership or the fruits that come with economic stability in the communities where they lived. And as a result, these communities are policed by persons who are not there to serve and protect them. I want to be clear, that I am not leading, nor am I advocating for more protests or boycotts, but Corporate America, needs to be clear that the demonstrations in the streets across this country can and will impact their bottom lines if they do not take steps to sincerely get involved to address the problems African Americans continue to face. African Americans are increasingly aware that of the $1 trillion in income earned, the gross receipts of African American owned firms represent less than 14 percent. In other words, at least 86 percent of income earned by African Americans is spent on businesses owned by others. This is the highest ratio of income spent outside of a community than for any other ethnic or racial group in America. My suggestion is that Corporate America be proactive and not reactive. Corporate America needs to acknowledge that African American unemployment rates continue to be twice that of all Americans, and that African American teenage unemployment is over 50 percent in many urban centers across the country. Corporate America needs to acknowledge that they need to make significant investments in African American businesses. African American businesses are sometimes the only glue that supports these communities. Corporate America can do this by re-invigorating efforts to target the growth and development of African American businesses and other minority businesses that operate in inner cities. Why can't all the major retailers have stores in inner cities? Why can't these stores be joint ventures between these global retailing giants and African American entrepreneurs. We need more Magic Johnson Starbucks partnerships. Inner City America is not only food deserts, they are retail deserts, they are job deserts, they business deserts. The GNEMSDC can help. MBEs can help. Corporate members can help, or all of us can sit back and wring our hands and hope that someone else will address the underlying problems in African American communities. Well guess what; there is no one else but us to help. Slavery is not ancient history. The Civil Rights movement is not ancient history. The problems in Ferguson, Staten Island and across this country are tied to our unique American recent history. Because of the events in recent weeks, it is clear that we are not done with what the American Founders called a search for a "more perfect union". We have much work to do. I hope this network of leaders is prepared to accept their historic duty of leadership. We can, and we must - engage. In 1903, WEB DuBois stated that problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line. I think it is time we solve this problem.
In your service,
Dr. Fred
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