E-Newsletter
Fall 2014
In This Issue
Great Lakes Women's Business Conference
WBE Hall of Fame
Upcoming Training Opportunities
Small Business Loans
Corporate Recruitment
MMSDC 31st Annual Awards
Welcome New Members
Member Spotlight
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Many thanks to all of our sponsors, attendees and speakers who made the 14th Annual Great Lakes Women's Business Conference one of the best ever! From the educational workshops to the launch of the Excellence in Supplier Diversity Awards, we were pleased that more than 700 people found this 2-day event a valuable use of time.

Keynote Andrew Yang, Entrepreneur & Author, "Smart People Should Build Things" and MC, Paula Tutman

Opening Session MC, Mildred Gaddis


 Inaugural Excellence in Supplier Diversity Award Winners

Best In Class Category
Best in Class reflects that a corporation has excelled in all major categories surveyed including women business enterprise spend and capacity building, and advocacy for women-owned businesses.

Comerica Logo

DTE_Energy





Advance Category
Advanced reflects that a corporation has documented a strong commitment to women's business enterprise advocacy, capacity building and contracting. Advanced category award winners are leaders among their peers.





Emerging Category
Emerging reflects that a corporation has demonstrated an increasing commitment to advancing capacity building and contracting opportunities for certified women business owners.





WBEC - Great Lakes Award Winners
Lynn Perenic, WBE Volunteer of the Year
Janie Goldberg, Outstanding WBE of the Year
Brenda Marshall, Corporate Advocate of the Year
Gina Coleman, Corporate Volunteer of the Year
Erica White, Corporate Champion of the Year
Elizabeth Peters, Role Model / Mentor of the Year
Tony Tomczak
DTE Energy
Significant Contribution of the Year

Reginald Humprey
General Motors Corporation
Significant Contribution of the Year


 Michelle Richards to be inducted into Women's Business Enterprise Hall of Fame

 Michelle Richards, CEED Executive Director and WBEC-Great Lakes President, has been selected by the American Institute of Diversity and Commerce as a distinguished recipient of a 2014 Women's Business Enterprise Hall of Fame!

As an advocate for women business owners, Michelle has worked tirelessly in support of women's business enterprise initiatives. Join us in congratulating Michelle! 


Upcoming Training Opportunities
WBEC Logo  
Certification Orientations

Michigan

Indiana


  
  

WBE Forums & Toolkit Trainings are held quarterly in each of the 4 regions: Southeast Michigan, West Michigan, Central Indiana, and Northern Indiana.

 


 

Join your fellow WBEs for an opportunity to network, learn how to leverage your certification, & new WBEs will receive a Toolkit Training on how to market your certification.  

 

Click here to visit the WBE Forum & New WBE Toolkit Training page


Funded by Chase Bank, the Entrepreneur Roundtable series connects small business owners with the resources they need to grow. Click here to register  for the "End of Year Check-Up" on Wednesday, November 19, 12:30pm-4pm at Focus: HOPE, 1400 Oakman Boulevard, Detroit, MI. Attendees will be able to meet one-on-one with local business development resource providers. 


Click the image above to learn more about our Small Business Loans
 

CEED/WBEC-Great Lakes Corporate Development Committee (CDC) hosted "Corporate Event at the Park" at Comerica Park. Sponsored by Comerica Bank, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and FlexNGate, prospective corporate members learned about benefits of membership directly from current corporate members. 

Several corporations attended the event including HermanMiller, Eastern Michigan University, Quicken Loans, UPS, IBM and Hella Corporation.

Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council 
31st Annual Awards
Congratulations to all of our members!

Minority Supplier of the Year Awards

Class III
W3R Consulting
Class IVDakkota Integrated Systems
Corporation of the Year Awards

Commercial Products
HermanMiller
Construction
Barton Malow
Consumer ProductsDTE Energy
Education & Government Entities
Wayne State University
Finance & InsuranceBlue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
HealthcareHenry Ford Health System
Professional ServicesKelly Services
Buyer of the Year Awards

Jethro Joseph Minority Business Advocate of the Year - Local
Erica White, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Jethro Joseph Minority Business Advocate of the Year - NationalReginald Humphrey, General Motors Company
Subscriber AwardFlexNGate
Corporation of the Year Awards

Manufacturing Tier I
Johnson Controls
Manufacturing Tier II
Faurecia NA
Welcome New Woman-Owned Businesses 
 
CEED welcomes our newest WBEC-Great Lakes certified woman-owned businesses! To view a complete listing of new WBEs, click here.
   

Welcome New Corporate Members

     
             



                    
Member Spotlight

  

 
Congratulations to Pearl Pathways, an Indiana WBE company, recently honored as part of the annual 'Companies to Watch' program. Presented by the Indiana Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (OSBE), its Indiana Small Business Development Center, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), and endorsed by the Edward Lowe Foundation, 'Indiana Companies to Watch' recognizes privately held Indiana businesses that have experienced exceptional growth and well positioned for future growth.  Click here to read more
 


 


 


 

Several members graduated from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, an initiative designed to match existing business owners with the tools and professional support to develop a strategic and customized growth plan that will take their business to the next level. 


Hart and Associates
The Betty Brigade
Walker-Miller Energy Services 
Sweet Potato Sensations
Watch this short video about the program featuring Walker-Miller Energy Services 
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses: Detroit Graduation

  


The fastest-growing private company in Detroit on this year's Inc. 5000 list is member

Walker-Miller Energy Services.Founded in 2000 by Carla Walker-Miller, they work to decrease commercial and residential customers' energy consumption. This was the second year Walker-Miller made the list.

 


 


Proos Manufacturing received a Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. They've added 30 new employees and doubled manufacturing space at Proos Fabrication to 60,000 square feet, giving them a combined total of 120,000 square feet of manufacturing space at Proos Fabrication and Proos Manufacturing. 

 
Proos has also been selected as 2014 Talent Partner of the Year by Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids. This award is granted to a company that consistently uses Goodwill as a preferred resource for finding new hires, as well as volunteers its own employees' time to enhance the services that Goodwill provides.





 
In Loving Memory

The Center for Empowerment and Economic Development on behalf of its Board of Directors, staff and its entire membership would like to extend its deepest condolences to the Elder family for the passing of Irma Elder, CEO of Elder Auto Group.

The CEED team is expanding! We are seeking a Membership Assistant and Business Training & Counseling Associate. The Membership Assistant will support the Membership Department on various tasks ranging from special projects to signature events.

The Business Training & Counseling Associate position is based in our Detroit office. This person will be responsible for continuing partnerships with local resource organizations as well as providing support for our Small Business Detroit Loan Program.

To view the full position descriptions, click here. 
Stay up-to-date on CEED upcoming training opportunities, networking events and announcements by using one of our social media channels.
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The Center for Empowerment and Economic Development  is committed to empowering entrepreneurs through business development, training courses, capital assistance, Women's Business Certification program and contracting opportunities.