SMSDC NEWS
July 2017
From the President's Desk: 

Thank you Toyota for your continued support of SMSDC's Premier FaceTime Expo 2017 "Creating Connections Procurement Conference." We are excited with the feedback we received and the number of MBE's and Corporate Members who established invaluable connections during the Buyer's Breakfast Roundtable.

Our sincere thanks to all who participated in this year's BBR, the highlight of our Premier FaceTime Expo. The Expo held over 25+ exhibitors whom introduced products and services to over 200 participants. There is no doubt that connections were made and relationships were built!
And a special thank you to the following C-Suite level executives who participated in the C-Suite Summit Luncheon; Greg Laskey, General Manager Purchasing, TOYOTA; Jim Bos, Vice President Automotive Interiors, Yanfeng Global Automotive Interiors; and Dr. Veronica Muzquiz Edwards, CEO, InGenesis. The entire dialogue was engaging and thought-provoking.

Following the C-Suite Summit, was our exciting Awards Ceremony where the winners of Corporation of the Year, Suppliers of the Year, and Advocate of the Year were announced.

Congratulations again to:

First Assured Quality Systems LLC, 2017 Supplier of the Year, Class II; 
BEPC, Inc, 2017 Supplier of the Year, Class III;
Forma Automotive, 2017 Supplier of the Year, Class IV

Monsherra Odanga Blank, 2017 Advocate of the Year;

Toyota, 2017 Corporation of the Year, Manufacturing

Debbie Trevino, President, Treco Services, President's Choice Award

And later that same afternoon, we brought back MBE "Idol" for our Certified MBEs. Thanks to our judges; Jewel Smith, CenterPoint Energy; Dusty Nimmo, OGE Energy Corporation; Angela Burnett, One Gas LaMecia Butler, The Golden Group, LLC.  

Each of the following presenters did an excellent job.

Representing Austin - Ed Garcia, President, R2 Corporation and Lisa Harbert, President, Digital Display Solutions.
Representing El Paso - Mary Francis Allen, VP Pedraza Customhouse Brokers Inc., and Joe Lopez, CEO, Lopez Marketing Group. And Representing San Antonio, Debbie Trevino, President, Treco Services and Avery Moore, 1797 Creative.

Congratulations to each of the finalists who are heading to Dell on Thursday July 20th -
Ed Garcia, Lisa Harbert, Debbie Trevino and Joe Lopez!

To end the three day event, SMSDC held their annual Premier Face Time Golf Tournament at the beautiful & challenging Palmer Course at La Cantera Golf Club. Beginning with a Shot Gun Scramble at 8 a.m., golfers enjoyed the exquisite greens & magnificent views for about four to five hours, ending with a delicious lunch and awards ceremony. 

Overall, the three day event was one of the best ever! However, this event would not have been possible without the assistance of our volunteers. We know your time is extremely valuable and we are very grateful for your help! We would also like to thank all of the event sponsors, including EVENT TITLE SPONSOR - TOYOTA and all who donated raffle & goodie items for our event.   Thank you for your continuous support!
 
See you next year at the 2018 Premier Face Time Expo, Awards Ceremony & Golf Tournament.

Sincerely,

Karen Box
President & CEO
 
In This Issue


SMSDC's 2017 Premier Face Time Expo,
Awards Ceremony & Golf Tournament   
June 7-9, 2017 | San Antonio, TX

Here is what some of the participants are saying regarding this event:

"A great springboard for new relationships, both with corporations and other MBE's." expressed Erin Davis from Production Fire & Safety.

"I had a wonder time meeting new people and gaining insight on the council. I am looking forward to seeing you at the next gathering or sooner." says Melloney Myers from Eagle Pride Supply

"As an MBE, I can tell this was such a promising event, I almost changed my mind of attending while driving to San Antonio, I'm so glad I attended, that Face time was priceless, less than a week later some tiny results are showing up, one step at the time.  A wonderful event, very well planned, over all expectations, not confusing at all for the MBEs." says Anna Jalaim from Math 4 Trucking, LLC.

"I was very pleased to be able to participate and network with everyone involved." advised Jimmy Ledoux with Production Fire & Safety.  

"Great to see new companies like Facebook participating." expressed Michael Hayes from Aldez Containers


2017 PREMIER FACE TIME
REGIONAL AWARD WINNERS

TOYOTA
Corporation of the Year
Manufacturing Industry

First Assured Quality Systems
Supplier of the Year
Class II

BEPC, Inc
Supplier of the Year
Class III


Forma Automotive
Supplier of the Year
Class IV


Monsherra Odanga Blank
Oncor
Advocate of the Year
 


PHOTO GALLERY - 2017 PREMIER FACE TIME 









































 







*If you would like a copy of your photo, please email Mayra Pena at mayra@smsdc.org and we will be happy to send it to you.

MATCHMAKING OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE IN OKLAHOMA  

2017 New Frontier
Buyer's Breakfast Roundtable & Awards Ceremony  
Oklahoma City, OK

August 2-3, 2017  
The Skirvin Hilton Hotel, 1 Park Ave., Oklahoma City, OK


August 2nd - Developmental Classes
Benchmarking Plus for Corporate Members & Capacity Plus for Certified MBEs
 
August 3rd: 
Buyer's Breakfast Roundtable & Awards Ceremony
Limitless Opportunities during the Buyer's Breakfast Roundtable & an exciting Awards Ceremony to celebrate regional winners for Supplier of the Year, Advocate of the Year and Corporation of the Year
 
Click here to download event information guide. 

Registration is Now Open
$75 CERTIFIED MBE
$125 CORPORATE MEMBER
$125 NON-CERTIFIED MBE
$175 NON-CORPORATE MEMBER
$75 STATE AGENCY

 

HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS FOR THE
2017 NEW FRONTIER EVENT ARE NOW AVAILABLE!


The Skirvin Hilton Hotel
1 Park Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73102
  $169 per night


Call 405.702.8546 to make your reservation today 
Room block expires July 10th. 
TITLE SPONSOR:



The Importance of NOT Letting your  
SMSDC Certification Expire!
We frequently receive frustrating calls by our MBEs telling us their SMSDC/HUB Certification has expired. Once your SMSDC certification expires, ALL MBEs have to begin the entire certification process from the beginning. Please note, WE NO LONGER ACCEPT PAPER APPLICATIONS. ALL certification is now done on-line. There are no exceptions.
 
For those MBEs in the STATE OF TEXAS, in addition to beginning the entire certification process all over again, the HUB certification, which enables you to bid on contracts, is no longer valid. The HUB certification process is only done once a month. This means for those MBEs in the State of Texas, they will now have to wait an entire month for their HUB certification.
 
Please make sure to check the expiration date on your SMSDC certification. You will receive an e-mail notification from the AdaptOne portal which looks similar to this:



DO NOT ignore this e-mail.
It is a courtesy reminder your certification is about to expire.   
Please contact Eduardo Muniz-Fraticelli at Eduardo@smsdc.org .

TECHIE NEWS!


NMSDC is excited to announce that the new Opportunity Awareness Program
(OAP) module is live! As a NMSDC-certified MBE, you will have an opportunity to receive notifications by our national corporate members based on criteria specifications.
In order to receive emails, carefully review the following tips:
  1. The certification module of NMSDC CENTRAL® is powered by AdaptOne. This is where you complete your certification and recertification applications.
  2. To log in, you will need to have your log in credentials - provided by your certifying affiliate.
  3. Some features will be unavailable if you do not have a current certification.
  4. In order to receive this and other important notifications, make sure you request that your email client accepts relay@adaptone.com.
MBEs who are currently using sbcglobal.net have reported problems with receiving e-mails. They will need to provide the affiliate with another email address. This is a provider issue that NMSDC cannot address.

Log in today to view other features that are available to you now as a certified MBE!
  • MBE2MBE Search Tool and the MBE2MBE Collaboration Survey
  • Certificate
  • NMSDC Logo Pack
In order to receive this and other important notifications, make sure you request that your email client accepts relay@adaptone.com.

Please contact your affiliate if you have any questions, or need additional assistance.
 

CLICK HERE 
 
Thank you for being an invaluable constituent of NMSDC!

Welcome!  NEW MBEs

JUNE 2017
AMERIINFOVETS, Inc - Pryor, OK
D&J Management Services, Inc - Tulsa, OK
Mercury Trade, LLC - El Paso, TX
Tilted Chair Creative, LLC - Austin, TX

MAY 2017
3G Construction, Inc - Odessa, TX
Slow Life Games, LLC - Santa Fe, NM

APRIL 2017
America Transportation Group, LLC - Laredo, TX
COPILASER US CORPORATION - El Paso, TX
HealthCarePoint.com Corporation - Cedar Park, TX
Mone Transport, LLC - Laredo, TX
Papa Grande Gourmet Foods, Inc - San Antonio, TX

Welcome Back!  Returning MBEs

JUNE 2017
AGC Transports, LLC
Austin Tele-Services, LP
Avanzar Interior Products, LLC
Beltran's Printing, Inc
Code Red Underground, LLC.
Dean Baldwin Painting, L.P.
Delaware Resource Group of Oklahoma, LLC
Dunamis Power Systems, LLC
El Rey Holdings, LLC
Empire Roofing of Oklahoma, Inc.
First Eagle, LLC
Fulmen Logistics LLC
Garcia Baldwin Inc
Genesis Networks Global Svcs/Wavecreste
Gontor Forwarding Corp.
Gontor Logistics Corp.
Operational Technologies Corporation
Origen Technologies Inc
Pesa Industrial Supply LLC
QHE Logistics, Inc.
Resale Resource Corporation
Richard's Printing Incorporated
RLN Holdings International, LLC
STOVEN Construction, Inc.
The Alamo Travel Group, LP
Trade Management Solutions
YJA Logistics LLC
Zia Engineering & Environmental Consultants

 
MAY 2017
Amaida Machine Shop, LLC
Amerimex Air Charters, LLC
Bestica Inc
Captiva Group Inc.
Cardinal Point, LLC (Delaware Resource Group)
Cardinal Senior Care LLC
Complete Book & Media Supply, LLC
Delta Freight Services, Inc.
eMetric, LLC.
Field Trip Creative, LLC
FMC Industries LLC
Foster CM Group, Inc.
Frontera Concepts LLC
Genesis Global Solutions
GNA Logistics LLC
Gobar Systems, Inc
Group of Global Suppliers, LLC
Intercon Carriers, L. C.
Interlex Communications, Inc.
J & F Tailored Benefits, LLC
JAT Energy Services, LLC
JN3 Global Enterprises LLC
La India Packaging Company
Millennium Steel of Texas, LP
Nippy Betz, LLC dba Scholarship Leadership Institute
North Park Lincoln Mercury (Khalig Auto)
Nova Landscape Group, Inc.
Petra Rental and Supply, LLC
Prodisa Industrial Group
Rays Flooring Specialist, Inc
RF-IP, Inc.
Royal Express, Inc
Spirit Manufacturing LLC
SWK Partners, LLC
T M Logistics LLC
T M Transportation Services LLC
Texas Ed Tech Solutions, LLC
Turbine Master, Inc.

Requirement for All New MBEs:
You must attend the following!

All new MBE's must attend a Pre-Certification & Post-Certification training.  The training will be held by conference call several times a month for each session.  Please make sure to attend one pre-certification & one post-certification training in order to complete the certification process. Appointment is not necessary.

The following are dates available for May:
Wednesday, July 5th
Wednesday, July 12th
Wednesday, July 19th
Wednesday, July 26th   
           
Each training is from 10am - 11am CST
Conference call number: 641-715-0700
Access Code:  372354
Did you Know?

SMSDC offers subscription services to all of our Corporate Members & Certified MBEs.  What are subscription services & how will they benefit my business?
  
Subscription services for MBEs include:
  • Access to top corporate purchasing agents
  • Premium business connection outings and networking events
  • Vital introductions to national corporate members
  • Specialized procurement conferences & Trade Fairs
  • Supplier Diversity summits and roundtable discussions
  • Professional development fellowships
  • Mentor-Protégé pairings and other educational or development programs
  • Technical and/or financial assistance and support

 
Subscription services for Corporate Members include:
  • Targeted prime supplier match
Fees for subscription services vary.  Contact our Austin office at 512.386.8766 or email us at smsdc@smsdc.org today. 

 


DEVELOPMENTAL SERIES

SMSDC along with Corporate Member, Johnson Controls Inc, is proud to offer Developmental Classes to all Corporate Members & Certified MBEs during each of our regional events. 

Learn more about these classes and how to register for the next session!


Benchmarking Plus is a process for corporations that seek to accelerate their supplier diversity initiatives based on real world experimentation. This two year process takes your corporation from where it is today to where it needs to be in the future in order to engage minority businesses in a sustainable manner.  Benchmarking Plus delivers the tools and management perspective to help your corporation determine what it is doing right and how you can help it approve.
    

Capacity Plus is a process for certified minority business enterprises that seek to enhance their sales and marketing processes and build their capacity to work with Fortune 500 corporations. This two year process provides practical insights that will help you address business challenges.  Capacity Plus delivers the tools and management perspective to help your company demystify corporate procurement processes.

 
Benchmarking Plus & Capacity Plus is led by Johnson Controls Inc, a world leader in supplier diversity, with more than 600 diverse suppliers and $1.8 billion in diverse spend.

If you are interested in signing up, please contact Mayra Pena at mayra@smsdc.org or call 915.433.0612.  These classes are complimentary but you must be an active corporate member or certified MBE to attend. 
Topics of Interest...

Why So Many Millennial Women And People Of Color Are Becoming Entrepreneurs

For decades, entrepreneurship has been disproportionately concentrated in populations of white men. According to the most recent Census data, released in September 2016, at the end of 2014 there were 5.4 million businesses, and only 17.5%  of them qualified as minority-owned-even though African-American, Latino, Asian, and other minority populations represent more than 38% of our country. Women-owned businesses accounted for 19.4% of all businesses-even though women make up just over half of the country.
These figures are clearly imbalance, but there's evidence that they're improving-and will likely improve further as millennials start to become more involved in entrepreneurship.


The Latest Startup Activity
Entrepreneurship grew in 2016, according to the much-anticipated annual report by the Kauffman Foundation. Over the past two years, the rate of entrepreneurship has increased nearly 15%, which translates to more than 550,000 new businesses for each month during that timeframe. But what's really interesting is how many of those new businesses are being started by women and minority groups.
According to the report, 40.6% of new businesses are started by women-a huge improvement over the 19.4% average rate of women business owners. Latino-owned businesses are also on the rise, with Latino business owners accounting for 20.8% of all new entrepreneurs-more than double the rate back in 1996.
 
The rates of millennial entrepreneurship aren't particularly high-in fact, entrepreneurship in age groups 20 to 34 and 35 to 44 has increased since 2015, but is still lower than the rate back in 1996-but still, it's the millennial generation that's starting to push for this level of diversity.

Millennials and Diversity
So why is the millennial generation, if their rates of entrepreneurship are lower than generations past, influencing such a major boom in women- and minority-owned startups?


To continue reading this article, click here.

June 8, 2017


Be a part of the #WeAreNMSDC Campaign 
From the NMSDC website:

The #WeAreNMSDC Campaign

To celebrate our 45th anniversary, the accomplishments of the NMSDC network, and to showcase the economic impact of minority businesses, the #WeAreNMSDC Campaign is highlighting the achievements of our corporate members, MBEs and affiliates councils, and will culminate at the 2017 NMSDC Conference in Detroit, October 22-25.

We invite our corporate members, MBEs and affiliate councils to participate in the #WeAreNMSDC campaign. Get Involved! To learn more about about the campaign click on the link below.

Learn More, click here.

Just a quick note:

All SMSDC offices will close at noon every Friday during the summer. 
Staff Announcement...

The Southwest Minority Supplier Development Council (SMSDC) is proud to introduce Eduardo Muniz-Fraticelli as the Council's new Certification Manager.  Prior to joining SMSDC, Eduardo was a Practice Manager at Shumway Van Hansen & Cryptologic Linguist for the U.S. Army.   

While at Shumway Van Hansen his jobs included Practice Manager, Business Development and Marketing Manager, Legal Assistant, Notary Public, and
Spanish Interpreter/Translator.   During his tenure at the U.S. Army his jobs included gathering, interpreting, translating, and transcribing real time communications for the purpose of Intelligence gathering with the purpose of assisting military operations. 

Ready to demonstrate his skills and expertise, Eduardo is committed to Certify, Develop, Connect and Advocate SMSDC members and to build mutually beneficial and sustainable relationships that positively impact the bottom line of all stakeholders. We look forward to Eduardo's contributions to SMSDC in the areas of certification, recertification and State HUB certification.  SMSDC President, Karen Box and the entire SMSDC Staff invite you to extend a warm welcome to Eduardo. 

Eduardo's official first day was April 5, 2017.  You may contact him at eduardo@smsdc.org.
Stay Connected - Upcoming SMSDC Events
SAVE THE DATE
 
August 2-3, 2017 
New Frontier Buyer's Breakfast Roundtable
The Skirvin Hilton Hotel
One Park Avenue Oklahoma City, OK 73102
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! 
 
September 2017 
Diversity at the Border Buyer's Breakfast Roundtable
The Doubletree Hotel
600 N. El Paso St.  El Paso, TX 79901
2017 Premier Sponsors


PLATINUM:

   Dell       Toyota_Corporate

GOLD:
       

SILVER:
      


BRONZE:



MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PLATINUM SPONSORS:

Genesis Network   
Real Time Solutions  
About SMSDC

The SMSDC is a non-profit organization dedicated to certifying, connecting and developing minority-owned businesses (MBEs). Through active leadership & professional education, the SMSDC works with major corporations throughout the United States and MBEs within the Central and Southwest Texas regions, Oklahoma and New Mexico to increase participation in diversity programs.

Contact us

Austin headquarters: 512.386.8766 
 
El Paso: 915.433.0612
Oklahoma: 405.767.9900 
San Antonio : 512.297.6478