SMSDC NEWS
December 2017
From the President's Desk: 

Karen Box
SMSDC President & CEO
 
As we come to the close of yet another successful year, it is important for us to reflect and give warm wishes to every Corporate Member, Minority Business Enterprise and SMSDC Stakeholder for their generous & continuous support of SMSDC. 
 
 
 
 
 
We wish you happiness this Holiday Season and the very best for the New Year.  We look forward to continuing our relationship in the coming year.  It is now time to close out 2017 and WELCOME a prosperous 2018!
 
We are working diligently on our 2018 Calendar of Events.  Each local Regional Task Force (RTF) is preparing events and workshops filled with educational & networking opportunities.   
 
Our Annual Stakeholder's Meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 20th at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas facility in San Antonio, TX.   As an SMSDC Stakeholder, I invite you to join us on February 20th to collaborate, discuss barriers & successes and plan for a better 2018.  The MBEIC Chair position is up for re-election in 2018.  Voting ballots will be distributed to all Certified MBEs for on site voting during the annual meeting. After the meeting, all Stakeholder's are invited to take a tour of the Toyota plant.  If you have not taken this tour in the past, this is your chance!   Stay tuned for additional details regarding the Annual Stakeholder's Meeting coming soon!
 
Most of you may have already heard, SMSDC is the Host Council for NMSDC's 2018 Conference & Business Opportunity Fair, which will be held October 14-17, 2018 at the Austin Convention Center in downtown Austin, Texas.  Planning officially kicked off on December 6th in Austin, TX during a Meet-and-Greet event.  I would like to personally thank the corporate members and certified MBEs who were able to join us in the Meet-and-Greet event.  We hope that you will become our partner in creating an exciting event full of learning, networking and entertainment opportunities.      
 
 
Best wishes for a happy new year filled with health, happiness, and spectacular success.
 
Sincerely,
Karen Box
President & CEO 
 
 
In This Issue
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
FOR ALL MBES:
Effective Immediately
 

Thank you for your SMSDC Application. To ensure your application is processed in a timely manner, DO NOT MAIL, FEDEX or send via CERTIFIED MAIL ANY NEW OR RECERTIFICATION APPLICATIONS. An ADDITIONAL $100 PROCESSING FEE will be added to ANY applications that are received via FEDEX, CERTIFIED MAIL or REGULAR MAIL.

ALL NEW and RECERTICATION applications are to be uploaded without exception. If you are having trouble uploading your documents, please contact Eduardo-Muniz-Fraticelli at 512.297.6478 or e-mail  eduardo@smsdc.org
. He is available Monday - Friday 8:30-5:00p.m. CST


PLEASE NOTE 
CERTIFICATES ARE NO LONGER BEING MAILED OUT.  YOU MUST LOGIN TO YOUR PROFILE TO PRINT OUT YOUR CURRENT CERTIFICATE. 




REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN, CLICK LINK BELOW TO SIGN UP TODAY!

 

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!

Certified MBEs located within the state of Texas can look up their HUB certifications by going to the following website and following the instructions below.

2.  On the left column click on "Search for CMBL/HUB Vendors."
3.  Filter "All Vendors."
4.  Under "Single Vendor Search" enter your name.
5.  Search.
 
Please note we submit a report to the state once a month.

Welcome!  NEW MBEs

NOVEMBER 2017 
1 2 3 Go Drive LLC - San Antonio, TX 
Alamo D & S, LLC - San Antonio, TX 
JURADO, INC. - Las Cruces, NM 
Pescador Public Strategies - San Antonio, TX
Therapy Staff, LLC - Austin, TX 
Transportation Demand Management LLC - Austin, TX 
Unami, LLC - Anadarko, OK 
VAZELI GROUP LTD - Laredo, TX  
 
OCTOBER 2017
Bullero Trucking, LLC - Odessa, TX 
Ramon Worthington, PLLC - McAllen, TX 
C&D Utility Consulting, LLC - San Antonio, TX 
Escamilla & Poneck, LLP - San Antonio, TX 
International Academy of Tax and Trade Law, LLC - San Antonio, TX 
Little Red Rooster Ice Cream Company - Austin, TX 
Mobile Cardiac Imaging, LLC - Tulsa, OK 
Seco Spice Company, Ltd. Co. - Berino, NM  
 
SEPTEMBER 2017 
Apollo Towing - Alamo, TX 
Frontera Tank Cleaners, LLC - McAllen, TX 
JV Painters of Texas, LLC - Austin, TX 
Techrode, Inc - Austin, TX 
The Lake Alabaster Box Corp - Austin, TX 
   
Welcome Back!  Returning MBEs

NOVEMBER 2017
A1 Staffing & Recruiting Agency Inc.
ACE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Acero Construction Services, Inc
Arise Solutions, Inc.
Arrow Freight Management, Inc.
Arrowhead Truck Equipment, Inc.
Carmen Pacheco Transportation LLC
Chaffin Tower Services, Inc.
Chema's Trucking LLC
Clowe & Cowan of El Paso LLC
CNF Technologies Corporation
Creative Menus & Folders LLC
Dailey and Wells Communications, Inc.
Diversified Textile Services, LLC. dba R3 Industrial
ESC Consultants, Inc.
Funk and Company
Galvotec Alloys, Inc.
Galvotec Corrosion Services
Genesis Networks Integration Services LLC
Genesis Networks Telecom Services, LLC dba Genesis-ATC
Innovative Collision Center
Interlink Trade Services, LTD.
Interload Forwarding
J. R., Inc.
J.L. Industrial Machine Shop
Labeltech, Inc.
Logisti-K LLC
McClain Electrical Contractor, Inc.
Muscogee Staffing Solutions LLC
New Mexico Food Distributors, Inc.
Ortiz & Lopez, PLLC
Persona Communications Enterprises, LLC
Plastic Giant, Inc.
Plasticos Fenix
Rapid Transport LLC
Ravisa Brokerage LLC
RAVISA DISTRIBUTION CENTER, L.C.
RFL Consulting Solutions, Inc.
RODCO Enterprises, Inc.
Russell Transport, Inc.
S.E. Transport, LTD
San Benito Textile, Inc.
SensisTX / K. Fernandez & Associates
SIM Industrial Supply
SpringPoint Technologies
Superior Security & Investigations of Shawnee, Inc.
TeleSpace LLC
Venkel LTD
Versatech, LLC

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 December:
Wednesday, December 13th
Wednesday, December 20th
Wednesday, December 20th
Wednesday, December 27th 
 
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. 

 


HUB CONTRACTING

Attention Certified MBEs:

When placing a bid requiring your Texas HUB Certificate, please use the checklist enclosed to assist you with the biding process.

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. 
Article of Interest

7 Holiday Dos And Don'ts For Every Entrepreneur
I've survived 22 holiday seasons as a business owner--and learned a thing or two about what not to do this time of year.

Gene Marks, owner
Marks Group
 
 
I'm not going to lie: the holiday season isn't much fun for the typical small business owner.
It's not that we don't enjoy the holidays. Or that we don't have that special Christmas spirit.  It's just that the holidays are, er, kind of costly. Many of us shut down for a period of time. Shipments don't go out the door. Business gets interrupted. Key people go on vacation. There are holiday parties and other distractions. And of course, the holidays means it's time to dole out year-end bonuses too. It's all good and fun but let's face it: it's expensive.
I started my business in 1994, which means I've survived 22 holiday seasons as a business owner. And I've watched hundreds of my clients do the same. So it should be no surprise that I've learned a few things not to do at this time of year.
As we enter the final two weeks of 2012 year, let me tell you a few holiday dos and don'ts that every small business owner should know.
 
1. Don't send out holiday emails. 
No one is reading your holiday email. Everyone knows that you used a free service, picked out a template, uploaded a spreadsheet, and blasted out the message to a thousand people in your database. It's not personal and it's not worth the effort. Stay old school: send a nice card via regular mail. Have your key people sign it. Splurge a little and get a bigger-than-normal size with some type of old-time holiday scene and merry English people wearing top hats. Or get a card that's local to your area. If you're too cheap to send out a cute card, send a simple thank you email to the clients and partners that really matter to you. Try to make it personal. No funny reindeer. No splashy graphics.
 
2. Don't worry about religion. 
I'm Jewish. I love Christmas. There, I said it: I love Christmas. I looked it up on the Internet and read that Christians believe that Jesus was born on December 25th. What's politically incorrect about that? Why would anyone have a problem with it? I love Santa. I love Will Ferrell in Elf. I'd probably love Jesus too if he was in a good movie. It's OK if you wish me a Merry Christmas. In fact, when non-Jewish people go to great pains to wish me a "happy holiday" it seems kind of strange to me. If someone gets offended because you wish him a Merry Christmas that's his problem. Celebrate Christmas for what it is: a joyous event. Even if you have to endure that stupid Paul McCartney song a thousand times.
 
3. Decorate your office.
I mean it. Do it up. Your office is a drab, boring, business-y, tedious place. This is the one time of year when you can actually make it fun and festive. Hang stockings from the walls and little white, green, and red flickering lights everywhere. Have your employees bring in decorations. Ask them to participate. They're falling asleep at their desks anyway. Some people aren't allowed (and don't even ask me why or God may smite me) to have a single Christmas ornament at home. So going into a decorated office really creates spirit. Also, get a tree. Do a secret Santa gift-giving thing, and put all the gifts under it. Trust me, your people may be grumpy old grown-ups on the outside with mortgages and deadlines and car payments. But on the inside they're still nine years old. And even that long term employee in accounts payable will have a twinkle in her eye when she sees a little present waiting for her under the ol' Christmas tree.
 
To continue reading this article, please click here now
 

SMSDC Regional Task Force

SMSDC has established four local Regional Task Forces (RTFs) in the following service areas; Austin, El Paso, San Antonio & Oklahoma.  The purpose of each RTF is to promote, advocate and comply with the SMSDC's Vision & Mission statements.  Each local RTF consists of Corporate Members, Certified MBEs and SMSDC staff.  RTF members attend monthly planning meetings, execute & sponsor local events, recruit new MBEs and corporate members and have committed their time in support of minority business enterprises & supplier diversity growth.  We thank you for your time and commitment to SMSDC.

We are proud to introduce SMSDC's Local Regional Task Force(s):

AUSTIN - Lead by SMSDC staffer, Carol Thomas
Certified MBEs
Eagle Pride Supply, Melody Myers
RW Gonzalez Office Products, Pam Gonzalez

Corporate Members
GSD&M, Max Rutherford
NCS Pearson, Natalie Cortes
Oncor, Grace Hastings

EL PASO - Lead by SMSDC staffer, Mayra Pena
Certified MBEs
Arise Solutions, Ethan Chen
Corporate Comforts, Gabriel Rodriguez
DataXport.net, Beatriz Fernandez
ESEI, J. Antonio Rico
Lopez Marketing Group, Joe Lopez
Mustang Express, Rick Hernandez
Pedraza Customhouse Brokers, Mary Frances Allen
Russell Transport, Rosa Marin 
 
Corporate Members
Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages, Salvador Perez
Delphi, Robert Frantz
El Paso Electric, Alex Payan
El Paso Electric, Louie Gonzalez  
 

SAN ANTONIO - Lead by SMSDC staffer, Eduardo Muniz-Fraticelli
Certified MBEs
Dependable Business Solutions, Rafael Martinez
Donald L. Mooney Enterprises, LLC., Donald L. Mooney
Nippy Betz, LLC dba Scholarship Leadership Institute, Nippy Betz
Texas Mgt Associates, Inc., Dora Mendoza
Treco Services, Inc., Debbie Trevino
 
Corporate Members
GSD&M, Max Rutherford
NCS Pearson, Natalie Cortes
Oncor, Grace Hastings

OKLAHOMA - Lead by SMSDC staffer Carol Thomas
Certified MBEs
A1 Staffing & Recruiting Agency, Inc., Gale Parker
Busey Group of Oklahoma, Phil Busey
DRG Professional Services, Kayci Hymes
ELLYN, LLC, LeeAnn Powell
I.S. Technologies, LLC, Iva Salmon
Superior Security USA, Louis Maltos
The Printers of Oklahoma, Awet Tsehaye
Xyant Technology, Sowmya Sridhar, MBEIC Chair
 
Corporate Members
AT&T, Mark Williams
Federal Aviation Administration, Gerald Lewis 
OGE Energy Corporation, Dusty Nimmo
Oklahoma Department of Commerce, Ken Talley 


If you are interested in joining one of our local RTFs, please contact us by email at smsdc@smsdc.org or call 512.386.8766.
2018 SAVE THE DATE SMSDC Events


JANUARY 15, 2018
"Kick off 2018 & Get to know your El Paso MBEIC Chair Nominee"
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Location: Tacoholics Restaurant
1613 Ste. 201, N. Zaragoza, El Paso, TX 79936


FEBRUARY 20, 2018
"Annual Stakeholder's Meeting"
8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Location: Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas
One Lone Star Pass, San Antonio, TX
Register here


JUNE 7-8, 2018
"Premier Face Time Buyer's Breakfast Roundtable, MBE Idol Finals & Award Ceremony"
The Westin Riverwalk, San Antonio, TX
Registration coming soon!


2017 December Holiday Calendar

SMSDC offices will be closed on the following days:
 
  • Monday, December 25th, Christmas Day
  • Monday, January 1st, New Year's Day

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