Opinion Editorial
While most everyone was shuttered by election news dominating attention at every turn, here are a few noteworthy updates to earlier MBE magazine stories of 2016.
Major League Baseball (MLB)
After convening the MLB World Series in October, everyone who participates in the business of baseball gears up for its Winter Meetings. This past year, the meeting took place at National Harbor, Maryland, where baseball executives, vendors, job seekers, and media convene to address the business of baseball. As a first, MLB organized a follow on to the Diversity Business Summit held earlier in Phoenix, Arizona [See MBE Winter 2016 Diversity at Bat, p. 28]. In preparation for the 2017 season, vendors of all sizes meet with major and minor league procurement officials and showcase their products, services, and capabilities. “Typically, the sports world hears of player movement, franchise deal-making, and other league news, however, there is a whole lot more that goes on behind the scenes to support the business of baseball,” noted Corey Smith, senior director of Diversity, Inclusion & Strategic Alliances. The MLB recruited several minority- and woman-owned businesses (MWBEs) to participate in networking, panel, speed round, and pitch sessions. Wrapping up the intense two-day session, Pat O’Conner, president & CEO, addressed the coalesced stating, that “the future of the game depends on diversity.”
United States Tennis Association (USTA)
USTA announced in November the election of Katrina Adams as chairman of the board, CEO and president to serve a second two-year term beginning January 1, 2017. This is the first time in the association’s 135-year history that an individual will serve a second two-year term in its most senior position. Over the last two years and since her appointment as the first woman of color to lead the association, [See MBE Spring 2016 Serving for the Win, p. 32], a significant achievement during her first term was the unveiling of the retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium for the opening of the U.S. Open in New York. The retractable roof is the largest of any tennis stadium in the world. Under Adams’ leadership, USTA continues to introduce tennis to communities of all backgrounds and welcomes supplier partnerships with MWBEs.
Hospitality Industry
There continues to be movement in the hospitality business [See MBE Fall 2016 The Lodging Industry, p. 52] with one of the most anticipated hotel grand openings this year. MGM Resorts International debuting its east coast flagship property, MGM National Harbor, located in Oxon Hill, Maryland, just outside the nation’s capital. According to a joint MGM and Prince Georges County government report, more than $100M in subcontracts have been awarded to over 100 MBEs and counting. In other industry news, Marriott International has completed its acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, creating the world’s largest hotel company. For several years, both companies touted their supplier diversity programs. On the horizon, will be how both supplier diversity programs will integrate. Stay tuned. Lastly, Wyndham Worldwide was recently recognized by the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility for efforts to include Hispanics in employment, procurement, philanthropy, and governance. “The recognition reinforces the ongoing commitment we have made to focusing on Hispanic inclusiveness,” said Patricia Lee, senior vice president of Human Resources and chief diversity officer.”
National Museum of African American History and Culture Opening
The newest museum dedicated to the rich history and culture of African Americans in the U.S. is on global display adjacent to the National Monument in Washington, DC. The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) firmament uniquely stands out among the many monuments along Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC, and is already the most popular destination to visit in DC, with a three-month waiting list. The visionary behind the architecture and design of the NMAAHC is lead architect Phil Freelon. Freelon is a Philadelphia native and received his masters of architecture degree from MIT, and is founder/CEO of Research Triangle Park, NC-based firm The Freelon Group. In 2014 The Freelon Group merged with global design and architecture firm, Perkins + Will where he continues as managing director and design director. An award-winning architect, he is the recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
Freelon was appointed to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and is a recipient of the AIA North Carolina’s Gold Medal, the associations’ highest individual recognition. “We are honored to have Phil and his innovative team at Perkins + Will. His visionary design expands the imagination of what is possible, just like the experiences on display in that magnificent building,” said Gabrielle Bullock, director of Global Diversity, Perkins + Will.
Lamont Hames is President & Founder of LMH Strategies, Inc. A leadership, management, and human systems consulting firm based in Washington, DC. Previously, he was chief of staff for NASA Headquarters Office of Small Business Programs.
Real Talk: Multicultural Talent and Diverse Businesses in Advertising
In a world of technological and cultural changes, advertising is key for economic growth. Being so, one would think that in today’s multicultural landscape, that inclusion of diverse suppliers and creative talent would be a strategic driver in the ad industry’s quest to deliver success, innovation and competitive edge to its heralded and eclectic group of consumer laden advertisers.
Empirically, the ad industry, in its current state, has yet to fully embrace today’s demographic changes or the potential boon that diverse business enterprises and entrepreneurs bring to the communities and industries in which they live and practice their trades.
Concurrently, the industry’s attempts at inclusion have historically been disparate and fragmented. This lack of consistent and sustained effort to change from complacency and status quo, I believe is crippling companies and agencies from achieving diverse supplier and workplace talent excellence. An about-face in an industry and business environment such as advertising is essentially needed where society is demanding equity and above-par representation from its demographic population and consumer mix.
Simply stated, many of today’s ad industry’s taskmasters,e.g. talent managers, producers and creatives remain reticent when asked to hire multicultural talent or develop relationships with qualified diverse suppliers. This long-standing subjective mindset continues to present a colossal barrier in the prioritization of inclusitivity needed to catapult our industry forward.
Agencies, corporations, advertisers, and clients, as good corporate citizens, must take responsibility and invest in hiring diverse talent and promoting utilization of diverse businesses. Economists and diversity academicians have clearly documented that inclusion and multiculturalism pays dividends. When an agency or corporation invests in diverse talent and/or diverse businesses, that investment becomes part of something bigger and provides an opportunity for greater future consumption of that advertiser’s goods and services by that diverse business’ employee base and akin community
Thus, corporate America is urged to increase its use of minority-owned businesses because in doing so, these corporations are helping to support the economic base of the communities in which they live, work and conduct business. In essence, by bringing more minority owned businesses into the supply chain, corporations are creating the consumer base of the future, which is absolutely critical to the success of our country’s economic foundation.
Far too long, the ad industry has anchored itsself on the diversity sideline with occasional patchwork efforts. So, the question remains. In 2016, “Will the ad industry continue to be a muse or become a boon for multi cultural talent and diverse businesses? ” To become a boon, the ad industry cannot remain in its extant mode of traditional rapacity. Convergence of multicultural talent must be espoused and become the industry’s conscious mantra. Let’s not waste this formidable opportunity to impact and make a difference, but use it wisely and come out of it with a stronger and more cohesive direction that will take the ad industry to new and higher levels of diversity and inclusion success
Doing so, will create a cultural force capable of influencing national dialogue and put the ad industry on the cusp of doing unprecedented things to accelerate diversity and inclusion forward in 2016. Let’s get off the sideline, partner together and make the ad industry one to take notice of in 2016. If not now, when?
Max Rutherford serves as vendor diversity director/sblo at GSD&M, an integrated creative and media advertising agency based in Austin, Texas.
Serious About Sustainability
As we look to the key trends that will help define the business agenda in 2016, one thing is clear: the sustainability imperative will remain front and center. As global corporations increasingly align sustainability goals with financial goals—with sustainability initiatives often falling under the remit of CFOs—they are also looking to their suppliers to raise their sustainability game in a measurable way. But the good news is, you have probably been making significant progress in acting more sustainably without even realizing it. Over the past few years, technology has revolutionized marketing and communications, enabling more efficient, better targeted and less wasteful ways of engaging with our audiences—attributes that neatly mirror the desired outcomes of sustainability.With that in mind, here are the top trends in marketing and communications that will help your company bolster its sustainability efforts in 2016.
Mobile is your new direct mail solution
Mobile is set to totally dominate desktop in 2016, with mobile traffic,according to data released by Google, already having overtaken desktop traffic in 2015. Mobile offers highly targeted advertising opportunities, including Facebook’s location-based advertising, that provide an excellent, greener alternative to paper-based mail-shots. The move in traffic away from desktop to mobile also means it’s crucial to have a site that is optimized for mobile, particularly as Google has created an algorithm which phases out
Dare to go paperless.
Becoming a 100 percent paperless office might never be fully achievable, but there are lots of apps and cloud solutions available to put a serious dent in paper usage and save a few trees along the way. Google Calendar and Google Docs are great, and free, ways of sharing information and documents with multiple members of staff, allowing changes and comments to be made without ever having to print a single page. Dropbox is another very useful and free (paid versions with more storage space are also available) cloud service that makes sharing documents, videos, and photos a breeze.
Create eBooks, not print collateral
Another key trend set to hang around in 2016 is content marketing. Creating a library of eBooks on any number of topics, for example, to help support better use of your product or focused on a particular aspect of your company’s offerings in the context of a broader trend is a powerful way of communicating your position as an industry leader without the expense of printing out hundreds of copies. Asking people to register before being able to download a copy is a great way of building up a strong email database.
Ditch the paper holiday cards
Instead, create a bespoke email version. Depending on how creative and interactive you want to make it, and with plenty of companies dedicated to producing digital cards, the sky is the limit. Similarly, it’s time to move away from highly disposable eco-unfriendly corporate gifts. We’ve all seen abandoned piles of branded giveaways left at conventions—a waste of both money and resources. Instead give something potential customers will really value, such as an eBook that would only normally be available to actual customers. Creating a QR code is a simple way of allowing people to download it.
Embrace video
You may have noticed a marked uptick in the amount of video advertisements on Facebook, Twitter, and on websites in general over the last year. In 2016, this is set to continue. And away from advertising, videos are useful ways of providing product demonstrations and “how-to’s” (and hosted within your website and uploaded onto sites such as YouTube). This potentially reduces the need for in-person meetings, thereby eliminating the amount of traveling required.
The digital opportunities to make smarter sustainability-focused choices are all around, with the added bonus that they often have a positive impact on the bottom line. Choose the right solutions for your company and be sure to highlight your sustainable working practices to your client base.
Barbara Wichmann is the founder and CEO of ARTÉMIA Communications and a recipient of the 2014 WBENC Star Award.
Real Talk by Todd A. Gray
I take great pride in my career as supplier diversity professional. I’ve managed supplier diversity for companies in a variety of industries including banking, retail pharmacy and now as director, Supplier Diversity for Grady Health System (Grady). This range of experience has allowed me to understand how core business and revenue impacts supply chain purchases. As supply chain and procurement progresses, it is important for minority business enterprises to be ahead of dominating trends impacting buying practices.
Perhaps the most impactful supply chain trend for minority enterprises is supplier rationalization (strategic sourcing). Across industries, supply chain continues to trend downwards in the number of suppliers being used. Supplier rationalization is the practice of buying more from fewer sources and subsequently creating cost savings. In addition, ever-tightening corporate budgets now require innovation from diverse suppliers to meet the demands and needs of their clients without increasing cost.
The key to offsetting supplier rationalization is to increase the number of scalable strategic alliances. Health systems are starting to increase their purchasing capacity with Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs). GPOs source products and services on a health system’s behalf by leveraging the group buying activity. Many of the suppliers to GPOs are non-diverse Fortune 500 companies. Within the supply chain of GPO suppliers, there are opportunities for diverse suppliers with the right capacity and scalability to also compete and provide services on a national level through a GPO.
I’ve seen the benefits of well-prepared suppliers that build successful relationships with a corporation or organization. Suppliers that do best with Grady align themselves to our core values. These are important elements we measure and monitor. They include quality, service, people, stewardship, and growth.
Another behavior of successful suppliers at Grady is having an understanding that our core business is saving lives. The tools and utensils and resources we need to provide a lifesaving service are mostly healthcare-related supplies. Most of the other activities are support services, such as marketing, IT, and facility services. While those are essential services, their purpose in our organization is to support those providing direct patient care.
Understanding how suppliers are measured for viability helps you prepare in building the relationship. There are three primary areas that I use to gauge the viability of a supplier. First, past history and experience within a relevant sector. At Grady, we want to see similar experience in an area we are sourcing.
Second, maximizing representation of your team. If you’re coming in to do a vendor presentation or submitting a written proposal, make sure your proposal speaks to every thread of your organization. Your proposal is the first level of courtship to win a contract, so make it count.
Third, respect for the procurement policies and procedures. We look for all suppliers to be fully responsive and complete for evaluation.
Second tier is not second-class
Second tier is often an entrance to access an opportunity and be a part of a larger-scale contract. In my career I’ve seen many first- and second-tier partnerships team up, grow and pursue other viable opportunities in the market where the diverse supplier becomes prime or they establish multiple joint ventures with 50/50 partnerships.
As for first tier, I believe it is important for me and other supplier diversity leaders to continuously identify, sustain, and develop first tier diverse suppliers who provide essential, mission critical products and services to our companies. It’s vital that we do all that we can to realize the full potential and economic impact of supplier diversity.
I’ve observed that while industries vary from company to company, the standardization of supply chain management yields similar supplier diversity challenges. Within these challenges are the seeds of opportunities for diverse suppliers to grow meaningful supplier relationships with organizations committed to diverse supplier inclusion.
Todd A. Gray is director of Supplier Diversity for Grady Health System where he is responsible for sourcing, contract management, system wide development, implementation and facilitation of Supplier Diversity.
For more information about supplier diversity at Grady Health System, please visit http://www.gradyhealth.org/static/supplier-diversity.
Real Talk by Ryan Hamilton
Having long been known for being on the cutting edge of measures to improve supplier diversification, California is stepping up efforts to make business practices more transparent in the insurance business. Passed in late 2012, the Golden State’s Assembly Bill 53 (AB 53) requires insurers collecting more than $100 million in premiums in the state to report their supplier diversity data to the state’s insurance commission, which will then make it available to the public.
The effort behind this legislation began at the Greenlining Institute, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that got its start as a loose, grass-roots coalition to prevent “redlining”—the practice of denying goods, services, and jobs to residents of particular neighborhoods, usually along racial lines—in California’s banking industry. After its work in developing strategies to help banks offer equal access to capital and wealth, the Greenlining Institute developed into an incorporated nonprofit that monitors supplier diversity and other issues in California.
Samuel Kang, Greenlining’s general counsel, explains the genesis of AB 53. “As insurance companies became not just bread-and-butter insurance companies—they became large investment companies—during the 1990s and early 2000s, we asked them, ‘What is your investment in underserved communities?’ We did not get clear responses.”
Two years ago, the Greenlining Institute decided to approach the situation in a different way by framing the question as a supplier diversity issue: How much are California’s major insurance companies spending with California-based, minority-owned and women-owned businesses (MWBEs)? “Consumers in California see all of the State Farm, Farmers, [and] Allstate commercials during prime time,” Kang says. “Those companies are competing vigorously for California dollars. We wanted to see how much those companies spend [with MWBEs] in California.”
To gain access to that information, Greenlining turned to the legislative process. Kang drafted the initial text of AB 53 and took it to State Assemblyman Jose Solorio, a Democrat who was the chair of the Assembly’s Insurance Committee at the time. “It requires companies, on a biennial basis, to report how much business they do with minorities, women, and disabled veteran businesses,” says Kang. “The companies in play are those that collect $100 million or more in [premiums] in California.”
The bill, Kang is quick to say, only requires companies to report spend data—it sets no quotas for contracting or other requirements for companies to do a certain amount of business with MWBEs. California’s Proposition 209, approved by voters in 1996, forbids state government and institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity when making decisions regarding public employment, contracting, or education. “There are no minimum thresholds or minimum requirements,” Kang emphasizes. “What the reporting allows is transparency.”
Melanie Shelby, a partner at Gray, Greer, Shelby & Vaughn, was retained by the Personal Insurance Federation of California (PIF), which represents the state’s seven largest carriers, to handle lobbying and governmental relations on AB 53.
“There was an attempt 11 years ago to bring supplier diversity to the insurance world in California,” Shelby explains. Modeled after General Order 156 (GO 156), which mandated that utility providers operating under the California Public Utilities Commission report their diverse spend with the state, the attempt failed. Shelby notes critical differences between the two industries, though. “The problem is that the insurance industry is highly competitive. If you live in Oakland, you know that PG&E is going to be providing your electricity. You could go to sleep deciding you’re a State Farm customer and wake up in the middle of the night and decide you want Farmers. You couldn’t bring the cookie-cutter model from the utility industry to the insurance industry.”
Initially, PIF opposed AB 53. “In Sacramento, you have a bunch of government affairs people who work at the capital,” Shelby says. “They are there to support, neutralize, or oppose a bill.”
Shelby’s firm was faced with two initial challenges: getting the people in Sacramento to understand that GO 156 couldn’t be cross-applied to the insurance industry without modifications, and educating PIF on supplier diversity issues. “Initially, there was a disconnect,” Shelby says. “We took the trade association through their homework. They were likely doing business with diverse firms through their supply chain; they just didn’t know it.” Shelby and PIF worked to identify existing diverse firms in its supply chain. “After the program, many realized that there were a number [of insurance companies] with strong supplier diversity programs. There were some who did not [have them],” admits Shelby.
Kang accepts that there are differences between the utility and insurance industries. “What works with one may not work for the other because they’re different businesses. Yes, we know that. But they’re both doing business in California,” he says. “[This] is a majority-minority state, and increasingly so. We had no information about the insurance industry as a whole, and very little information from individual companies about how they were working to reinvest into the market base that generates so much profit for them.”
Even though AB 53 doesn’t mandate that any firms actually do business with diverse suppliers, Shelby and Kang believe that the data it helps collect may prove to be just as good. “Transparency allows us to measure results; the ability to measure allows us to move and influence the results,” Kang says. To him, the parallel with GO 156 couldn’t be clearer. “Every year, we publish a report on the utility industry’s supplier diversity efforts. We put out a report card with how all these companies are doing [with respect to supplier diversity]. Nothing in that legislation requires a utility to meet any goals, and they’re not penalized if they don’t,” he says.
Even without the law encouraging them to do so, Kang says, the fact that the data is reported and graded means that companies have started to compete with one another to spend more with diverse suppliers. “Even though we’re dealing with monopolies, they actually compete with one another here,” he says. “At the very least, no one wants to be at the bottom. But they compete because they want to be the Number One utility for supplier diversity in the state. AB 53 seeks to replicate that process.”
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones explains that part of the bill’s aims was to task the Department of Insurance with surveying insurance companies with regard to supplier diversity efforts every two years. “We administer the survey and make sure that insurers complete and submit the survey,” he says. “The results of the survey are made public on the department’s website.”
Greenlining has and will synthesize and summarize the data for public consumption, just as they do for the utility industry. “We take all of the data, compile it, then analyze it to create a report that will say, ‘Here is the state of the insurance industry, aggregated but also disaggregated in many ways, about who firms are contracting with, who has supplier diversity programs, who doesn’t, and who has plans to start one,’” says Kang. So far, Greenlining has processed 127 submissions; 70 of which had formal supplier diversity policy statements, and 57 did not. Of those 57, 17 indicated that they would launch a supplier diversity program within the next year, and 38 had no stated plans to do so. Editor’s report: You may view the report at http://greenlining.org/issues/2013/greenlining-insurance-supplier-diversity-report-2013/.
Jones’ office also issued a report on the 2013 results. “[We] have prepared and posted a number of documents that aggregate and organize the data so that diverse businesses and stakeholders alike can easily access and understand the information submitted from insurers,” he says.
“Politics is a sausage-making process. You can’t be a game-changer unless you have something you can set your eyes on,” she says, and the data yielded from AB 53 will help materialize something onto which political players can gaze. When the measure was first proposed, it was difficult to track because some firms didn’t know how they were doing. “There are no goals inside of the bill.” AB 53 will “create a baseline,” she argues. “The potential for diverse firms to be infused in the supply chain is huge.”
One of the earliest supporters of the measure was Commissioner Jones. “He actually saw the social good and how it made business sense, especially given how diverse California is,” Kang says. “He didn’t even wait for AB 53 to be passed by the state legislature to start collecting data. He issued his own data call,” asking insurance companies if they have supplier diversity statements,” Kang says. “It showed people how serious he was about getting that information into his hands. He has been building out his own staff to make sure they collect the data and do it right.” Only a handful reported their data, however.
“We launched the Insurance Diversity Initiative in 2011, a year before AB 53 was introduced,” Jones says. “[It] included a first-of-its-kind survey of insurance companies’ supplier diversity and governance-diversity efforts. I also appointed an Insurance Diversity Task Force to advise and make recommendations on ways to improve insurance company supplier diversity and governance diversity.”
While Jones was ahead of the pack in advocating for supplier diversity initiatives in the California insurance industry, his office supported the measure, in part, to inoculate it against future political change. “We strongly supported AB 53 in 2012 as a component of our Insurance Diversity Initiative,” Jones explains, “and as a way of ensuring that regardless of who the Insurance Commissioner is, supplier diversity would continue to be encouraged by the Department of Insurance, and [that] the survey [be] institutionalized.”
Supporters accept that the bill isn’t perfect. “We got the best bill passed in the environment that [we had],” states Shelby. “There are several things that need to change in 2014. The bill is set to sunset in 2019. It shouldn’t. It should go on in perpetuity, but the sunset was the only way people could embrace it and vote on the bill.
“Another piece that needs to change is the definition of ‘certification’—it is a loose one. It says that if you have a firm that is 51 percent woman-, minority-, or service-disabled veteran-owned, you are a certified business.”
Shelby believes that getting national certifying organizations such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council or the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council will help alleviate those issues. “National certifiers have to play a role in this process because they bring people together,” she says.
“You pass a bill, you realize its deficiencies. You go back and clean it up.”
Ryan Hamilton is managing editor of MBE magazine.
Real Talk - Max Rutherford
This post is not to complain about what is but instead offer hope and action items that can harness positive energy for future change. Based on recent industry understandings, interactions, and experiences, we envision the revolutionary start of a new chapter around workforce inclusion and vendor partnerships, hereinafter “advocacy.” Many of us are already aware that when it comes to advocacy in the advertising industry, there are some valiant causes to be defended, many hopeless cases to be conceded and others bureaucratically wrapped up without any concrete follow-up or follow-through steps toward resolution or advancement.
Yet, it is our belief that the ad industry has almost all of the essential components to build a formidable advocacy position. The one notable exception is its lack of inclusiveness of people of color, of foreign-born descent, disabilities, veterans, women, and same-sex partnerships. This chronic lack of representation of underrepresented groups in the ad industry means they don’t get to shape the narrative or partake of its economic benefits, proceeds, or cultural impact. Industry-wide initiatives such as the 3 Percent Conference have brought this conversation to the forefront, but the fact remains: if the ad industry is to become a magnet for the creative class of up-and-coming innovators, all stakeholders have to make inclusion a priority, driven by people who can build a pipeline of diverse talent into the industry.
Let’s face it. Advocacy is vital and crucial to the creative industry and no longer a tick-box exercise or an afterthought. Many of our corporations and industries are built on storytelling that relies on reflecting an audience’s experiences back to them. How authentic will audiences find advertisers’ products if they cannot relate to or recognize themselves in them? All guardians, champions, and challengers of creativity must showcase the business value of advocacy in order to generate unbridled, unbiased revenue-generating marketing ideas. This is where the desultory position of the ad industry can begin to make headway.
It’s time for advertising industry taskmasters to be judged by the content of their speech and actions, not by their relationship toadyism. For starters, we believe that CEOs of major advertisers, clients, and agencies must band together and create wholesome advocacy campaigns purposed to build a pipeline of diverse talent into the ad industry. These campaigns must be nonnegotiable and coupled with forthright policies around coverage that demonstrates that the industry will not tolerate any business, institution, agency, or organization that lacks the basic tenets of inclusion embedded in their policies and culture. Having been the first advertising agency to launch a vendor diversity program, GSD&M believes we have an obligation to move these practices forward; we strive to provide an example for our peers and clients. Our CEO-supported vendor partner diversity and inclusion initiatives have enabled us to build lucrative relationships with diverse talent across disciplines. This is a collaborative effort across all departments in the agency to meet a common goal.
It is not enough to have a great advocacy campaign or a strong mission statement. Critically important for advertisers, clients, and agencies is to create a brand story that makes advocacy an active element of their identity and foundation, making it impossible to be overlooked. Brand story will set us apart from the previous passive aspects, impact behaviors, and evoke emotions to elicit more loyal, more receptive, and more invested credence from all stakeholders.
Advertisers, clients, and agencies must collectively:
- Instill and nurture an advocacy and inclusion strategy for creative and integrated production principals.
- Work collaboratively to set universal supplier diversity goals and objectives leading to scalable utilization of diverse vendors.
- Increase workforce inclusion within agencies to ensure representation at inception because, ultimately, greater transparency and collaboration will yield candidates that are best suited for integration in the workplace and supply chain.
- Invest time in developing vendor relationships long before the relationship is needed.
- Create workforce and supplier diversity roles within your agency. Additionally, these professionals should be separate. Collaboration of these individuals is important in understanding the day-to-day goals and challenges from both a production and workforce side.
When it’s all said and done, it’s important that everyone know what is at stake and that each one of us, individually, is responsible for the future success or failure of advocacy at the client, advertiser, and agency levels. This is not about being nice or tolerant or philanthropic, it’s about changing not only beliefs but behaviors that will make us competitive in the future. Real Talk!
Max Rutherford is vendor partner diversity director/small business liaison officer (SBLO) at GSD&M, where he applies his 30 years of supplier diversity expertise in managing, directing and providing leadership to the agency’s Vendor Partner Diversity and Small Business Subcontracting Plan. His efforts consistently help ensure that small, disadvantaged, minority- and women-owned firms are provided equitable purchasing opportunities.
Ayeshia Toy heads up the Workforce Diversity and Inclusion program at GSD&M. She has more than 10 years HR experience. In her role as HR Manager at GSD&M, Toy engages in identifying the best approach to understanding and incorporating diversity and inclusion within both the advertising industry and at GSD&M.
Real Talk is the opportunity for our constituents to voice their opinions in their own words and spark a dialogue among our community members. Readers may respond to these articles via any of MBE magazine’s social media platforms at Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or LinkedIn Groups. If you would like to contribute to this section, e-mail editor@mbemag.com.
Real Talk - Lamont Robinson
2014 was quite a year. So many things happened that I thought were destined to happen; such as the controversial immigration executive order by President Barack Obama. To the contrary, some things happened which I thought would never happen, such as the opening of a Cuba-America dialog. That one, to me, was mind-blowing. But dare I say that race relations in the U.S. were and still are a gigantic problem.
I’m not comparing the three, or any other major news from 2014, as each has tremendous ramifications on their own. Race relations, and how America can rise higher in the equal treatment of all people gets the gigantic descriptor in my mind. I call it gigantic because it is that long-avoided, covered up, pushed aside, babysat, with not-enough-resources-to-truly-address it, domestic issue that many national leaders have tolerated. Now, issues of race in America smell worse than ever before, and right at the height of the construction of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. The new museum, to be located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., will highlight major moments of trial and triumph of our story in the Americas.
The world has watched Blacks and Whites fight for centuries, and the pages of this voluminous book continue to turn. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s story of non-violent protesting inspired hundreds of millions of people of all backgrounds, which is one reason I believe the protests were re-birthed. The American people have been in training for decades on how to respond to discrimination, profiling, hatred, and inequality. The next step is for Black America to move us forward—together.
A few months back, Lamont Robinson, vice president for supplier diversity for Nielsen, was my guest on
The Akia Garnett Show (listen at www.AkiaGarnett.com). Recently, Robinson wrote and published Transform
National: Journey of a Bastard, a book about his remarkable journey from the projects to prosperity. This book inspires us all to dream big and achieve our own greatness. Robinson shared with me that had it not been for a program he attended during his high school years, he would not be where he is today. I thought to myself, what if there were a Lamont in every household, a budding success story. I do believe there is, just look at all the stories of success being told by African Americans who have climbed to a higher level of self-awareness to create their best lives. Each story is different, and each story tells us of someone or something in the community that played a critical role in their advancement.
How do we get to even greater individual and collective advancement? We need more self-empowerment. We need a larger brain trust that must consist of the contributions of all Blacks. I’ve made a statement that the ordinary man will speak for himself in this era. This does not mean that we don’t need leadership. It means that we all have the potential to lead, and that leadership is necessary at every level of society, not just at the top. The old way of leading was effective at awakening the sleeping giant. The current societal challenges suggest that he is now awake, and, if not directed, may become destructive.
Today, every household needs access to a touchable, and relatable, forward-thinking leader. Black leaders of today must not operate from a distance, but be readily usable to not only assemble protests, but also to harness the collective voice of social media-connected generations as they sit in their living rooms or coffee houses, or animal lovers as they walk their dogs, fitness enthusiasts as they take a yoga or Zumba class, or family planners as they arrange their bridal shower.
Today’s leader must operate at the micro-level. We need toolkits to get started. What should be in that toolkit? Will the toolkit be the same for each person? Those are good questions, and together, we can answer them. We must become too passionate about the state of our entire community.
The hands-off approach changed when people marched across America in protest. We’ve protested about the continued slaying of unarmed teens. We’ve protested about the continued profiling and harming of innocent Black Americans. Across the nation, hundreds of thousands of protestors poured out into the streets. This was and is a signal that there is room for national change.
2014’s many protests were surreal because there was no central voice whom all of the people seemed to support. Leaders of the Black community that have fought for decades were turned away from representing the masses. Some younger people with heavy hearts, begging to speak their peace, stepped forward with passion but to some, lacked the experience, diplomacy, and charisma to participate in some of the systemic topics associated with race relations and its societal impacts.
It appears to me that the people want a different voice, and I am suggesting that the first voice must come from within. Personal empowerment is our next phase of existence, and it is imminent. Waiting for another King, X, Garvey, Tubman, Douglas, or contemporary leaders, such as Jackson or Sharpton to find their way through all of today’s 35,000 American neighborhoods where the Lamont Robinsons live is simply not feasible. It is not enough. The baton is being passed from the stage to the audience of seers, hearers, and doers. Yesterday’s greats got us to today, but now we need all hands on deck. Every willing person is qualified to lead him or herself to their own better life, and so information, tools, assessments, guidance and support must be constructed and made available. The beginning of a new era is never perfect, but we have brilliant people in our community, and as time progresses, the structure will evolve to reflect greater brilliance. When each person looks in the mirror, what he or she can then say is I did it! I helped my family, my neighborhood, my community and myself. It’s time, and we all have the power to do this for ourselves, and for each other.
Real Talk is the opportunity for our constituents to voice their opinions in their own words and spark a dialogue among our community members. Readers may respond to these articles via any of MBE magazine’s social media platforms at Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or LinkedIn Groups. If you would like to contribute to this section, e-mail editor@mbemag.com.
The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council
The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), WEConnect International and Walmart have joined forces to create a unique symbol for retail labeling of products from women-owned businesses.
This new logo will bring consumer recognition of products provided by women-owned businesses on store shelves both in the U.S. and international markets. Women-owned businesses that are WBENC and/or WEConnect International-certified will be eligible to display the logo on their product packaging. In September 2011, Walmart launched its Global Women’s Economic Empowerment initiative, using its unique size and scale to lift women around the world. As a part of this initiative, Walmart has committed to source $20 billion from women for the U.S. business and to double sourcing from women internationally by the end of 2016. Walmart’s collaboration with WBENC and WEConnect International on the new logo is aligned with their overall strategy and focus on women-owned businesses.
Walmart will have products on their store shelves with the new women-owned business logo by September 2014. For more information on how to participate in this program visit www.wbenc.org
The logo artwork and the Style Guide for correct usage are now available for download through the password protected WBENCLink, in the section “Logo/Brand Guidelines.”
Meet our Diamond Sponsor
Dayton Mailing Service (DMS) was founded in 1983 by Robert Hale. Over the last 28 years it has remained a family owned business, owned now, by Bob's daughter, Christine Soward.
Christine Soward has been with DMS since inception. She started working in bindery for her Father's Company 28 years ago. She learned every facet of the company and purchased the company from her father in 2005. Christine is the sole proprietor and has grown DMS by double digits the last several years. Her dedication to growing the company through investment in both technology and talent continues to propel DMS in the market. Christine enjoys spending time with her husband, Ken, who is retired City of Dayton Police Officer, her four children and her grandson.
Dayton Mailing Services has thrived in the direct mail industry for over 28 years. The company philosophy is dedicated to becoming an extension of their client's business and a true partner in establishing a climate of trust and dedication. DMS provides innovative, cutting edge concepts using the latest technology in processes and materials, design packaging and mailing products that reduce costs, while maximizing consumer response, and offering a team of mailing experts to serve all their clients needs. DMS is a minority and woman owned certified business serving clients nationally. DMS offers unique capabilities that are sought by a wide range of businesses from healthcare, financial, retail, political, energy, automotive, non-profits, and many others that require full project management of design, material acquisitions, complex data programming, variable content, printing, fulfillment and lettershop services. The resources that DMS provides to their clients offer the solutions they need to handle projects under one umbrella and eliminate multiple vendors and excessive costs.
The primary service that Dayton Mailing Services offers is as a one-stop-shop for Mailing and Full Service Printing. DMS handles direct mail project from design to distribution. Whether clients need to mail a postcard, sensitive financial material, account statements or a product catalog, DMS is experienced with postal regulations and discount opportunities, implementing cost-effective solutions for mailing projects. With over 100 years combined experience in the direct mail industry, DMS can guide clients through the process to ensure that they see the lowest cost and the largest possible return on investment.
Local Heroes
One day after CVS Caremark cut the ribbon on its 150,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, mail order facility in north suburban Chicago, it hosted the third in a series of Business Building Events targeted to minority and women suppliers and service providers. More than 200 vendors from the Chicagoland area, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin registered for the day-long forum.
Each year, CVS Caremark opens nearly 250 new stores and renovates more than 2,000, all while making more than 500,000 service calls for repairs and maintenance at existing facilities. And while CVS is the largest integrated pharmacy company in the United States, it knows that pharmacies are local businesses-and the best way to connect in local communities is to source work locally.
"What we run, by definition, is a local business," says Charles Golden, who helps CVS achieve its diversity goals in the area of engineering, construction, repairs and maintenance, utilities and property administration for more than 7,500 buildings as senior vice president of Construction and Facilities Management. "We recognize the importance of having local representation as we grow our business, and I subscribe 100 percent to the tenet that this is the right thing to do, [and] also a competitive advantage."
CVS has hosted previous Construction/Facility BBEs in Philadelphia and Atlanta, and acknowledges the support and partnership of The Rising Tide Group and its founder, Thom Randle, as a driver behind the creation of these events. CVS Director of Strategic Procurement Monette Knapik and her supplier-diversity team are also working with other councils-groups such as the Women's Business Enterprise National Council, the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the National Minority Supplier Development Council and ethnic chambers to expand CVS' reach to a diverse vendor pool.
"As you seek to sell products to various neighborhoods, it is important to embrace the community you're seeking to grow into," said Illinois State Senator Kwame Raoul (D-13th District) in the event's keynote address.
Randle continues to partner with CVS Caremark in recruiting businesses to attend the forums, while expanding its database of prequalified, diverse construction subcontractors. "We are thrilled to assist CVS Caremark [in] developing regionally-focused, diverse construction Business Building Events with strategic decision-makers to pursue real business opportunities," he says.
Following an appreciation lunch, attendees participated in what was likened to speed dating for diverse firms. CVS teams in the construction and facilities area-more than 20 team members in all-held one-on-one meetings with prospective vendors to discover their capabilities and offerings.
Knapik was pleased with the large turnout for the Chicago event. "The event keeps getting better, and we are definitely seeing a return on our investment," she says. In a post-event survey, more than 70 percent of attendees rated the event as having value. One woman who attended has already been awarded two contracts and was bidding on four others. "Now that's gratifying," Knapik says.
Patricia Andrews-Keenan is the principal at the Tallulah Group, where her community-affairs programs have won wide-ranging awards. She has been responsible for the creation of award-winning newsletters, community reports, and community-affairs initiatives and is an accomplished speaker and speechwriter. She is based in the Chicago area.
Healthy Economics: Grady
Atlanta’s premier health partnerships with diverse businesses.
For a city of close to 70,000 residents, there was only one private hospital serving Atlanta in the 1890s. There was no municipal hospital. And there were no facilities that would treat the city's underserved communities. All that changed on June 1, 1892 with the opening of Grady Memorial Hospital, named for Henry W. Grady, former editor of the Atlanta Constitution, who was among the earliest and most forceful advocates for a public hospital in Atlanta.
As Atlanta grew into the city of 444,000 it is today, so, too, has Grady Hospital expanded its footprint. What once was a 110-bed hospital with 18 employees has become Grady Health System, one of the nation's largest safety-net health systems, licensed for 953 beds, employing more than 5,000 people, and operating six primary care facilities in the surrounding two-county region.
Grady is a cornerstone of the Georgia's medical network. It is the premier Level I trauma center for the North Georgia region, Atlanta's 911 ambulance service provider and the region's coordinating hospital for disaster and emergency response. It houses Georgia's only poison center and is the state's second-largest mental health service provider. It is also an internationally recognized teaching hospital.
As Grady pursues its goal of becoming the country's leading public academic health system, it also has doubled its efforts to increase its purchasing beyond the 800 diverse suppliers and small businesses with which it has done business over the past three years. Last year, it increased diverse spending by more than 30 percent compared with 2012.
"Diverse suppliers play a key role in helping us deliver high-quality medical care in the most economical way possible," says Todd Gray, Grady's director of supplier diversity. "The innovation and cost solutions they provide help us realize cost savings that we can reinvest in our system. That's a direct benefit to patients and an economic benefit to the communities we serve."
An example of how it is driving greater diverse contracting is the $52 million expansion of its Emergency Department. One of Grady's largest projects, it includes construction of a five-story tower and renovation of its emergency room space. The general contractor is a joint venture partnership with a certified diverse supplier.
Grady set a 25 percent Tier II diverse supplier goal across all facets of the project. To reach that objective, it held two diverse supplier sessions, which attracted more than 120 diverse suppliers seeking pre-qualification information for the two-and-a-half-year project.
Driving Grady's diverse purchasing efforts are what Gray calls the "three pillars"-measurement and accountability, education and awareness, and partnership development.
To measure diverse supplier purchasing, Grady set goals for all RFPs, RFQs and purchasing contracts. It closely tracks compliance by and holds Tier I contractors- including diverse suppliers ranking as Tier I-accountable for Tier II spending.
As part of its education and awareness efforts, Grady's centralized procurement function ensures that sourcing and purchasing, for everything from IT and marketing to emergency medical operations, include diverse suppliers in the bid process, as well as in final contract awards.
To better promote bid opportunities with diverse suppliers, Grady posts all RFPs on gradyhealth.org/suppliers and distributes them to its supplier database and affinity group partners. Its media partnerships also help promote new business opportunities.
Grady's partnership development efforts include educational forums, technical assistance programs and trade shows. Partners include the National Minority Supplier Development Council, Women's Business Enterprise National Council, National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, as well as several veteran and disabled veteran business organizations. Locally, it works with the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council (GMSDC), Greater Women's Business Council, Atlanta Business League and Greater Atlanta Economic Alliance.
It also has partnered with the Georgia Mentor Protégé Connection to coach a diverse small business on developing capacity and enhancing its financial, management and marketing capabilities. The program is a joint effort of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Georgia Institute of Technology's Enterprise Innovation Institute and GMSDC.
"Our senior leadership drives the 'three pillars' throughout the organization," says Gray, who previously served as supplier diversity manager at CVS Caremark and assistant vice president of supplier diversity at Wells Fargo. "That's critical because we're looking for diverse purchasing opportunities in every part of our organization."
Grady's efforts have not gone unnoticed. In 2013, it was nominated for the GMSDC's Rising Star Award, which recognizes an organization's exceptional progress in advancing its minority business development efforts.
One of the suppliers who has witnessed that progress is Sadat Nichols, president of ARS Mechanical, which has worked with Grady for nearly a decade.
The minority-owned company specializes in commercial and industrial plumbing and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC). The 14 year-old Conyers,
Georgia-based firm has 20 employees serving private, public, and government clients.
"Since Todd Gray began with Grady's supplier diversity program, I believe it's on its way to establishing itself as a class-act minority- and woman-owned [supplier program]," Nichols says.
Diverse supplier programs have played a big role in helping the company not only grow, but withstand and recover from the Great Recession. During the last three years, the company has expanded its business by about 25 percent.
"If you're going to be in business, you have to be about business," said Nichols. "The education, training and supplier outreach that supplier diversity programs offer is what makes them so valuable. They give you the chance to find new buyers, improve your operations and build capacity."
"Our relationship with Grady is a good example. It began with repair work on the hospital's HVAC system. That led to bigger projects replacing the hospital's chill-water piping system and upgrading the environmental system in its data areas," he says. "Our experience as a Grady supplier also has opened doors for other opportunities with the Atlanta Medical Center and WellStar Health System."
In explaining the rationale behind Grady's growing investment in supplier diversity, Gray says, "Suppliers like ARS Mechanical have made essential contributions to our organization. That's why we, as a leading corporate citizen, have an obligation to be as inclusive and transparent in our business practices as we are when we're delivering the services that will keep our communities healthy.
"We've been one of metro Atlanta's economic drivers for over 120 years," he states proudly. "No institution has a greater commitment to Atlanta than Grady. Supplier diversity is and will remain a big part of that commitment."
David Garcia is the principal of DMG Communications, a Los Angeles-based communications and public relations firm. Garcia has more than 25 years of experience in public relations and corporate communications.
Breaching the Inner Circle
Bringing supplier diversity in the industry to the next level.
By Max Rutherford
Before the business case for supplier diversity was recognized (and in fairness, before it became compelling), the U.S. government implemented programs dating back to the early 1960's that contributed to the establishment, preservation and strengthening of minority business enterprises so that they could become fully competitive and viable business concerns.
Corporations have since then introduced supplier diversity programs for other reasons that include recognition of the importance of implementing business practices that reflect the markets they serve and a real or threatened consumer boycott or political or economic pressure. More to the point, supplier diversity programs enhance their public image and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts and to pursue government contracts more successfully.
SourceEcreative's 2011 and 2012 special features on Diversity in Production noted that in the advertising industry's approach to supplier diversity, many diverse suppliers question whether advertisers, corporations, agencies and/or clients are doing enough to seek out diverse business concerns. Diverse business owners hear many corporations and advertisers talk about mandates or requirements to include minority- and woman-owned business enterprises (MWBEs), but often find it a challenge to see evidence of these obligations enforced or fulfilled.
I contend that this is mainly due to the lack of decision-maker accountability to establish rapport with qualified diversity-owned firms.
Diverse business owners want to be a part of the global supply chain and bring value to agencies. But, the global supply chain now has them competing with other business enterprises which do not have to meet a rigorous and extensive third-party certification set of guidelines to qualify for projects. Added to this difficulty are challenges with access to capital along with capacity building needed to meet global imperatives. To add to that, there's the relationship challenge of getting to the ultimate decision-maker or team of decision makers needed to build business relationships.
A prevalent challenge in the ad industry is how we move from a point of complacency, contentment and comfort to one that engages inclusion and utilization of bona fide diverse suppliers. Many are faced with barriers-core decision-makers that have loyalty to vendors they have used in the past; fearing risk of working with someone new, decision-makers' dismissive attitudes toward diverse vendors because unfamiliarity presents the assumption that there is a lack of caliber and experience needed for client work, along with fear that changing of the guard causes a loss of continuity, cost efficiencies, and steep learning curves required for on-boarding new vendors.
Further, minority- and women-owned businesses face a lack of inclusion and opportunity to establish relationships with key decision-makers. Consequently, they spend a lot of time strategizing, implementing, and creating content for their threshold efforts to make it into the inner circle, but many don't see optimal returns.
GSD&M understands the vendor partner selection process is decentralized, subjective, and based on relationships, experience and reputation. Since 2010, we have sought to be a change-agent to institutionalize engagement and inclusion of diverse vendor partners for all work done on behalf of our clients. Some of our efforts consist of:
1. CEO mandated Diverse Supplier Utilization Policy that requires every Request for Proposal to have at least one qualified and certified diverse vendor partner included in the bidding process. If a diverse vendor is not identified, an explanation stating why is required in the decision-maker's vendor selection summary.
2. Host regular capabilities presentations for diverse vendor partners to share their work to internal stakeholders, creatives, producers and decision makers for consideration on upcoming projects.
3. The GSD&M Vendor Partner Diversity team regularly attends business opportunity fairs and trade shows to identify potential vendor partners.
4. Host an annual GSD&M Small Business Summit which provides a forum to identify, promote and significantly increase business relationships between small and diverse business concerns and the agency's buying community.
Agencies must be more proactive and diligent in developing relationships with their vendor partners and not chase dollar and percent goals. Proper relationships will lead to inclusion of diverse suppliers.
For example, at GSD&M, one of our agency's core values is "Community"-the idea that we're all in this together. We see ourselves as part of the economic community and believe that having a diverse vendor base in the communities we serve has tremendous value for us and our clients. We remain determined to drive change and build more balance in our initiative by voluntarily developing annual spend and percentage goals agency-wide for all of our clients-whether or not the client has an established supplier diversity program. This decision has led to the creation of a climate that demonstrates and values diverse vendor partner perspectives, competencies and relationships.
The chart on the previous page suggests that one of the most promising opportunities for advertisers and corporations to explore new markets is through supplier diversity. With increasing multicultural population and business growth rates, it is imperative that corporations learn how to infuse minority employees, customers, and suppliers into their business processes in order to gain and maintain a long-term competitive edge.
During the 2012 Billion Dollar Roundtable Summit, GSD&M CEO Duff Stewart stated: "We have an obligation to move the conversation forward. Not against but with each other to move the economy forward. Find unexpected partnerships and discover shared value to drive business success."
It takes bold actions to move advertisers, agencies, corporations and organizations to adopt behaviors that are important-actions that speak louder than words. If leadership within the business community believes minority- and women-owned businesses are cornerstones of our economy and our communities, then a major push and commitment to diversity ought to follow. It's no longer about entitlement or affirmative action-it's about action that is affirmative.
While progressive companies have been building a diverse supply base for many years, others, like those in the ad industry, may need to play catch up-starting today. Getting diverse suppliers in the "inner circle" could potentially pay huge dividends for them down the road. In essence, having a supplier diversity program is imperative to the success of the agency and client's business. Our clients trust us to be proactive and seek out the best and qualified vendor partners so we generate the big, visionary and award-winning ideas to move their business forward.
Max Rutherford is the vendor partner diversity director and small business liaison officer at GSD&M, an advertising agency which has helped grow some of the world's most successful brands. While at GSD&M, Rutherford successfully developed and implemented the agency's Vendor Partner initiative, which emphasizes the continuation and advancement of vendor diversity efforts across multiple accounts. More information about GSD&M and the agency's Vendor Partner Diversity Program may be found at gsdm.com.
Urban Lending Solutions Team
Urban Lending Solutions ("ULS") is the nation's largest minority-owned mortgage solutions business, as designated by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). The company was founded by Charles and Elisa Sanders in 2002, and is now an industry leading provider of customized mortgage solutions. ULS and its subsidiaries provide a wide variety of outsourced services to its clients; including mortgage fulfillment services, home retention solutions, appraisals and valuation services, title and settlement services, and call center services.
Charles "Chuck" Sanders is CEO of Urban Lending Solutions (ULS).
Chuck Sanders is the founder and CEO of Urban Lending Solutions (ULS). Chuck built ULS into a highly respected provider of outsourced fulfillment and settlement services to the mortgage origination and servicing industry. Chuck is the winner for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2012 Award in the Western Pennsylvania, and Chuck was also named one of the Top 10 black entrepreneurs in the nation by Inc 500.
Thomas, "TJ", Lewis Jr. , Strategy and Business Development Executive
Thomas, "TJ", Lewis Jr. is the Strategy and Business Development Executive. TJ leads corporate strategy and development for Urban Lending Solutions and related companies. He has been one of the executives responsible for guiding the growth of the company from a handful of employees to more than 1,100 employees during the past few years.
Darlene Burnham, SVP Business Development and Sales
Darlene Burnham is responsible for the development and growth of strategic accounts and has over 28 years of experience in the mortgage industry. Darlene has served as the vice president of sales and relationship management and held various operational positions throughout her career, including vice president of customer service, and earning the Leadership and Service Excellence Awards.
Jodee Hurtado-Bennett, VP of Marketing and Diversity
Jodee is responsible for creating unique Supplier Diversity initiatives that are designed to make a powerful impact and significant contributions in the communities in which Urban Lending Solutions (ULS) conducts business. Jodee also develops and executes a clearly defined marketing and communications strategy in a manner that supports consistent business growth and enhances brand equity and awareness.
About Mortgage Staffing Solutions
Mortgage Staffing Solutions (MSS), founded by Lisa Wilbon, Ashley Jendrasik, and Latoia Sykes in 2012, is a leading recruiting firm dedicated to understanding the needs of their clients and candidates. MSS was launched to provide customized professional recruiting and consultative services through industry-leading expertise in the mortgage solutions industry. Their ability to provide customized recruiting services is demonstrated through their performance working with banking industry service providers including large and super-regional banks, midsized banks and credit unions.
The company is located in Colorado, Pennsylvania, and plans to open offices Georgia and Florida. MSS is a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Women Business Enterprise (WBE). MSS embraces diversity in all aspects of their organization, from talented associates to supplier partners and is elevating their own supplier diversity program.
MSS is proud of their outstanding workforce! Their comprehensive staffing approach, from hiring talented team members, extensive screening, and thorough testing process ensures a quick and qualified ramp up. MSS' capabilities allow their clients to focus their time and attention on their core duties and improve their organizational performance; this has resulted in success for their clients, their candidates, as well as MSS.
MSS has a reputation of a company that is not only successful in the mortgage and lending industry, maintaining a 95 percent retention rate for their clients, but they also make an impact on their communities. MSS supports the Boys and Girls club in both Georgia and Colorado and was featured in Whirl Magazine's Women in Business Class of 2013, was a 2014 candidate for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Woman of the Year, and strives to be an example for young adults with dreams of having their own businesses. As owners of MSS, they are heavily involved in local charities, communicating to future generations that anything is possible if they work hard and do not give up on their goals! MSS' passion is to inspire young women to assert themselves and know that through hard work and dedication, women can be anything they want!
Guiding Light
Community organizations increase their support of minority business constituents.
By Ryan Hamilton
Many organizations and groups that have primarily focused on building and strengthening communities and promoting civil rights through employment have found themselves challenged to give more thought to their economic development activities. Faced with
shrinking job opportunities in Corporate America, many of their constituents have turned to entrepreneurship, and, in response, these Organizations have redefine what services they provide for their membership.
Elias Aseged, the business Diversity chairman at the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), explains the evolution, "Oftentimes, when someone says 'work', it's interpreted as working for a large, Fortune 500 organization." While that is still true for many of NSBE's members, there is a noticeable shift toward entrepreneurship. "We have seen a significant portion of our NSBE Professional Members transition from the corporate world to their own endeavors. The economic crisis has made this transition more appealing," he says.
The executive director at the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB), Noel Poyo, has noticed a similar change, and also suggests that the shift in the Hispanic population toward Business ownership may have been hastened by the recession. "The data has borne out that if recession equals unemployment, unemployment oftentimes equals starting a business."
Partly in response to the scarcity of entrepreneurial and business support resources in minority communities ("Business centers have been on college campuses, not in Latino communities," Poyo asserts.), NALCAB was created to focus on asset development: real estate, business ownership, family balance sheets-building family wealth.
"We work with a lot of groups that began as immigrant rights groups. The issues used to be ESL and immigrant legal services. Now it is business ownership-financial education, small business development services. Immigrants want to figure out the regulatory environment."
As a result, there is a trend toward consolidation of groups offering economic resources to the Latino community. "The field out there has developed to get more comprehensive. In the past, there have been [separate] groups for tax prep, financial planning, business ownership. Now things are consolidating."
There is an anecdote offered by Poyo to illustrate the need for entrepreneurial support programs: "On the first day a Hispanic immigrant arrives in the United States, they find a place to stay. On the second, they hang out a shingle and start their own business."
Jino Ahn, CEO and founder of Asian MBA International, has seen a similar drive toward business ownership in the Asian community. "Asians are, historically and culturally speaking, highly entrepreneurial. If you look at statistics in this country, Asians are in the entrepreneurial field and not the corporate field," he says.
"As the immigration field matures, the third and fourth generations are also getting into entrepreneurial fields, including MBAs. In the old days, Asians with MBAs used to consider doing investment banking, consulting, and working in the financial industries,"states Ahn. "That is changing quite rapidly. Many of them are pursuing the entrepreneurial path and a lot of schools are changing their curriculum to educate them, to prepare them better."
He continues, "Our own conference [this] September in New York City will have a heavy emphasis on entrepreneurship because that is where the interest is shifting." The conference tracks will feature successful business owners as speakers and include workshops so that individuals have the opportunity to learn the practical details of starting and growing a business.
For Poyo's organization, it's about satisfying the increasing demand for business ownership resources and bridging the information gap that exists in the Hispanic community. "There are not a lot of federal resources focused on the Latino community. It has the highest level of entrepreneurship and the lowest level of service," he said. "Latinos are one of the driving forces of regional economies and the national economy. A lot of nonprofits that have focused on Latinos as a group have 'grown up'-they have begun to scale their work."
Aseged reports that NSBE is currently structuring itself to resemble an 'app' of sorts-a portal for easy, timely access to practical, useful information for its members in response to growing demand for entrepreneurial programs.
They call the new program "NSBEpreneur." It is a way of offeringa number of different programs offering a number of different support services to business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. "When you consider the community that we serve, there is no shortage of ideas. But the resources and knowledge required to bridge the gap between those ideas and a successful product or service is often just out of reach," says Aseged. "This is the void that NSBE will attempt to [fill]. NSBEPreneur will be a conduit of information and resources for our members, as well as others in our community, who are entrepreneurs or who have entrepreneurial aspirations," he elaborates. "NSBEPreneur's goal is to help educate our members in entrepreneurship, so they can, in turn, form STEM-focused ventures."
The National Urban League (NUL) has a similar program. "The encouragement of increased business ownership is a priority for the National Urban League," says Terry Clark, vice president of entrepreneurship and business services.
To support NUL's membership business aspirations, the organization operates entrepreneurship centers in the offices of 10 of its local affiliates across the country. NUL's clients were able to receive more than $20 million dollars in financing and approximately $566 million in new contracts through the centers. "[NUL] has seen a very steady uptick in interest and demand for entrepreneurship assistance services through our program," states Clark.
Dedrick Muhammad, senior director of the economic department and executive director of the Financial Freedom Center at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is overseeing the creation of more support mechanisms for minority businesses. "We've known since the beginning that this is an area where we need to develop strong programming, "Muhammad said. "For the past several years, the NAACP programs have been rebuilding themselves. Immediately after the recession, we focused on fair lending, mortgages, avoiding foreclosures, and basic financial education."
As for the future, the NUL is planning to expand their services directed at entrepreneurs and business owners. "The future of our program will include providing management development skills to [minority businesses] that are currently Tier 2 suppliers to large corporations with the goal of moving them toward Tier 1 status. We also have developed a Small Business Loan Fund called the Urban Empowerment Fund, which is a subsidiary of the National Urban League and will provide line of credit, asset-based and working capital financing in amounts between $50,000 and $250,000," he said. "This fund will look to become a certified community development financial institution (CDFI) and begin to bridge the credit gap for [minority entrepreneurs]." CDFIs are specialized financial institutions that work in market niches that are underserved by traditional financial institutions.
In the coming months, the NAACP is hoping to expand on its local and national efforts by adding more programs to support entrepreneurs. "African Americans are more likely to be entrepreneurs, but a serious challenge is the lack of capital. As a result, we're more likely to have unsuccessful ventures."
To help alleviate that and other problems, the NAACP is partnering with other organizations to expand opportunities for its membership as they relate to business ownership. "We've been looking for some partners to work with us, looking at different types of partnerships. One of the items we hope to be able to expand on in the coming months is franchising, and expanding diversity initiatives in that industry." "There is a real fire to do this," says Poyo, "because in the end these nonprofits are just listening to the communities they serve."
Building History
Ronnie McGhee uses his craft to shape buildings and communities of significance
By Tanya Isley
Nestled within the tapestry of Washington, D.C.'s rich history and stately architecture are communities ripe with buildings that hold the stories of generations of minorities who helped knit the fabric of the city. No one is more committed to preserving those buildings and influencing the community than D.C. architect, educator and native son, Ronnie McGhee.
"My interest is in doing something that, long term, affects many people's lives and neighborhoods. Architecture [is] probably one of the more long-term activities that would affect people and the way they live," McGhee says.
Recently named Architect of the Year by the National Organization of Minority Architects' D.C. chapter, McGhee has worked on projects from the multiple award-winning Castle Center for the Performing Arts to the Strand Theater and Bolling Air Force Base. An avid science fiction reader and cyclist who annually participates in 100-mile rides, McGhee graduated from Howard University with a degree in architecture after leaving D.C. for a brief dalliance in anthropology at Northwestern University.
"I wanted to go out and see the world. I'd never really spent much time away from home so I went out there," he says.
While at Northwestern, several late night conversations with his roommate about his interest in architecture convinced him to apply to architecture school. Today, his 10-person firm, R. McGhee & Associates, is 8(a)-certified and provides a full range of architectural services, with a focus on executing projects with sustainable design as a key element.
McGhee's 30-year career resume has produced some impressive projects, many of which resonates throughout the city. But, one of his favorites is the Whitelaw Hotel, an early 20th century gathering spot for the community and celebrity guests like Cab Calloway. Located in D.C.'s historic Shaw neighborhood, the Whitelaw opened its doors in 1919 as the city's first luxury hotel for African Americans during segregation. When McGhee stumbled upon the building while house hunting in the area in the early 1990s, it had lost is former glamour. But, the hotel's rich history, despite its poor condition, is what attracted McGhee.
"It's in an African American community; it had a history that resonated throughout the community-the history of Washington. It was built in 1919 by a black architect, a black developer, by black artisans. And it had fallen into such disrepair. It was a crack house, it was a whorehouse. It was an eyesore and the neighbors were saying, 'Let's tear it down.' It had fallen so far [but] I thought this could be was a great story. And I said this is really the kind of work that I want to do," he says.
Working with the Manna Community Development Corporation, McGhee restored the Whitelaw from a vacant, decrepit building to a moderate-income housing complex that was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
McGhee's name may be synonymous with some of the city's most prominent community landmarks, but he's also an assistant professor at Howard's School of Architecture and Design. As one of the few African-American architects in the country, the importance of nurturing and mentoring a new generation of minority architects is not lost on McGhee.
"I look at it as my role, sort of my debt, to people who helped me that I would try to increase the outreach and open that window to what's going on in the field to students," he says.
In order to improve the quality of undergraduate STEM education at Howard, the university created the Howard University Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Program (HUSEM). HUSEM is a multidisciplinary program involving the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Computer Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences. Although McGhee is not formally involved in the HUSEM program, he shares the program's goals and devotes a significant amount of his time to mentoring and developing his students.
Working with colleagues in the architecture school, McGhee created an intern development program that addressed the outreach that minority students must do to firms, and helped prepare aspiring architects for the Architecture Registration Exam, the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, certification and other post-graduation requirements.
Much of what drives McGhee's success with his firm and in the classroom is his passion and devotion to his craft and his community. And it's this passion and commitment that shapes his next career goal.
At Howard and at his firm, McGhee is trying to leverage his work into something that has a more lasting and meaningful impact for the people that live in and around his designs. "Sometimes you get to do several buildings in a community and sometimes you get to do a building that's large enough to affect the community," he says. "I'm trying to focus more on the reach of an architect and doing a project that affects a community as opposed to just a single building."
Making a Difference
Supplier diversity veteran Joe Alderete leaves his mark on SoCal Edison's program.
By Ryan Hamilton
With talk of projects, contracts, and best practices, it can be easy to lose sight of the central mission of supplier diversity: to make a difference. Supplier diversity is the idea that a company's supplier base should reflect the various types of people it serves-and that individuals from communities that might not have the same business connections as individuals from other communities should get the same chance to generate and create wealth for themselves and those around them.
Joe Alderete is one individual who has not lost sight of the endgame. As director of Supplier Diversity and Development at Southern California Edison, he spends his time empowering individuals through business opportunity. "If you look back at supplier diversity's early stages, it was considered more of a social program-trying to get minorities and women and service-disabled veterans in the supply chain mix. Today, it is a part of business," he explains. "I look at it from a perspective of it being a good business practice. It supports folks in our community; it supports the customers we serve.
"Providing diverse opportunities for diverse business across the board has had a major impact in our communities,"
Alderete adds. The business model he works with is unique-a highly regulated utility that has a monopoly in specified geographic areas. "We hire diverse businesses in our territory and it, in turn, drives up the opportunity to keep dollars in our communities and helps provide good jobs."
Under Alderete's leadership at SoCal Edison, diverse spend has risen to 41 percent. "That is a significant number," he says. "We do business with about 800 suppliers. Not all of them are in our service area, but we try to provide as many opportunities as possible to get women, minority, and service-disabled veterans in our supply chain process."
Alderete says that the process isn't just about getting diverse businesses into the supply chain-work has to be done to maintain, grow, and improve diverse businesses to maximize the impact that supplier diversity can make on a community. "It isn't just about the spend," he says bluntly. "It is also about developing and mentoring suppliers. Many of the folks we mentor or provide educational assistance to along the way make a better company. They might not do business with us at all times, but [there] is one better company in our service territory."
This makes sense from SoCal Edison's perspective, as well, Alderete says. "You have to look at the development side of the equation. Sustainability is important. If we're going to continue to have this high level of spend-41 percent-we need suppliers in the pipe that are going to grow with SoCal Edison," he says.
What makes Alderete unique among his peers is his perspective of supplier diversity's effects on the marketplace. Many decision-makers justify supplier diversity as adding to sustainability, supporting the community, or retaining top-level talent. Alderete gets down to brass tacks about the real case for supplier diversity: "It drives competition," he says, "and that has driven down the cost of goods and services.
"I think folks [on the corporate side] have found that these companies that have come on board [through supplier diversity programs] are smaller, but they have less overhead and they are more nimble," Alderete explains. "They can provide a more competitive product or service because they can react more quickly [in most business situations]. Putting them in the mix has [created competition with] the larger, majority-owned, 'institutional' companies. That's why it is good business to bring new folks to our supply chain."
Alderete can speak with authority-he is a seasoned supplier-diversity professional with more than two decades of experience to his credit. He's approaching retirement now, and SoCal Edison is working hard to secure his legacy as a mover in the supplier diversity world. "As a team, in my opinion, we are a best-of-class organization," he says. "The integrity that has been demonstrated by our supplier diversity team is unmatched anywhere. That has been a major driver of what we do here. I also have a staff that is second to none from a passion standpoint. This isn't an 8 to 5 job."
His team feels the same way about him-giving him credit for his leadership ability and foresight. "Joe maintains a positive attitude, even when things get tense," says longtime colleague Dennis Thurston, program manager for Outreach and Partnerships at SoCal Edison. "He gives us the space to stand up for our beliefs and follow through on what we say we will do. He values the commitment and passion we put into our work.
"He was the first diversity manager within any California corporation to support the Native American chambers [of commerce], creating the grassroots efforts that have allowed tremendous growth for many Native American businesses," Thurston adds. Together, they also helped champion the 2003 formation of the California Disabled Veteran Business Alliance Corporate Diversity Board, which launched with just 13 utilities and has since grown to 37 major corporations including utilities.
Vincent Craney, also an Outreach and Partners manager at SoCal Edison, notes that Alderete is a natural when it comes to the qualities that make a leader. "Joe is a confident leader-he's able to focus on issues and maintain a direct path toward achieving the end goal. He's always ready to listen to opinions and outside thoughts without feeling compromised," he says. "Honesty and integrity are at the forefront of who Alderete is."
The people, Alderete says, are the part of his job that he will miss the most. "[Supplier diversity professionals] are a pretty tight-knit community. We all have the same passion," he says. "You end up developing a network of supplier diversity professionals, and the common thread is the passion for the work. Ask a question, and you'll get an answer-the concern with competition isn't there. We share this information readily.
"I will miss the connection of this community as a whole. It is quite a special group."
Freedom of Choice
This staffing maven doesn't take diversity lying down.
By Carolyn Muse Grant
Denise Peoples, founder and owner of Peoples Choice Staffing and Choice Workforce Solutions, believes she is blessed. She and her company have endured tough times and slogged through the recession like many others, doing more than just surviving - they have flourished. She credits her passion, her drive, creative brain, and her knowledge of the industry she serves for pulling her through and putting her at top of her game.
Peoples had several years of experience in the staffing business before starting Peoples Choice Staffing in 1993. "I started at the entry level with a national staffing company and was promoted five times in five years," she says. "I loved the business and was responsible for overall management and sales. When they closed, I had no idea where to go."
She decided to talk to her major clients, thinking she could get an idea of where to work next. Surprisingly, everyone encouraged her to open her own business. Peoples had never considered this option, but after discussing it with her family and "a lot of prayer and reflection," she decided that she would make that path her own - and in less than 30 days, she was in business. Because of the ease with which she was able to navigate the hurdles of business startup, she was sure she'd made the right choice. And in her first year of business, she produced more than $1 million in sales. "It was meant to be," she enthuses.
By 2007, Peoples Choice was a $5 million company. Then, almost overnight, the economy crashed, and her business was hit hard. "In the blink of an eye, my business went from $5 million to $1.6 million," she recalls. "It was one of the most challenging moments for me. But I told my staff [that] there may be a recession, but we refuse to participate. Do not bring up work shortages, layoffs or downsizing."
Peoples has a keepsake rock that she has had for many years with a quotation from Winston Churchill etched on it. It reads, "Never, never quit." On an especially dark day during the crash, she focused on those words, gathered her confidence, and realized that her strong will and her gift for relationship-building would pull her through. The last few years have rewarded that confidence, and since forming Choice Workforce Solutions - a managed service provider that specializes in hiring, contract management, statements of work, and payroll services - in 2010, she manages two growing, award-winning businesses.
Peoples Choice Staffing was a 2010 Stevie Awards finalist for the Fastest-Growing Company of the Year in Business Services, received the Black Business Association 2010 Outstanding Business of The Year Award, and took the 2012 Best of Business Award from the Small Business Community Association. Choice Workforce Solutions, LLC is currently producing an additional $90+ million in revenue and was awarded an Advancing Diversity Recognition Award by Southern California Edison in February 2011.
Peoples believes that most people really don't know what it takes to start and run a business - the liabilities, the money, and the time involved. She urges everyone to perform due diligence and learn the industry or industries they plan to serve. "Prepare, and stick with, a business plan, and don't try to reinvent the wheel," she says. "Use the resources and services available to you."
Peoples says that staffing is something of a "hustler's game" that takes a lot of hard work. A marketing major at California State University at Fullerton, she says that her college experience was instrumental in preparing her for the leadership role and the responsibility of running a business. Peoples also once worked as a cheerleader for the former Los Angeles Rams.
Peoples loves what she does, and her passion is evident when she talks about the potential to transform people's lives by finding them work or building her business. "My mind never stops thinking about what can I do next to expand or make my business better," she says.
Peoples Choice has expanded into temporary, temporary-to-hire, and executive search functions. "I didn't actually open my doors with the idea of an executive search agency, but today, executive search is a core part of our business," she says. She plans to pursue government contracts and expand her services to help veterans find meaningful work after they leave military service. At any given time, Peoples has approximately 300 temporary employees working with clients; her companies currently do business in six states and are positioned to go nationwide.
Peoples is married and has two children, one in college and one at home. And while she loves her work, after more than 20 years of creating and growing her businesses, she hopes to spend some quality time traveling with her family in the not-too-distant future.
All the Marbles
Trading legal briefs for luxury retail.
by Carolyn Muse Grant
Travertine is "a mineral consisting of a massive, usually layered calcium carbonate (as aragonite or calcite) formed by deposition from spring waters, or especially from hot springs," according to Merriam-Webster. Terry Carter defines travertine as that, plus sexy and luxurious-and he knew it was the name he had to have for his business, the Travertine Spa.
Carter says he is a meditative person, and sought spiritual guidance in naming his business. He didn't want it to be too feminine, but spiritual and sophisticated. He kept seeing the word travertine used in nontraditional ways and decided that it would be perfect. "The Roman baths were travertine," he says. "It's a high-end product. It just fits in all areas."
Carter's education and business path were not necessarily traditional. He was born and raised in California by entrepreneurial parents, the youngest of three children and the first in the family to get a college degree. He studied foreign languages including Japanese, and went to work for the Japanese government in international development after graduation. While working with diplomats and businesspeople overseas, Carter decided he wanted to make a change. "I wanted to get something done, and made the decision to go to law school."
Back in the United States, he attended law school at American University in Washington, D.C., specializing in international intellectual property. Upon graduation, he moved back to California-and that's where he changed things up even more.
"I'm the kind of person who will work crazy-hard for about four months and then I'll take a vacation," Carter says. "And oftentimes, I would go to a spa to eliminate stress, all the while looking for something beneficial for me. In California, I would go once a month to a spa, and then about once a year, I would go somewhere out of the country and relax. During these visits, I paid particular attention to the products, and realized they were more than just a product for someone else."
Carter kept working in the legal field for a couple of years until he had paid down his debt, then volunteered to help a friend at a spa trade show. "I realized that I knew an awful lot about the spa products there," he says. "I gave myself a goal and within one year, I had my own business, my own product line, and my first client."
Since Carter had already reduced his debt substantially, he was able to fund the startup himself. "In the beginning, I spent $273 at a company that sold raw ingredients," he says. "The lady there spent a lot of time on the phone with me telling me how to make products in my own kitchen. From there, of course, I learned a lot more, but that was the beginning."
Building a Brand
Today, Travertine Spa hosts an online store (travertinespa.com), and sells products in several high-end hotels, including the Aria Resort and Casino and the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Carter's business and legal acumen led him to get contracts with these hotels to have his products sold in their shops, not given away for free in the guest rooms. This gets Travertine repeat customers.
In addition to traditional spa products, the Travertine Spa line includes clothing, gift packs, and candles. Carter says his choice of products is a combination of the things he loves and business strategy. "I am an avid spa consumer, and I know what people want to use to relax and feel good in a spa," he says. "I'm very careful about adding product. I don't want to overwhelm clients. Once you establish your name and company, if your clients think it's great, when you add new things, we want them to think [that the] new products are great, also."
Carter's goal is to please clients, make them want more, and ultimately create a lifestyle brand. He strives to give excellent customer service, and offer products that touch the soul and take the stress out of life. His plans for growth include a book that promotes his concept of relaxation, and there's a strong possibility he will open a brick-and-mortar location soon to build a more personal connection with customers.
"People will order online, but [direct] contact is where you gain knowledge of what they really think," he says. "Retail will be fun and informative, but the wholesale is the driver and pays the bills. I want that communication with the customer you get in retail."
Some of the first retail customers will likely be the celebrities with whom Carter has formed relationships by providing products they like and not being in awe of their fame. The Travertine website features pictures of him with celebrity clients such as Joey Fatone, Ziggy Marley, and Jessica Paré.
His advice to others seeking a new business venture? Don't let fear get in your way. "Most people know what they want to do, but are afraid to do it," Carter says. "Don't focus on the negative; dream about positives that can happen. When you're at your lowest, good things do happen. At my lowest point, I got a call for a large order and pulled all kind of strings to make it happen. That gave me the push I needed to continue forward. You can do it once you take the first step. You don't want to say what could have been. I had a dream and now I'm living it, all because I didn't let fear control me."
Carter writes a blog (www.howichangedcareers.com) about his experiences as an entrepreneur to help inspire others to make their ideas into realities. "It's not always a picnic," he says. "I have days when I miss my former paycheck, but I'm happy with what I'm doing I'm going to go for it with this business. I don't want to get to a point in my life and have regrets."
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