NMSDC Honors Top Regional Minority Suppliers

NEW YORK, Oct. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc.® (NMSDC®) today announced its 2011 Regional Minority Supplier of the Year winners. The 16 outstanding Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native American-owned businesses represent a broad range of industries, including advertising, marketing and public relations; computer software and hardware; construction; legal services; packing; staffing; supply chain logistics and solutions; and translation services. NMSDC will present awards to each regional winner at an Awards Banquet on Wednesday, November 2, to conclude its 2011 Conference and Business Opportunity Fair in Atlanta, Georgia.

"NMSDC-certified suppliers bring added value to the corporate supply chain," said NMSDC President Joset Wright. "This year's regional suppliers of the year represent the best companies among our 16,000 certified minority-owned businesses. They are dedicated to delivering great products and quality service to their corporate customers, and NMSDC is proud to honor them."

The 16 regional winners are nominated by their corporate customers and divided into four classes based on annual sales. NMSDC-certified minority-owned businesses are evaluated on the basis of business growth, development and performance, community service and the ability to overcome challenges brought on by the company owner's heritage or background.

One regional winner from each of the four classes will be named the National Supplier of the Year at the Awards Banquet that concludes the four-day conference. The Conference theme is "Minority Businesses and Corporate America—Raising the Bar through Sustainable Strategies." More than 7,000 participants, including minority business owners and corporate purchasing executives, are expected to attend the four-day conference, which will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center.

The 2011 NMSDC Regional Suppliers of the Year are listed below.

CLASS IV – ANNUAL SALES GREATER THAN $50 MILLION

Group O, Inc. is one of the largest Hispanic-owned companies in the U.S. The firm offers marketing, packaging and supply chain products and services. Gregg Ontiveros, is the chief executive officer of the family-owned firm. His father, Robert, founded the company in 1974 and is the chairman. The Milan, Illinois-based firm also offers workforce management, business process outsourcing, call centers, warehousing and fulfillment and third-party logistics. In 2010, Group O had $515 million in sales – an 18% increase over 2009. The NMSDC Corporate Plus® member has nearly 1,200 employees. AT&T, Caterpillar, John Deere, Microsoft and PepsiCo are among its major customers. Group O is active in the Floreciente neighborhood of Moline, Illinois, the community where the senior Mr. Ontiveros grew up. He financed the land development and building of Community Health Care, a new $2.5 million clinic that provides medical and dental care for low-income residents with no access to primary health care. He also financed the Boys and Girls Club of the Mississippi Valley facility in the Floreciente neighborhood. Group O organizes, supports and hosts an annual golf outing for the club. The 10-year-old event has raised nearly $1 million for the facility. The company also provides scholarship funding for the Wisconsin, Iowa and Central Illinois Minority Supplier Development Council, Black Hawk College, the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and Western Illinois University. Group O also supports the Gilda's Club, Junior Achievement of the Heartland, Living Lands and Waters and the March of Dimes.  www.groupo.com

C.D. Moody Construction Company, Inc. is a Black-owned general contracting and construction management firm based in Lithonia, Georgia. C. David Moody is the president of the company, which specializes in the building of aviation, collegiate, K-12, municipal, nonprofit and retail facilities, as well as historic renovations. The 23-year-old company has 62 employees and had sales of nearly $111 million in 2010 – up 58% over the previous year. The NMSDC Corporate Plus® member lists Atlanta Public Schools and Morehouse College as major customers. CDM is active in the Atlanta community. Mr. Moody has served on a number of boards, including Children's Healthcare Foundation, Citizen Trust Bank, Morehouse College Business School (advisory board) and Wesley Wood for Senior Citizen's Housing. He has also served as commissioner for the state of Georgia Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless. Mr. Moody participates in the Atlanta Business League's Student Shadow Project, and CDM has awarded more than 80 college scholarships through its C. D. Moody Construction Foundation. He has established endowed scholarships at Central State University, Howard University and Morehouse College.  Additionally, Mr. Moody has mentored five new minority entrepreneurs and adopted Stoneview Elementary School and Stephenson Middle School in Dekalb County.  www.cdmoodyconstruction.com

D.W. Morgan Company is an Asian Pacific American-owned supply chain transportation and logistics company based in Pleasanton, California. David W. Morgan is the founder and chief executive officer of the 21-year-old firm. Mr. Morgan is actively engaged in NMSDC's International Program and his company has locations in China, Mexico and Thailand. The NMSDC Corporate Plus® member offers global operations for air, sea and ground shipments; customs and duty management services; warehousing and logistics using vendor-managed inventory programs; and value-added resale to clients in the aerospace, biotechnology, medical equipment, military/defense, pharmaceutical and telecommunications industries. D.W. Morgan has 100 employees and had $125 million in sales in 2010. Its major customers include Apple, Cisco Systems, IBM, Kaiser Permanente, Lockheed Martin and NCR. In the community, Mr. Morgan and his company are involved with a number of local and global organizations, including the American Heart Association; Bue Orphanage in Argentina; Feed My Starving Children; and Silicon Valley Marathon. The company also provided four $5,000 scholarships through its "Last Mile" scholarship program to the college students studying supply chain management or a related field.  www.dwmorgan.com

SHI International Corp. is an Asian-Pacific American-owned global provider of computer software, hardware, peripherals, networking products, accessories and information technology lifecycle services. Thai Lee is president and chief executive officer of the 21-year-old company. SHI has 1,600 employees in 26 offices across the U.S., Canada, France, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. The company's organic growth is the result of backing a highly-skilled, tenured sales force with software volume licensing experts, hardware procurement specialists and certified IT services professionals. Most recently, SHI expanded its IT services portfolio with its secure, high-performance, industrial-grade Cloud housed in a state-of-the-art data center at its new world headquarters in Somerset, New Jersey. In 2010, the NMSDC Corporate Plus® member had nearly $3.1 billion in sales. Its major customers include Bank of America, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Lucent and Verizon. The 21-year-old firm has an internally-staffed supplier diversity program that tracks and reports 1st and 2nd tier spending with diverse suppliers. In 2010, the company made $6.69 million in purchases from MBEs.  SHI is an active supporter of the global community, making contributions to charities across the U.S., Asia-Pacific Islands, Europe and the U.K.  In the New York/New Jersey area alone, the firm contributes to more than 50 charities and matches employee contributions. Its employees are also active in community service in the U.S. and abroad, with a recent effort in Ethiopia for Habitat for Humanity's Global Village project.  www.shi.com

CLASS III – ANNUAL SALES BETWEEN $10 MILLION AND $50 MILLION

Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan, LLP is a Hispanic American-owned law firm that represents mid-sized Fortune 100 companies, government entities and individuals in the areas of litigation, employment, environmental, corporate and transactional, public finance and intellectual property. The firm also specializes in energy and regulatory, creditors' rights and bankruptcy, immigration, and estate and asset protection planning. Jerry Gonzalez is the managing equity partner in one of the nation's largest minority-owned law firms. In 2010, GSH had nearly $24.3 million in sales – a 38% increase over 2009. The 22-year-old company is based in Milwaukee and made $94,909 in purchases from other MBEs in 2010. Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan is an NMSDC Corporate Plus® member and lists Accenture, DuPont, Harley-Davidson, Johnson Controls, Shell Oil, Target and Wells Fargo among its major customers. The firm and its employees are active in the communities where their offices are located. Members of the firm serve as advocates for diverse business interests by providing financial support and pro bono legal services to several non-profits and service organizations. Several attorneys at Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan are members of non-profit boards. Additionally, the firm is sponsoring the full tuition of a minority law student at the University of Wisconsin Law School and its Legal Education Opportunity (LEO) program. Mr. Gonzalez and equity partner Emery Harlan co-founded the National Association of Minority and Women-Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF) in 2001. www.gshllp.com

Homestead Packaging Solutions, Inc. is a Black-owned company that designs, manufactures and supplies corrugated boxes. Adam Walker is the president and chief executive officer of the seven-year-old company, and Sean Vanhorse is the executive vice president. The Roswell, Georgia-based firm has three facilities in the U.S., and international joint venture partnerships in Shenzhen and Shanghai, China, and New Delhi, India. In 2010, Homestead Packaging had $34.2 million in sales and projects sales of $40 million in 2011. Its major customers include AisinWorld Corporation, Chrysler Group LLC, The Home Depot, Tata Global Beverages and the U.S. Postal Service. Sixty-seven percent of its 107 employees are minorities. The company spent $3.75 million or 25% of its total procurement with other MBEs, exceeding its goal of 20% in Tier 1 spend. Homestead Packaging also encourages its majority suppliers to deliver additional Tier 2 spend with MBEs, an outgrowth of its effort to integrate minority business development within its procurement process. Mr. Walker is actively involved in the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council. In addition to serving on its board and executive board, he is the chairperson of the Georgia Minority Business Enterprise Input Committee. A graduate of NMSDC's Advanced Management Education Program, he also conducts public seminars on a variety of business topics. As former National Football League (NFL) players, Mr. Walker and Mr. Vanhorse support the league's retired players' organization through youth football camps and coaching clinics. Homestead Packaging also has a community outreach division called The Homestead Institute, which provides credit improvement seminars; title examiner training; resume and interview workshops; and home-buying tutorials for community members.  www.homesteadpackaging.com

SearchPros Staffing, LLC is an Asian-Pacific American-owned staffing company that provides a full range of staffing solutions to its corporate and municipal clients. Staff augmentation, managed service provider programs, temporary staffing, contract-to-hire, direct/source recruiting, payroll services, retained searches and outplacement services are available at the six-year-old Citrus Heights, California, enterprise. Myla Ramos is the chief executive officer of SearchPros, which recorded $15.7 million in sales in 2010 – a 550% increase over 2009 figures. That same year, the company spent $7.7 million or 64% of its $12 million procurement total with diverse suppliers. SearchPros counts the City of Sacramento, e.Republic, Guaranty Bank, Lockheed Martin, the Sacramento Business Journal and Sacramento Municipal Utility District among its major customers. Ms. Ramos actively supports the northern California MBE community. She is a contributing small business columnist for the Sacramento Business Journal; conducts seminars and training sessions at Lockheed Martin for MBE suppliers on potential sub-vendor opportunities; and volunteers at the Federal Technology Center, where she acts as a mentor and subject matter expert on the certification process for other MBEs. Additionally, she and SearchPros contribute time and financial support to a variety of local and international organizations and causes. The company raised more than $82,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association; created a typhoon relief fund for the Philippines; sponsored 12 families in the Sacramento area with provisions for a Christmas meal and gifts; participates annually in the Sacramento Food Bank's "turkey drive;" and conducts resume workshops with the Sacramento Area Human Resources Association. www.spstaffing.com

Superior Maintenance Company (SMC) is a Black-owned facilities maintenance firm that provides grounds maintenance, preventive maintenance and production support services to customers across the country. Kevin Shurn is the president of the 18-year-old firm, which is an NMSDC Corporate Plus® member. In 2010, SMC generated $16 million in sales, and spent nearly $395,000 with other minority businesses. The company has ISO 9000 certification (for quality standards) and ISO 14001 certification for environmental management systems. SMC has a 600-member employee base, half of which is minority. Brown-Forman Corporation, Humana, Inc., Mead Johnson Nutritionals, The Procter & Gamble Company and Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing, North America are among its major customers. Mr. Shurn is active in the Elizabethtown, Kentucky, business community. He serves on the University of Louisville Board of Overseers, and received a governor's appointment to serve on the state's Workforce Investment Board. He is also a board member of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank. Additionally, SMC supports the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, the DePaul School board, the Family Scholar House and the United Way.  www.smc.cc

CLASS II – ANNUAL SALES BETWEEN $1 MILLION AND $10 MILLION

Red Brown Kle Marketing Communications (RBK) is a Black-owned full-service advertising and marketing communications agency that provides branding, marketing and communications plans, market research and creative communications across multiple media platforms. Carl Brown is the president of the 11-year-old Milwaukee-based company that serves local, regional and national clients. In 2010, RBK posted sales of $1.7 million, a 54% increase over 2009. The company projects sales of $2.2 million in 2011. RBK lists Baxter Healthcare, Harley-Davidson, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) and Wisconsin Tourism among its major customers. The firm also supports other minority businesses. In 2010, 22.5% of its procurement spend or $180,000 was spent with other MBEs. In the community, RKB supports the African World Festival, the Asian Moon Festival, the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, the Milwaukee Urban League, the NAACP and the United Performing Arts Fund. The company also has a Random Acts of Kindness program that provides direct financial support to members of the local community.  www.redbrownkle.com

Republica, LLC is a Hispanic-owned marketing, advertising and public relations firm. Jorge Plasencia is the chairman and chief executive officer of the five-year-old company that recorded sales of $7.5 million in 2010. Based in Miami, Republica spent a total of $405,000 with other MBEs. Aetna, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Burger King, The Walt Disney Company, the Miami Dolphins, the Nielsen Company, PepsiCo and Univision Communications are among its major customers. Last year, the company won two national ADDY awards from the American Advertising Federation, and 10 local- and district-level ADDY awards. Republica has supported the community by providing more the $2 million in pro bono branding, advertising and public relations services to 10 organizations, including Amigos for Kids, Miami-Dade County, Miami Children's Hospital Foundation, Miami Dade College Foundation, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Teatro Avante (Miami International Theatre Festival) and the U.S. Department of State. www.republica.net

Translation Plus, Inc. is a Hispanic-owned communications company that provides integrated language solutions for the private and government sectors. Elisabete Miranda is the president and chief executive officer of the Hackensack, New Jersey-based firm. The company draws from its portfolio of more than 150 languages to manage projects that include document translation, e-learning localization, and multilingual global webcasts. In 2010, the 10-employee firm had nearly $2.5 million in sales – up 19% from 2009 – and $449,000 in purchases from other MBEs. The company's major customers include the Cancer Institute of New Jersey; Merck; the State of New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services; New York Department of Education Fund for Public Schools; the United Nations; Universal Healthcare and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. A participant in NMSDC's Centers of Excellence program, Translation Plus annually sponsors 31 minority children in the U.S. and abroad through its Family of Children program. Locally, the company participates in the Medical Interpreter Program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and New Jersey Health Initiatives, and regularly offers paid internships to minority students interested in learning the language services business. www.translationplus.com

Way To Be Designs, LLC. is a Black-owned promotional products company that specializes in logo-identified merchandise, apparel and uniforms. Wayne Beasley and Alan McIntosh are general partners in the 18-year-old Hayward, California, business. The firm had more than $8.3 million in sales in 2010 and projects $9.2 million in sales in 2011. In 2010, Way To Be tallied $2 million in purchases from other MBEs. AKRAYA, Autodesk, Burrell Communications, California Teachers Association, Embassy Suites Hotels, McDonald's (local franchisee and corporate headquarters) and Virgin America are among its major customers. A core value of Way To Be is to be "good for nothing." In support of that value, the company offers each employee one paid day each year to volunteer at the charity of their choice; provides charitable donation matching up to $100 per employee per year; and makes charitable donations on behalf of clients in lieu of traditional corporate gifts at the holidays. Mr. Beasley, who actively volunteers at his church, and Mr. McIntosh, the chairman of the board of the St. Rose Hospital Foundation, each donate 10% of their personal earnings to charity. The company also makes annual in-kind and financial donations to Barco's Nightingales Foundation, Carbonfund.org, Joslin Diabetes Center, Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, Ritter Center and Ronald McDonald House Charities.  www.waytobe.com

CLASS I – ANNUAL SALES LESS THAN $1 MILLION

BridgeWork Partners is a Hispanic American-owned recruiting and human resources consulting service. The company was established by Wanda Granier in 2008 and had annual sales of nearly $998,500 in 2010 – a 1,102% increase over its 2009 sales of $83,000. Based in Lewisville, Texas, the firm has six satellite offices throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. BridgeWork Partners lists Associa, Broadview Security, CoreLogic and Fidelity Investments as its major customers. Through its "Give Back" program, BridgeWork Partners averaged 139 hours in volunteer service in 2010. Members of the company supported the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life; volunteered at Community Partners of Dallas; donated money for books to Dobie Primary school; raised more than $10,000 in a silent auction/fundraising golf tournament to fight Leukemia; and are active in the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. www.bridgeworkpartners.com

Circle One, Inc. is a Black-owned firm that offers a broad range of print and promotional solutions, including creative concepts, graphic design, print production, kit packing, direct mail pieces, retail inserts and displays. Deanna Hamilton is the founder, president and chief executive officer of the five-year-old Atlanta company. Circle One had $620,000 in sales in 2010, and projects sales of $750,000 this year. In 2010, the firm spent nearly $250,000 or 62% of its direct spend with other minority business enterprises (MBEs). The company has a supplier diversity initiative with a quarterly requirement to identify and activate two MBEs as strategic partners or contractors on Circle One projects. AT&T, Nike, Why Not Sports and Year Up Atlanta are among the company's major customers. In the community, Ms. Hamilton supports the American Cancer Society; the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy; the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council; the National Black MBA Association and its Leaders of Tomorrow Mentoring Program; and the W.E.B. DuBois Society. www.circleoneonline.com

Multicultural Entrepreneurial Institute, Inc. (MEI) is a Hispanic American-owned company that provides management consulting services, including management development, multicultural marketing services, entrepreneurial and diversity training and bookkeeping services. Nelson Soler is the president and chief solutions officer of the five-year-old Milwaukee, Wisconsin, firm. MEI had $575,000 in sales in 2010, and projects sales of $675,000 this year. The company spent $87,500 with MBEs in 2010. The City of Racine, Milwaukee County and STIR/Wisconsin State Fair are among the firm's major customers. MEI's comprehensive marketing and bilingual campaign for the Wisconsin State Fair led to a 5% increase in event attendance among ethnically diverse individuals in 2010. In the community, Mr. Soler supports the Latino Entrepreneurial Network of South Eastern Wisconsin; provides facilities use and training in financial literacy and entrepreneurship for at-risk Asian, Black and Hispanic youth; volunteers as a keynote speaker for a variety of events and organizations; and serves on the board of the Hmong Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce and Business Council of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Association of Commerce. www.multiculturalinstitute.com

TKT & Associates, Inc. is a Black-owned business development and consulting company that specializes in diversity management, inclusive of supplier and workforce, specialized staffing services and small business growth programs. Tierra Kavanaugh Turner is the chief executive officer of the Louisville, Kentucky-based firm. In 2010, TKT & Associates had more than $810,000 in sales and spent nearly $38,000 with other MBEs. The company's major customers include Abel Construction, Fayette County Public Schools, ISCO, the Ohio River Bridges Project and the University of Kentucky. TKT & Associates has also partnered with public agencies to provide consulting to minority-owned, disadvantaged and women-owned businesses seeking public contracts. The company's community involvement includes working with other MBEs to help improve the environment for minority-owned business in the Louisville community. To that end, staff at the firm volunteer to speak about diversity and inclusion at public meetings, workshops and seminars held by business associations, chambers of commerce, and other groups. For the past four years, TKT & Associates has provided discounts for certified MBEs to participate in the FastTrac® small business development program. www.tktandassociates.com

About NMSDC
Providing a direct link between corporate America and minority-owned businesses is the primary objective of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, one of the country's leading business membership organizations.  It was chartered in 1972 to provide increased procurement and business opportunities for minority businesses of all sizes.

The NMSDC Network includes a national office in New York and 37 Regional Councils across the country.  There are 3,500 corporate members throughout the network, including America's top publicly-owned, privately-owned and foreign-owned companies as well as universities, hospitals and other buying institutions. The Regional Councils certify and match 16,000 minority-owned businesses with member corporations that want to purchase their goods and services.

For more information about NMSDC, call (212) 944-2430 or visit the Web site at www.nmsdc.org.

SOURCE The National Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc.