HAMDEN, CT - The Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council has announced five major high profile events this winter and early spring. The GNEMSDC which covers all six New England states announced a major effort to recruit corporations and minority owned businesses in Rhode Island, the third largest market in New England for minority businesses following Massachusetts and Connecticut. This effort begins with an open house at the Providence Marriott on Wednesday, February 9 from 6 PM to 8 PM.
On Monday, February 14, the GNEMSDC will hold its First Quarterly Meeting of 2011 at the world famous, Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. The meeting starts at 2 PM and will be followed by a reception at 5:00 PM. The Quarterly Meetings provide an opportunity for MBEs to showcase their companies and for corporate members of the GNEMSDC to provide minority business contracting opportunity information. This meeting is being hosted by Western Massachusetts Electric Company a division of Northeast Utilities. This event is free and open to the business public, but registration is required.
On Tuesday, February 15, Dr. Fred McKinney, President and CEO of the GNEMSDC will be speaking at the Institute for Supply Management of New York at 10:00 AM. The topic of the speech is Mentoring and Minority Supplier Development. This meeting will take place at Dave and Buster’s Time Square,
On Thursday, March 3, the GNEMSDC is holding a one day conference entitled, “Capital and Minority Business Capacity Building” at the Boston Federal Reserve Bank. This conference will look at successful models of providing capital to minority businesses so that they can gain scale and capacity. Participating in the event are the Treasurers from three states, Denise Nappier from CT, Chip Flowers from Rhode Island and Steve Grossman from Massachusetts. Nationally renowned MBE capacity building expert, Ralph Moore will be the keynote speaker. Leaders from private equity, venture capital firms, commercial banks and some of the largest MBEs in America will be present and on select panels. The event starts at 9:00 AM and concludes at 4:30 PM. Registration is required.
On Thursday, April 28, the GNEMSDC will hold its Annual Awards Gala at the Aqua Turf in Southington, CT from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Our Keynote Speaker for this event is Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. Rev. Jackson is an internationally recognized leader in the area of civil rights, human rights and equal opportunity. Awards will be presented to the Corporation of the Year, the Buyers of the Year, the Advocate of the Year and the Suppliers of the Year. We expect to have over 1,000 business leaders in attendance for the event. Registration is required and sponsorship opportunities are available.
The GNEMSDC is a regional affiliate of the National Minority Supplier Development Council. The GNEMSDC’s mission is to significantly increase procurement opportunities for certified minority business enterprises with our corporate membership. The GNEMSDC has 200 corporate members and over 400 certified MBEs and covers CT, MA, RI, NH, VT, and ME and maintains offices in Boston, MA and Hamden, CT.