April, 2017 - In This Issue:
Board Chairman Message
Jesús Borboa, Board Chairman, Arizona Public Service
As we close the first quarter of the year, the hope of the Board is that your company is on pace for a successful and prosperous year. You will be seeing significant changes in the weeks and months ahead, on both the Council and the NMSDC levels. Locally, we say goodbye to Scott Gregory our former President and CEO and wish him well in his future endeavors. 

We recently hosted a small gathering with our National President, Joset Wright-Lacey, where she outlined some major changes for our national organization that are designed to re-boot the structure to meet the current needs of our MBE community. These changes will have a cutting edge focus on preparing MBEs to position themselves for growth and opportunities. We will be unveiling these new initiatives as they roll-out in the coming months.

At the end of April, the MBEIC and the Board will be hosting a meeting of our MBEs, community partners and corporate members in San Diego with the following objectives:
  • Communicate that the Council is heading in a new direction;
  • Reaffirm old relationships and forge new relationships with potential new MBEs and corporate partners;
  • Most of all, we want to hear from our San Diego community what their expectations are for the Council moving forward. 

We are planning a similar meeting for our Arizona MBEs in May. We have started the search process for a new Executive that will be guided by Patrick Ramirez, MBEIC Chair; however, the Board would be remiss if we did not acknowledge and thank Letty Alvarez, Corporate Services Manager in San Diego, for stepping in as our Interim President. Also, kudos to our wonderful staff: Wendy Taylor, Nichole Jackson and Amanda Howard for their hard work and professionalism. 


 

Change is not easy; in fact, change is one of the most difficult things that we are asked to do in our personal and professional lives. I am asking for your continued support during this time, and I will assure you that the Council will invest hard work and effort in order to ensure that our future success is guaranteed. 
 
All the Best,
Jesús Borboa 
Board Chair


Interim President's Message
Letty Alvarez

It is a privilege for me to step in as Interim President. My mission is to have an open line of communication with our MBEs and corporations while continuing to grow PSWMSDC both in Arizona and San Diego County. Pulling together as one while realizing the differences in markets is imperative to our success.

Through meetings with our MBEs, we have been listening to and understand most of your concerns and challenges. One of our primary goals is to identify more corporations regionally and nationally so our MBEs may have more procurement opportunities. 

Let's all work towards that goal; please help spread the word to minority business owners so that we may have a larger base for our corporations to choose from when sending us procurement requests.  The more MBEs we have, the more corporations will be interested in supporting our council, and that will provide more opportunities for our MBEs. 

I am excited to announce that we now have an office in San Diego! Najib Paghmani at Torrey Pines Town Cars, a newly certified MBE, graciously donated the space to the Council. We are located next to them at 5780 Chesapeake Court Suite #23, San Diego 92123. Please keep Torrey Pines Town Car in mind if you need any ground transportation. To contact Torrey Pines Town Cars call  (619) 715-6767, email najib@torreypinestowncar.com  or visit the website to book your next car   www.torreypinestowncar.com.

Feel free to contact me about any programs, events, corporations, and minority businesses that you feel may help us move this council forward.  Or make an appointment to come by and visit us in our new San Diego office and thank Mr. Paghmani personally!
 
Much success!

Letty Alvarez
Interim President
Pacific Southwest Council Awards Gala Recognizes MBE Suppliers & Corporate Supplier Diversity Champions

The Pacific Southwest Council Awards Gala is May 5 at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort. The annual event recognizes the successes of Council Certified Minority Business Enterprises and the Corporations that support a diverse supplier base.

MBEs, nominated for Supplier of the Year awards by corporate members, are chosen by a selection committee and receive their awards at the prestigious Awards Gala. The winners move forward for regional selection and possibly to the National Awards at the National Minority Supplier Development Council's ceremony.

The Corporate Supplier Diversity Champion Award honors organizations whose direct contributions have made a positive impact on the minority business community. Nominated by MBEs, the Corporate Supplier Diversity Champion actively demonstrates their support by providing generous diversity spend, actively outreaches to the minority business community, provides development and training for MBEs, and provides business opportunities to MBEs.

Pacific SW Minority Council is excited to welcome back JR Cardenas as the emcee.

What: Pacific Southwest Council Awards Gala
When: May 5th at 6 p.m.
Where: Scottsdale Plaza Resort, 7200 N. Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ


Silent Auction Donations Still Needed!
  • Event tickets (concerts, theater performances, museum exhibits)
  • Sporting events tickets (Arizona Diamondbacks, Phoenix Suns, Arizona Cardinals, U of A, ASU)
  • Spa packages
  • Hotel packages
  • Vacation packages
Make Your Donation Now! Contact Amanda Howard:   ahoward@pswmsdc.org
 
Visit our website to preview current Silent Auction items!
Corporate Supplier Diversity Champions
Nominated by Certified MBEs

Arizona Public Service
City of Phoenix Aviation
Corning
Enterprise Holdings
Hunt Austin JV
Raytheon
Ryan Companies
Sundt
Turner Construction
ViaSat
Awards Gala Sponsors 
Ask Us How You Can Be A Sponsor!














To sponsor the Awards Gala, contact Wendy Taylor at wtaylor@pswmsdc.org

Visit us at our new office!

5780 Chesapeake Court 
Suite #23 
San Diego 92123

Our new office space is generously donated by  Najib Paghmani at Torrey Pines Town Cars, a newly certified MBE. 

(619) 715-6767
Scholarship Opportunities for Minority Business Enterprises
Wells Fargo, Tuck University, and Bank of America Announce Scholarship Funds for Diverse Businesses

Small & Diverse Business Education Fund Scholarship
Communities Foundation of Texas is pleased to announce the Spring 2017 cycle of the 
Small & Diverse Business Education Fund Scholarship sponsored by Bank of America. Fifty scholarships of up to $10,000 each will be awarded this cycle to business owners of qualified  certified small and diverse businesses for targeted training and development to enhance their business.

**Application deadline is May 5, 2017, Midnight (CST)

For more information on the Small & Diverse Business Education Fund Scholarship, please contact Katie Kuehl at Communities Foundation of Texas at  kkuehl@cftexas.org


Wells Fargo & Tuck University Scholarship
The Wells Fargo Scholarship seeks to award 24 diverse participants to attend Tuck School of Business Minority Business Programs. The Tuck Minority Business Programs include:
  • Building a High Performing Minority Business;
  • Growing the Minority Business to Scale; and
  • Digital Excellence for Minority Enterprises
Demographic Composition of Scholarship Recipients
There is a great deal of diversity within the diverse business community. This scholarship program intends to include participants from all categories of diverse businesses including:
  • racial and ethnic minority owned enterprises;
  • women owned enterprises
  • disabled owned enterprises
  • veteran owned enterprises
  • LGBTQ owned enterprises
*Applications open enrollment until all 24 scholarships have been awarded. 

Diverse business owners interested in applying for a Wells Fargo Scholarship should contact Jade Melvin at 6103-646-8214 or jade.a.melvin@tuck.dartmouth.edu.

How D.P. Electric Grew From a Garage Utility Room to a Multi-Million Dollar Company

Founded in 1990 by Dan Puente, D.P. Electric has grown into a multi-million dollar, full-service electrical contracting firm. Built on the principal "Dependable People, Dependable Performance," the company has established a solid reputation as a trusted partner to the top general contractors and developers in the valley.

D.P. became a Certified Minority Contractor with the City of Phoenix in 1993.  Our first awarded project under the Minority Contractor certification was with the FAA at Phoenix Sky Harbor's TRACON site. At the time, this site controlled all air traffic for the Southwest region. Our mission was to place the facility on temporary power with adequate backup power, remove all existing gear and panels, install all new gear and feeders, commission the site and turn it back over to the FAA all in under 180 days.

With the success of this project under our belt, we were awarded sizable contracts in Fort Huachuca, AZ, the new Sky Harbor Rental Car Center and the first phase of the Phoenix Civic Center. We were the chosen MBE contractor, filling the MBE goals of the project. Upon completion of these projects, D.P. graduated from the City of Phoenix's Minority Program.
About Blind Cleaning Hits One Out of the Park

  About Blind Cleaning, Inc., a certified MBE for three years, has gained work at Chase Field, for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Owners James and Mary Thomas attended a Major League Baseball event for the PSWMSDC in early 2016. They met 2 Senior Directors and a Senior Coordinator of Supplier Diversity at the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball in New York City. James told them about the company and what type of work About Blind Cleaning can do at the Phoenix Stadium. The Diamondbacks' Director of Financial Management expressed interest and asked James to give him a call.

Within a few weeks, the Director gave James the name of the contact person at Chase Field, and before summertime, James was asked to come to the Field and write a proposal to deep green clean and restore chairs and sofas in the lounges.
Read More

MBE Supplier of the Year Award Winners Share Their Experiences in Special Q & A
You know the trends if you're on social media. #ThrowbackThursday (or #TBT) and #FlashbackFriday are a fun way to share memories and go retro. 

To celebrate the Pacific Southwest MSDC's Awards Gala on May 5, we're featuring past MBE Supplier of the Year winners on our website. Check them out! 


Welcome Newly Certified MBEs!
Pacific Southwest MSDC is proud to introduce the following Minority Business Enterprises recently certified with the Council. 

Company
Industry
State
Distributor of industrial products including abrasives, adhesives, safety products, cutting tools, etc. 
Arizona
Organic Peppermint Shampoo. Shampoo for all hair types of hair. 
Arizona
Currently representatives for saw blade and handtool manufacturing, power driven handtool manufacturing, industrial machinery and equipment merchant wholesalers, industrial supplies merchant wholesalers and all other miscellaneous general purpose machinery manufacturing.
California
Kurin is a proprietary device developmed to help hospitals decrease false positive blood cultures (FPBCs).
California
Megacon, Inc.
Megacon, Inc. is a licensed general and concrete contractor currently specializing in residential concrete and framing.
California
Meliorix Inc. is a health informatics consulting company with expertise in the design and application of intelligent systems to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare. 
California
Supply replacement brooms and brushes for the industrial/janitorial services. We have competitive pricing and we are local so we can deliver on a timely basis. Our primary customer base City Phoenix street sweepers equipment.
Arizona
planB Development is a top provider of native mobile software development
California
Elevator maintenance and repair.
Arizona
We are an emergency service inventory, packing, and storage company that specializes in flood and fire property claims.
California
IT Consulting Services, project management, customer software development, software testing, software integration, IT recruiting
California
We are a corporate transportation car service. We specialize in professional transportation to Southern California Airports, Seaports, weddings, events, etc.
California
Vertice Distributing, LLC.
Distribution of components used in wire harnesses such as wire terminals, connectors, tape, zip ties, TPAs
A rizona
Webbege is a web design, development, and online marketing firm in San Diego.
California

Have You Opted In?
NMSDC Central Introduces MBE2MBE Search Tool 

The MBE2MBE Search Tool and MBE2MBE Collaboration Survey provides relationship-building opportunities for NMSDC certified MBEs.

Certified MBEs* opting-in to the search tool will have the opportunity to market their business to other MBEs and search** for other MBEs they would like to do business with. 

To Opt-In or Opt-Out:
  • Log in to your NMSDC Central profile using the password provided by Nichole Jackson. 
  • Once logged in, you will be provided with the ability to opt-in or out of using this module. 
  • If you decide to opt-in, you will be required to sign off on the Terms of Use Agreement (printable) that is provided. 
  • Based on your decision, you will be sent a system generated email that confirms the option you have chosen. 
Carefully review the information provided regarding access and utilization of this new module by following this link:   Download

If you have any questions or need help accessing the tool, contact MBE Services Manager Nichole Jackson at njackson@pswmsdc.org or 480-397-1756

*Only currently certified MBEs have access to the module. 

**MBEs who opt-out of the module will not have access to search for MBEs and will not be visible in search results. 
Your referral is the highest compliment! Please invite minority businesses you know to our workshops and events! 

CERTIFICATION
Pre-certification Workshop 
San Diego Lunch & Learn
*Mandatory for all new MBEs*
Contact Nichole Jackson, MBE Services Manager to RSVP
 
RECERTIFICATION 
Please contact Nichole Jackson, MBE Services Manager for a  Username & Password  for our online application. 
 
With all questions and concerns regarding Certification and Recertification: 
(480) 397-1756 

About the Council
The Pacific Southwest Council   is the regional affiliate of the  National Minority Supplier Development Council . We are the only  national certifying entity of ethnic minority business enterprises serving Arizona and San Diego County. Our certified Minority Business Enterprises are part of a vast network of more than 1,700  Corporate Members and 12,000 MBEs nationwide. The Council is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization.