CERTIFY . DEVELOP . CONNECT . ADVOCATE
|
|
|
|
|
Emerging from Quarantine with Momentum
As our own companies have experienced or that we have seen in the news, the situation around Covid-19 has created significant economic challenges for us business leaders. As MBEs, we should not let these challenging times hold us back. Now is a great time to explore and find new opportunities for our company’s and fully use our certification as an MBE and our membership with SMSDC.
The SMSDC is here to help connect your MBE with other MBEs. This is an opportunity to share what your company does with other MBEs and seek those potential partnerships that could lead to future business opportunities. It is also a perfect time to build relationships with other MBEs and ask questions. Sharing points we have done during these times to sustain our business or ideas on how to move forward from this time to grow our business will strengthen us all.
Take advantage of this time to also get additional information and reach out to those Companies and Tier 1’s with who you have been wanting to do business. Explore their websites to get to know these companies and Tier 1’s, understand their mission and vision statements and determine how you can bring value to their business. Check into whether these organizations have registered vendor list and get your business on these lists. As you go through this process find out who within these organizations are the right people for you to contact and start reaching out.
Don’t forget about your current clients. Make sure you stay in front of them whether it is through current company updates, one-on-one zoom meetings, messages on ways you can help them during their Covid business situation, etc. We all want our clients to know that we are still here and ready to continue to bring value to their organizations as they continue to operate or get ready to start back up.
There is no doubt these are challenging times but as MBEs we can use this time to look forward, determine what is best for our companies, and emerge from this with momentum. We should take advantage of this time and our resources, like the SMSDC and NMSDC, to create the opportunities that will get us back on track in this world of new normal to grow our business.
The SMSDC and NMSDC team is still working hard and are here to assist you with your questions. Be sure to visit the SMSDC and NMSDC websites to see the resources that are available to you and make sure you are signed up for the Opportunity Awareness Program (OAP) emails.
Stay safe & healthy!
Your SMSDC MBEIC Chair,
Deborah Treviño
President, Treco Services
|
|
|
Coronavirus: Best Practices for Working From Home
So many office workers are experiencing for the first time the world of working at-home, as large and small businesses try to manage the threat of
COVID-19
by asking their employees to
work remotely.
Here are some tips for making your home……work for you.
1. Set your schedule and stick to it
One of the best things about working from home is that you are HOME and you can enjoy the comfort of your home all day.
This can also be one of the bad things about working from home.
- Start and end your day at the same time each day – the way you would if you were at the office. Doing this will help separate professional time/personal time.
- During the day, give yourself some physical distance from your workspace by taking a lunch break – even if that means sitting at the kitchen table for 30 minutes. It can make you feel more refreshed when you return to your desk.
2. Establishing your workspace
A dedicated workspace preferably where you can close the door is a way to keep work and life separate.
- At the end of the day, close the door, walk away, and try not to return to your workspace until the following morning.
3. Appearance
When you work from home, appearing professional can be just as important as when you work in a traditional office.
- Give yourself time in the morning to be ready for that ZOOM meeting!
4. Build
Working from home may require that you build boundaries, you may have to create a process to do this. Sometimes it can be a struggle not to answer that email at 8:00pm while watching CNN.
- When an emergency occurs make an exception but try to limit your work to business hours only.
Implementing these tips can be important when you work from home and can also aid you in staying productive during this time.
|
|
COVID-19: What Should Employers Consider As They Draft A Return To Work Policy?
With the White House unveiling its
guidelines for opening up America again
,
responsibility has been placed on states and local officials to assess their preparedness to stay ahead of the spread of COVID-19, and when ready, reopen their economies. In anticipation of resuming operations in the new normal, the White House has also charged employers to “develop and implement appropriate policies” to keep workers and patrons safe from contagion. In doing so, employers should weigh their legal obligations with emerging guidance from health authorities when building their COVID-19 return to work policy.
The Legal Standards
- OSHA
The
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
(OSHA) was passed to help ensure safe and healthful working conditions for American workers. For workers whose jobs place them in direct and continuous contact with the novel coronavirus, OSHA has established
standards
concerning the use of personal proactive equipment, like gloves, masks, and face shields. For all employers, the Act’s “
General Duty Clause
” requires that employers provide “employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause the death or serious physical harm to [its] employees.”
Seeing as the transmission of the coronavirus generally occurs via respiratory means from close personal contact with others, employers in the U.S. have a duty to devise and implement a plan that keeps their workers safe from the disease. However, in doing so, employers must act in a way that is well-reasoned in its approach and not discriminatory in its application.
EEOC & ADA
The
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) is responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination laws affecting the workplace, including the
Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA). The ADA prohibits employers, in part, from discriminating against workers with specific health ailments that substantially limit activities that are considered fundamental to life such as speech, sight, mobility, and the ability to work and care for oneself.
Alonzo Martinez, Sr. Contributor
Forbes.com
|
|
 |
NEW CERTIFIED MBEs
APRIL 2020
ANM Consulting, LLC - Driftwood, TX
ECO Bright Solutions, LLC - Mission, TX
Inclusive Logistics, LLC - El Paso, TX
JDK Transport Corp - Laredo, TX
Optimus Communications, LLC - Bee Cave, TX
Ramon Franklin, LLC - Oklahoma City, OK
Speridian Technologies - Albuquerque, NM
Star Mountain Medical Technologies, Inc - El Paso, TX
MARCH 2020
AFS Forwarding, LLC - Laredo, TX
DigitalGenetix, LLC - San Antonio, TX
Kitchen 54 Foods - Austin, TX
Reboot Theory - Edmond, OK
Simpat Solutions, LLC - Austin, TX
Virescent, Inc - Albuquerque, NM
FEBRUARY 2020
INof8 Legal, LLC - Oklahoma City, OK
InfoCorvus, LLC - Austin, TX
Iron Oak Holdings, LLC - San Antonio, TX
My Business Matches, Inc - San Antonio, TX
RD2 Austin LLC dba CSW Residential - Austin, TX
RightWorks Staffing, Inc - Austin, TX
|
|
|
|
RE-CERTIFIED MBEs
APRIL 2020
3G Construction Inc
A Medrano Produce LLC
Abacus Computers Inc.
Amaida Machine Shop, LLC
B&E Medical Supply and Equipment Inc
Bankson Group, Ltd.
Bill's Welding Equipment Repair, Inc
Chema's Trucking LLC
Chickasaw Energy Solutions, LLC
Code Red Underground, LLC.
Complete Book & Media Supply LLC
COPILASER US CORPORATION
Crimson Steel Supply, LLC
Durand-Hollis Rupe, Inc.
EELCO Supply Chain Solutions
Elevation Energy Group, LLC
Enrique Mata Sr. Drywall, LLC
EP South West Logistics, INC
F.C. Felhaber and Company, Inc.
Frontera Concepts, LLC
Galvotec Alloys, Inc.
Gomez Floor Covering, Inc
Great Southwest Tool Company
GROUP OF GLOBAL SUPPLIERS, LLC
HealthCarePoint.com Corporation
Jefferson Cano Allison Barkley, PLLC
Laredo Technical Services, Inc.
McDaniel Technical Services, Inc.
MULTI-TRANS INC
National Educational Systems, Inc.
Natural Evolutions Inc
North Park Lincoln Mercury
Nova Landscape Group, Inc.
Ostos LLC
Oveana, LLC
Parkerco, Inc.
Pencil Cup Office Products Inc.
PSE Contracting, LLC
R W Gonzalez Office Products, Inc.
Ramiro Ramirez Construction Inc
RF-IP, Inc.
RLN Holdings International, LLC
Rose's Southwest Papers, Inc.
RSI, Inc
Sandra Mercuri
SARF Locksmith, LLC
Steck Systems, Inc
TUM Logistics Carrier Division Inc
Turbine Master, Inc.
Unilink Transportation
Veratech Systems LLC
Viking Fence Co Ltd
Walters Construction Company LLC
|
|
|
|
|
Requirement for All New MBEs:
You must participate in the training prior to the Certification Committee reviews your application.
All new MBE's must attend a Pre-Certification & Post-Certification training. The training will be held by conference call several times a month for each session. Please make sure to attend one pre-certification & one post-certification training in order to complete the certification process. Appointment is not necessary.
The following are dates available for May:
Wednesday, May 6th
Wednesday, May 13th
Wednesday, May 20th
Wednesday, May 27th
Each training is from 10am - 11am CST
Conference call number: 641-715-0700
Access Code: 372354#
En Español:
La llamada requerida para poder obtener la Certificacion de Minoria esta disponible cada Miercoles del mes de 11am - 12pm CST. Esta conferencia es requerida para todas las certificationes nuevas.
Porfavor marcar al 641-715-0700, codigo: 372354#
|
|
|
|
Certification Information & FAQs Related To Coronavirus
(COVID-19)
During the current health crisis, there may be concerns as to how the Certification and Recertification process will be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to keep MBEs well-informed, here are some answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
Is SMSDC still certifying MBEs?
Yes, we are! The certification application is available on our website
www.smsdc.org
. Questions regarding new applications can be directed to Alana Ortega at
alana@smsdc.org
or for recertification Gabrielle Ramirez at
gabrielle@smsdc.org
.
Do I have to have a site visit due to COVID-19?
The information obtained from the visit allows SMSDC the opportunity to gain a better understanding of your business operations. At this time, the site interview will be conducted virtually, and you will be contacted by an SMSDC certification staffer when it is time for the interview.
How will my site visit be conducted?
A site visit or interview is an integral part of the MBE certification process and at this time, the visit will be conducted virtually, and you will be contacted by an SMSDC certification staffer when it is time for an interview.
How will the virtual interview be conducted?
The best person to answer that question will be a certification staffer. Contact Alana Ortega at
alana@smsdc.org
.
Are there any changes to the recertification process? Are there any document requirement exceptions during the COVID-19 Pandemic?
While the overall process for recertification remains the same according to the NMSDC policy, there are some exceptions that will relax current document requirements during the pandemic. Only three documents are required for recertification:
Application, Affidavit and Tax Returns.
- If unable to get the affidavit notarized, MBEs must still sign and submit their documents. Please notify SMSDC Certification staffer in regards to this.
- If the 2019 federal tax returns are not available, the 2018 federal tax return and the signed 2019 year-end cash flow, balance sheet and profit and loss statements should be submitted.
- A CPA letter (signed by the CPA and MBE Owner) may be submitted as an option to the financial documentation.
|
|
|
|
Please note effective immediately, we are extending all MBE recertification dates and waiving late fees if your company expired or will expire in March, April or May of 2020.
|
|
|
PLEASE DO NOT Let your
SMSDC Certification Expire!
Check the expiration date on your SMSDC certification. As a courtesy reminder when your certification is about to expire, you will receive an e-mail notification from the AdaptOne portal which looks similar to the image above. DO NOT ignore this e-mail. It may to your spam or junk mail.
Once your SMSDC certification expires, ALL MBEs have to complete the entire certification process from the beginning. For those MBEs in the STATE OF TEXAS, in addition to completing the entire certification process all over again, the HUB certification, which enables you to bid on contracts, is no longer valid.
The HUB certification process is only done once a month. This means for those MBEs in the State of Texas, they will now have to wait an entire month for their HUB certification.
Please contact Gabrielle Ramirez at
gabrielle@smsdc.org
for assistance on your SMSDC ReCertification.
|
IMPORTANT INFORMATION for all MBEs:
If this is a
New Application
, and you are having trouble uploading your documents, please contact Alana Ortega at 512.297.6478 during regular business hours or send an e-mail to
alana@smsdc.org.
If this is a
ReCertification
, and you are having trouble uploading your documents, please contact Gabrielle Ramirez at 512.386.8766 during regular business hours or send an e-mail to
gabrielle@smsdc.org
.
|
|
|
|
To obtain a copy of your MBE logo, please follow the steps below:
- Login with email/password associated with your SMSDC Certification
- You will see options such as applying for recertification or viewing/printing current certificate
- To obtain logo select “NMSDC Logo Pack” from the bottom right-hand corner and press the download button
The MBE logo is available for use on your company’s marketing print and electronic material. The MBE logo will only be available for your use as long as your company has a current & active MBE certification.
|
|
|
|
In alignment of SMSDC’s four pillars,
Certify. Develop. Connect. Advocate
., education continues to be fundamental. Launched in 2012, SMSDC continues to offer the PLUS+ Platform classes: Benchmarking Plus & Capacity Plus. These signature programs are a mix of in person & online courses presented by supplier diversity expert Reginald K. Layton, Vice President, Supplier Diversity & Supply Chain Sustainability for Johnson Controls’ Inc and Ralph G. Moore, CPA, president of Ralph G. Moore & Associates (RGMA). Moore is recognized as one of the world’s foremost thought-leaders in the area of supplier diversity and minority business development.
|
|
|
For
CORPORATE MEMBERS ONLY
is a process to accelerate supplier diversity initiatives based on real world experimentation. Benchmarking Plus delivers the tools and management perspective to help your corporation strengthen your supplier diversity processes.
|
|
For
CERTIFIED MBEs
is a process to enhance sales and marketing processes and build their capacity to work with Fortune 500 corporations.
|
|
|
Benchmarking Plus
&
Capacity Plus
are led by Johnson Controls Inc, a world leader in supplier diversity, with more than 600 diverse suppliers and $1.8 billion in diverse spend.
- Corporate Members: The annual cost for Benchmarking Plus is $999. The registration fee includes access to all webinars, featured courses, online & onsite classes. If you are interested in signing up, please register for the BENCHMARKING PLUS PLATFORM here.
- Certified MBEs: The annual cost for Capacity Plus is $499. The registration fee includes access to all webinars, featured courses, online & onsite classes. If you are interested in signing up, please register for the CAPACITY PLUS PLATFORM here.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Mayra Pena at
mayra@smsdc.org
or call 915.433.0612.
|
|
All Regional Task Force (RTF) activities for the months of May and June have been cancelled. Virtual RTF events coming soon.
The 2020 Premier Face Time Expo & Golf Tournament has been postponed.
Please stay tuned for new date coming soon!
|
|
|
|
Save the Date!
*(click on each event name to register)
|
DATE TBD
Marriott Rivercenter,
101 Bowie St., San Antonio, 78205
DATE TBD
17865 Babcock Rd., San Antonio, TX 78255
DATE TBD
ONE Gas, Inc, First Place Tower, 15 East 5
th
St., Tulsa, OK 74103
DATE TBD
DIVERSITY AT THE BORDER BUYERS BREAKFAST ROUNDTABLE
TBD, El Paso, TX
|
|
COMMUNITY PARTNER/
CORPORATE MEMBER
EVENTS
*Dear Community Partners,
If you would like to submit an event to post on our monthly newsletter, please submit all of the event details to Mayra Pena via email at
mayra@smsdc.org
. Events will be reviewed to make sure the information & content will be beneficial to our Certified MBEs and/or corporate members before posting on our newsletter and/or website.
|
|
|
|
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Have a recent achievement or new development in your organization? We'd love to share your story too! Click the "SHARE YOUR STORY"link below to leave your name and contact information and we'll reach out to you.
|
|
|
|
SMSDC affiliate council of
NMSDC
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
