From the Director | Meet Our National MBDA Director & Center Advisory Board Members |
|
February is Black History Month. All month there will be recognition of African Americans in the United States. Often overlooked will be the contributions African American's have made to the industrialization of our nation. Specifically not recognized in manufacturing are people like Mark Dean, the primary patent holder for the personal computer to Marian Croak, credited as the developer of Voice over IP. Today we have new innovators making modern day history like Ellington West with Sonavi Labs following in the footsteps of her father, Jim West. |
|
|
Another highlight of the month is our "Minority Made" Minority Business Enterprise Symposium. With codification of the National MBDA brings a number of opportunities for Minority Business Enterprises and MBDA Centers around the country. On February 24 we will host our third annual symposium, featuring Miquel Estien the MBDA Acting National Director. We invite you to attend. See more on the symposium in this issue.
Finally, join us in welcoming the members of the new Advisory Board for the Mid-Atlantic Region Minority Business Development Agency Advanced Manufacturing Center – Baltimore. The Board convened in January in its first meeting to discuss its purpose and its plan, which includes advocacy on behalf the minority manufacturing community, advisory and mentoring support to the community, and grant accountability.
We are off to a great start for this 2022 calendar year. I hope you are prepared to join us as we continue to grow the ecosystem.
|
|
N. Scott Phillips
Director
Mid-Atlantic Region MBDA
Advanced Manufacturing Center -Baltimore
|
|
|
|
MiHUB is committed to supporting the shared growth and development of individual minority manufactures and their communities. Our facility is located in Baltimore at 1100 Wicomico Street. We are co-located with our strategic partner Harbor Design. We provide 3D printing and product prototyping services. The self-sustaining co-op leverages member and stakeholder investments to develop systems and infrastructure to support core operations. |
|
The Manufacturing Innovation Hub Cooperative (MiHUB) is located in Baltimore but serves minority manufacturers worldwide. We exist to connect the ecosystem between minority manufacturers and innovation to ensure that the manufacturing industry is diverse to continue to accelerate, grow, and thrive.
|
|
Mid-Atlantic Region MBDA AMC
Advisory Board Members
|
|
The first meeting of the Advisory Board for the Mid-Atlantic Region Minority Business Development Agency Advanced Manufacturing Center – Baltimore (MBDA AMC – Baltimore was held virtually January 27, 2022. The membership of the Advisory Board, noted below, includes leadership from strategic and alliance partner organizations and a client of the Center. We will feature profiles on our members and their organizations in our Connections series, Meet Our Team. This issue we highlight FiberElectronics and its Founder and CEO, Mubariz Razvi.
|
|
 |
ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
Strategic Partners*
Sharon Pinder, President & CEO, Capital Region Minority Supplier Development
Council (CRMSDC)
Jimmy Rhee, Secretary, Governor’s Office of Small, Minority & Women Business
Affairs (GOSMWBA)
Stanley Tucker, President & CEO, Meridian Management Group, LLC (MMG)
Michael Binko, Board Member, Regional Manufacturing Institute of Maryland
(RMI) & Co-Founder & CEO, Startup Maryland
Robert Carullo, Executive Director, Strengthening the Mid-Atlantic Region for
Tomorrow (SMART)
Brett A. Vassey, President & CEO, Virginia Manufacturers Association (VMA)
Alliance Partners
Omar S. Muhammad, Entrepreneurial Development & Assistance Center, Morgan
State University (MSU EDAC)
Todd Sabin, Manufacturing Program Manager, Maryland Department of Commerce
(MD DOC)
Mike Kelleher, Executive Director, Maryland Manufacturing Extension Partnership
(MD MEP)
Center Client
Mubariz Razvi, Founder & CEO, FiberElectronics, LLC
* Strategic Partners represent organizations named in the National MBDA grant supporting the operation of the MBDA AMC Baltimore.
|
|
|
|
For information on the Advisory Board, contact Chris Plater. cplater@baltimorembda.com,
443-983-7745.
|
|
MBDA AMC Advisory Board | Member Highlight |
|
Mubariz Razvi, Founder & CEO, FiberElectronics |
|
FiberElectronics was established in 2000. The company specializes in manufacturing fiber optic assemblies and provides a full spectrum of solutions for Telecom, Broadband and Data Center requirements, globally. FiberElectronics is a minority owned company certified as an MBE/DBE by MDOT and city of Baltimore. It is certified by Moody’s of London for ISO 9001 and 1401, thus assuring its production flow controls, along with repeatability and performance. It is also RoHS and GR-326 Telcordia Compliant.
Having established itself as a reliable vendor in the most critical and time sensitive situations, FiberElectronics is supplier to some of the largest broadband/telecom companies in the world. "Our rigorous manufacturing processes assure that our products meet or exceed industry standards," says Mubariz Razvi, CEO of FiberElectronics, whose company provides products and services to demanding and critical areas of the communication sector.
|
|
Clients include globally recognized corporations such as Facebook “Meta,” Ciena, Infinera, Verizon Wireless, Zayo, NYSE, NASDAQ, and Time Warner, amongst others. Coupled with their overseas facility, the firm supports customers globally. Having established itself as a reliable vendor in the most critical and time sensitive situations, FiberElectronics is supplier to some of the largest broadband/telecom companies in the world. "Our rigorous manufacturing processes assure that our products meet or exceed industry standards," says Mubariz Razvi, CFO of FiberElectronics, whose company provides products and services to demanding and critical areas of the communication sector. Clients include globally recognized corporations such as Facebook “Meta,” Ciena, Infinera, Verizon Wireless, Zayo, NYSE, NASDAQ, and Time Warner, amongst others. Coupled with their overseas facility, the firm supports customers globally.
Due to rapid transformation of the telecom sector towards 5G, Broadband Connectorization of Rural America and our acute and increasing demand for data centers, there is a growing shortage of talent in the Fiber Optic Technician area. In an effort to address the workforce shortage issue for his own firm and that of other colleagues in the industry, Razvi began working with Adtell, Inc., a group of companies located in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, also committed to advancing fiber optics. Coppin State University, approached regarding the need for academic support, engaged enthusiastically with the initiative.
Headquartered in Baltimore City for the last 17 years, FiberElectronics is well prepared to spearhead the development of an Emerging Technologies Workforce Development Center for area high school graduates, dropouts and returning citizens. Students entering the program, to launch later this year, will be screened by Coppin State University based on ability and willingness to learn. Program participants will undergo four weeks of “life skills” training conducted by the University on interpersonal skills, communication skills, dress protocols, professional demeanor, time management, and personal finance. Adtell will conduct four weeks of virtual and classroom hands on Fiber Optic Installation Technician Level 1 and selected Level 2 courses.
Upon graduation from the course, Coppin will match students with prospective employers and monitor employee performance for a period of 12 months to help facilitate issues that might arise. Basic level technician jobs in fiber optics start at about $20 per hour. With about five years’ experience and further training some experienced and credentialed workers earn around $120,000.00 to $150,000.00 per year.
Razvi's objective is to support the creation of a workforce that is on par with the requirements of the emerging technologies. The program is actively looking for other industry partners to join the effort. The long-term plan is to make the program successful in Baltimore and perhaps replicate it in different parts of Maryland and in other states.
The City of Baltimore has also been supportive of the initiative. Razvi works with the Mid-Atlantic Advanced Manufacturing Center to assist emerging manufacturing companies with their businesses. Dedicated to both business and workforce development, Razvi states, “We want to create a win-win situation for the workforce, the industry, and our communities.”
|
|
Minority Made | Minority Business Enterprise Symposium | Mid-Atlantic Region Advanced Manufacturing Center in Collaboration with the Baltimore City Mayor’s Office of Small, Minority & Women Business (SMWB) and the Manufacturing Innovation Hub Cooperative (MiHUB) | Thursday, February 24, 2022 | Baltimore, MD | Register
2022 Golf Classic | Regional Manufacturing Institute of Maryland, in partnership with Title Sponsors CFG Bank and North American Millwright | May 12, 2022 | Baltimore County Courses | Register | Sponsor
MiHUB Monday Webinar | Monday, February 28, 2022, 1-2 p.m. | Virtual | Hold the Date
Intellectual Property Basics for Small Businesses | Maryland Small Business Development Center | April 7, 2022 | Online | Register
|
|
PLUS | Visit Baltimore City SourceLink
Events, services, resources, more for small businesses operating in Baltimore City.
|
|
|
SourceLink is hosted by our Center's operator, the Baltimore City Mayor's Office of Small, Minority and Women Business Development.
|
|
NATIONAL, REGIONAL & STATE
COVID-19 NOTICE, RESOURCE, SERVICE LINKS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
