SCMSDC Connections July 2014 by SCMSDC

CONNECTIONS

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

www.scmsdc.org

July 2014

IN THIS ISSUE

Everyone’s a winner at SOTY awards

Being nominated by corporate partners to compete for SCMSDC’s Supplier of the Year Award competition is a huge honor. Considering that 3% of the council’s certiﬁed minority business enterprises (MBEs) are nominated for their outstanding work with corporate members, these suppliers are among an elite group of companies worthy of competing for the prestigious award.

‘Street kid’s’ journey to success Ask the expert MBE smart tips: Winning a SOTY award News briefs

UPCOMING EVENTS

Toastmaster Club Meeting August 14, 28 - 9 to 11 a.m. SCMSDC Headquarters

Participants will hone speaking and leadership skills in a friendly and non-threatening atmosphere. The SCMSDC chapter caters to business owners and their employees. Contact: Natalie Masiello, nmasiello@scmsdc.org or 213-689-6963.

Thirty-eight minority businesses, representing a wide array of industries, were nominated for 2014 Supplier of the Year Awards.

Ranging in size from under $1 million in annual sales to over $5 billion and representing such diverse industries as information technology, advertising, construction and printing, this year’s nominees represent the widespread ethnic and industry diversity in SCMSDC’s 13-county Southern California service area. They were recognized at the council’s annual Supplier of the Year Awards luncheon on July 10 at the Renaissance Long Beach Hotel. “The total number of 38 competing suppliers marks the highest number of nominees in recent years,” according to SCMSDC President Virginia Gomez. “And while competition for one winner in each class has been diﬃcult in years past, competition this year was ﬁerce with the increased number of outstanding nominees.”

MBE2MBE Open House August 14 - 5 to 7 p.m. Hosted by Sanders Roberts & Jewett, Los Angeles.

The SCMSDC MBEIC invites you to enjoy an evening of premier business networking. Don't miss this opportunity to make new contacts, raise your profile and "work" your certification with other MBEs, members of the MBEIC and select corporate members. Cost is $30.

American Honda’s Charles Harmon talks about his company’s long-time support as the event’s title sponsor for the 24th consecutive year.

“The MBE nominees represent the great strides minority businesses and corporate America can make when working

MBE Orientation August 28 - 2 to 4 p.m. SCMSDC Headquarters

Take advantage of this opportunity to learn how to best leverage your MBE certification and how the council can help. Great for newly-certified, those who are pending certification and others who have been certified but would like to get connected. Free event Parking is not validated.

LAUSD Small Business Boot Camp Seminars September 10 - November 5 Wednesdays 5:30 to 8 p.m. Sponsored by the Los Angeles Unified School District, this 9-week program provides the necessary tools to improve your competitive capacity. At its conclusion, small business contractors will be ready to bid on LAUSD and other public contracts. Course topics include: bonding/certification, how to develop a safety plan, public contract law, access to capital, marketing and more. For information, contact Ken Billups, kenneth.billups@lausd.net. Register at: www.laschools.org/sbe

together in open, diverse and inclusive partnerships,” states Charles Harmon, senior manager, corporate procurement/corporate services at American Honda Motor Co., which has been the event’s title sponsor for 24 consecutive years. “Diversity is simply good business, and this year’s nominees and winners exemplify this principle,” he adds. “It was exciting to see the increase in the number of nominees because it signals and represents corporate members’ recognition of MBEs’ contributions to their companies and the growth of our MBEs,” according to SCMSDC Board Chairman Joe Alderete, director of supplier diversity at Southern California Edison. “It’s wonderful to note this event continues to increase in attendance year after year, as it should.” As a group, the nominees have gross annual sales of about $16.1 billion and employ nearly 60,000 of which approximately 24,000 are minorities. Nominated by corporate members, they competed for the award in four categories, based on gross annual sales of less than $1 million (Class I), between $1 million and $10 million (Class II), between $10 million and $50 million (Class III), and $50 million or greater (Class IV). The following received 2014 Supplier of the Year Awards: • Class I: Cho Estrada Communications, based in Valencia, provides public relations consulting, writing and editorial services. The ﬁrm received a scholarship to attend the UCLA Anderson School of Business Management Development for Entrepreneurs Program, courtesy of Union Bank of California. Cho Estrada Communications was nominated by Southern California Edison and Southern California Gas Company.

Leadership Excellence Awards October 1 Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Beverly Hills This event will celebrate, recognize and honor an individual whose leadership makes a positive impact on the minority business community as well as corporations that have achieved supplier diversity excellence.

From left, Charles Harmon; Class I winner Vicki Cho Estrada, Cho Estrada Communications; SCMSDC President Virginia Gomez; Yolanda Padilla, Southern California Gas Co.; Tarrance Frierson, Southern California Edison, and Joe Alderete, Southern California Edison

Visit www.scmsdc.org for more events.

• Class II: SuperbTech, Inc. based in Culver City, specializes in contract and staﬃng services. Southern California Gas Company, which provided the nomination, presented

SuperbTech with a scholarship to attend the UCLA Anderson School of Business Management Development for Entrepreneurs Program. • Class III: IW Group oﬀers advertising production, public relations, event coordination, community outreach and media buying services Class II winner Kathy Vincent (left) of from its West Hollywood SuperbTech with Valerie Lertyaovarit, headquarters. The comSouthern California Gas Co. pany, which was nominated by Southern California Edison, received a scholarship from NBCUniversal to attend Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth.

From left, Charles Harmon; Class III winner Bill Imada, IW Group; Virginia Gomez, Tarrance Frierson and SCMSDC Board Chair Joe Alderete.

• Class IV: Walton Isaacson of Los Angeles implements corporate marketing and media campaigns. Toyota nominated the ﬁrm and presented it with a scholarship to the Kellogg School of Business of Management at Northwestern University.

Class IV winner Aaron Walton of Walton Isaacson (left) with Toyota’s Monetta Stephens.

Runners-up in each category received Winners' Circle Awards. These included (Class I) Décor Interior Design, Inc., a Los Angeles facility resource company specializing in tenant improvements, design, planning, janitorial and grounds maintenance; (Class II) Alameda Construction Services, headquartered in Compton, provides site concrete, asphalt, paving, demolition and grading services; (Class

III) Advantage Mailing, Inc., a printing and direct mailing company in Anaheim; and (Class IV) World Wide Technology, based in St. Louis, Mo., provides technology and supply chain solutions. Other nominees included: Class I: DHS Creative, a San Diego ﬁrm with expertise in entertainment and special events; and San Gabriel-based Earl Security, an alarm and electrical contractor focused on building safety and security.

Class II: Andry Specialty Vehicles in Torrance formulates and executes special events marketing programs; Avery Group, a full food, facility attendant and janitorial services company in El Segundo; BeyondCurious, a Los Angeles firm that provides digital consulting services for the web, mobile and tablet; Blair, Church and Flynn, a professional consulting engineering firm in Clovis offering land surveying, planning, civil engineering, landscape architecture and construction management; Glow Electric Co. provides electrical, voice/data, energy management and preventive maintenance services from its Torrance office; ICE Safety Solutions, headquartered in Fremont, specializes in safety training; Icon Blue, based in Los Angeles, designs, manufactures, packages and distributes promotional merchandise; Kambrian Corporation offers IT/Telecom products and services from its West Covina base; Kanemura Marketing Affiliates, a Torrance-based distributor of promotional items; Marrs Services, Inc., headquartered in Fullerton, provides construction and project management, engineering, environmental, GIS, drafting and remediation services; Think Ink provides printing, promotion and design services from its headquarters in Corona; Urbanracer.com, a Bayside, New York-based firm provides automotive marketing, events and publishing services; Vobecky Enterprises offers nationwide trucking, construction, tenant improvement, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, demolition, masonry, concrete, painting and wall coverings, flooring installations from its Glendora base; and Zeesman Communications, Inc., a marketing and consulting company in Los Angeles. Class III: GDM, a Chino-based provider of construction equipment, tools and materials; PromoShop, Inc., a Los Angeles firm specializes in promotional and marketing

Corporate nominators American Honda Motor Co., Inc. IBM Johnson Controls, Inc. Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles World Airports Macy’s Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Nestle North America Southern California Edison Southern California Gas Co. The Walt Disney Company Toyota Turner Construction WellPoint

services; RMI International, based in Paramount, offers security services; and Trinity Sterile Systems, a Salisbury, Md., company that manufactures, sources and distributes medical equipment. Class IV: Agile Sourcing Partners, based in Corona, is a sourcing and supply chain solutions supporting utilities, suppliers, and manufacturers in the gas and electric industries; APR Consulting, a staffing solutions provider headquartered in Diamond Bar, offers talent acquisition, payroll, vendor managed services, recruitment process optimization and business process outsourcing; Collabera, a Morristown, New Jersey firm offers IT staffing, consulting and solutions services; GKK Corporation, based in Irvine, is an architecture and construction firm focused on healthcare, education, government/civic and hospitality/mixed-use projects; Rose International, Inc. provides workforce services and information technology solutions, staffing, vendor management, payroll processing, application development, operations support and project management from its headquarters in Chesterfield, Mo.; SBM Management Services, a McClellan, Calif.-based company offers facilities and janitorial services; SHI International; based in Somerset, New Jersey, a global provider of computer software, hardware, peripherals, networking products, accessories and a broad range of IT lifecycle services; Technology Integration Group, system integrator, professional service provider and value-added reseller of computer systems, supplies, accessories and peripherals, headquartered in San Diego; The Matlet Group, a Pawtuckett, Rhode Island-headquartered printing, packaging and fulfillment company; and ZeroChaos of Orlando, Fla., offers contingent workforce solutions.

Myles Kovacs and Michele Ruiz during Q & A session after the awards luncheon.

This year’s keynote speaker was Myles Kovacs, president and co-founder of DUB magazine, which features celebrities and their customized cars. His company, DUB Publishing, Inc. is a $50 million-plus business. Kovacs spoke of his journey from “street kid in East L.A.” to running a highly successful business and some of the challenges he had to overcome (see accompanying story).

Sponsors Title American Honda Platinum NBCUniversal Southern California Edison Southern California Gas Co. Toyota World Wide Technology Gold IW Group Northrop Grumman Corporation Walmart Walton Isaacson WellPoint Silver AT&T Chevron East West Bank The Walt Disney Company Verizon In kind services GDM Table sponsors Alameda Construction Services APR Consulting BeyondCurious Décor Interior Design Glow Electric Kambrian Corporation Rose International Technology Integration Group Zeesman Communications

Michele Ruiz, president and chief strategist at Ruiz Strategies, a consulting ﬁrm that develops content messaging

strategies, served as the event's Mistress of Ceremonies. Through the Supplier of the Year program, established by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), corporate members nominate certiﬁed MBEs for an award. MBEs are judged by a selection committee, comprised of SCMSDC corporate members, on their demonstrated business growth and development; employment and job creation; consistent high quality operations, products/services and business performance; procurement/purchasing spend with MBEs; mentoring and other forms of assistance to MBEs; regional council involvement and more. Local nominees compete in the regional competition, and if selected as winners at that level, move on to national competition. Regional and national winners are recognized at the NMSDC annual conference and NOMINEE STATS

60,000 Total Employees

24,000 Minority Employees

$16.1 Billion Gross Annual Sales

AWARD SELECTION COMMITTEE

Charles Harmon, Selection Committee Chair, American Honda Motor Co. Johnny Elias, IBM Kecia Washington, Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power Rose Cote, Los Angeles World Airports Regina Glover, Northrop Grumman Corporation Eric Fisher, Southern California Edison Valerie Lertyaovarit, Southern California Gas Co. Aaron Emi, Toyota Mario Muñoz, WellPoint Regional Selection Committee: Jinus Moghbeli, Amgen Karen Blackwell, Nestlé Michelle Smith-Ballard, Turner Construction

‘Street kid’s’ journey to success The keynote speaker wearing shorts and a T-shirt mesmerized the sold-out crowd at SCMSDC’s recent Supplier of the Year Awards luncheon as he spoke of his journey from street kid in East L.A. to running a $50 million business. Myles Kovacs, a leading voice of the inﬂuential, trend-setting youth segment who propelled his DUB Publishing, Inc. and family of companies into a highly lucrative business, Myles Kovacs shares his journey to success. told the audience he was an unlikely success story. Born in a tough neighborhood, he faced adversity at an early age. At 7, Kovacs was diagnosed with an eye disease that would lead to blindness in one eye. He says he barely passed high school, learning to read through Low Rider magazine, and “became hard to protect myself.” During his teen years, Kovacs became interested in working on cars and learned to customize them. From there, he got the idea to start DUB, a specialty automobile magazine, which grew into a multimillion dollar business. Despite his success, he suﬀered from anxiety attacks and became suicidal. “Business was booming but I never felt like I deserved it,” he says. With the trappings of success, such as a $3 million home and expensive cars, “I forgot who I was. I learned that you can’t let objects dictate who you are. You have to allow yourself to be you.” He soon “right-sized” his life by moving into a smaller home and realized that by sharing his challenges and vulnerabilities with others, he became stronger. As he started trusting others more and gave increased responsibilities to his employees, DUB became even more successful. Today, his company helps major corporations, such as Microsoft, Mattel, General Motors and Proctor and Gamble, target the youth and the urban market, one of the most elusive demographic. Kovacs was named by Newsweek as one of the nation’s “10 Big Thinkers for Big Business in the 21st Century” and featured in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 25 Young Millionaires.” Kovacs frequently gives motivational speeches and devotes considerable time to charitable organizations, such as Make-A-Wish Foundation, SEMA Cares, Child

Help, Victory Junction Gang Camp, and Tony Hawk Foundation. MYLES KOVACS - in his words

• Take away excuses and turn them into reasons why you should be successful • Take frustration and anger and turn them into good useable energy. • If you never feel like you deserve it, you can never hold onto it. • You need to learn to love and laugh at yourself. • Disruption is the key to success. • Hire people who are good at what they do. • Share your life with someone who makes you better. • Successful people go after what they want. Unsuccessful people avoid it. • In business, be of value. Know what the value is – be the best, not the cheapest. • Play to your strengths, hire to your weaknesses. • When pitching business, use analogies potential customers can relate to and use emotion to sell an experience, not a product.

Ask the expert

What qualities do you look for in a diverse supplier?

At Walmart, we have established the Supplier Diversity Program that provides companies owned and operated by minorities, women, veterans and people with disabilities equal footing to effectively work with us while, at the same time, growing their own business. We’re always looking for diverse suppliers that can help us Robert Dyer, bring our customers products that are Director of relevant to them, at prices they can Merchandising, afford. The qualities that we look for Pacific Division, in a diverse supplier are really no Wal-Mart Stores different than the ones that we look for in a supplier that is not - the ability of the supplier to consistently deliver the quantities of product needed to meet our customer’s needs, financial stability, the ability to meet our fundamental supplier standards that set manufacturing/packaging expectations for our suppliers related to social and environmental conditions, and to deliver those products at the best cost so that our customers can Save Money and Live Better.

Smart tips for MBEs

Winning a SOTY award

Receiving a 2014 SCMSDC Supplier of the Year Award nomination means a minority business enterprise (MBE)

has been exceptional in providing a service or product to a corporate member. Like other prestigious awards, a Supplier of the Year Award nomination raises an MBE’s visibility and provides certain bragging rights. But beyond getting nominated, how does an MBE win an award? Here’s what the awards selection committee, comprised of corporate members, looks for based on criteria established by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC): • Demonstrated business growth and development. Has a nominee grown in revenues and/or expanded operations? The size of the company doesn’t matter as MBEs are nominated in four different categories based on annual sales. What does matter is that the company is growing and advancing. • Employment and job creation. The selection committee evaluates the nominee’s ability to create jobs, which goes hand in hand with growth and development. • Consistent high quality operations, products/services and business performance. MBEs who win an award demonstrate solid performance and quality results. Did the firm come up with an innovative approach or a cost-savings idea for a client? What results were achieved? An MBE that has been previously nominated for a Supplier of the Year Award is a good indication that it is a strong performer. In fact, all of the 2014 award winners were nominated before. • Procurement/purchasing spend with MBEs. The selection committee also looks at the nominee’s commitment to increasing procurement with other MBEs. Do they have MBE partnerships or subcontractors? Has this been a growth area for the company? • Mentoring and other assistance to MBEs. A company doesn’t necessarily have to have a formal mentoring program, but the selection committee likes to see that an MBE is supporting other minority firms. • Other factors. The committee also evaluates whether an MBE has overcome adversity and challenges, promotes the council’s mission, and gives back to the community or provides support to community organizations. In other words, the MBE can’t solely be focused on its own growth and success. An SCMSDC Supplier of the Year Award nomination is a tremendous honor, and winning an award is icing on the cake and tells those in the supplier diversity world that you are among the best MBEs around.

News briefs

Small businesses at risk for security breaches

While data security breaches at major corporations make the headlines, smaller businesses also have a high risk of data thefts, according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times. Such enterprises as dentist offices and colleges can be targeted for their confidential data not only by hackers but by disgruntled vendors and former employees. These thieves may snatch office computers and use data to slander businesses and poach employees. The article notes that all private enterprises and government offices are required to alert potential fraud victims in such cases. “If more than 500 Californians are affected, the institution must give the attorney general’s office a copy of the advisory letter sent to potential victims. More than 380 of these letters have been posted since the program began in January 2012, which equates to a major breach in the state every 2 ½ days.” It also states that many small firms know nothing about cybersecurity, making them easier and more attractive targets for cyber criminals. Among the reasons why some small business owners are vulnerable to breaches: they allow employees to browse social media or message friends on the same computer used to process financials, employees can log in to company networks remotely using easily stolen passwords, they don’t use anti-virus software because it seems costly or bothersome. Experts recommend that businesses hire security consultants to identify vulnerabilities and develop a plan on how they would notify and help those who are affected by a security breach. One expert said that having a plan is “probably just as important as having a disaster recovery plan for earthquake or fire.” BeyondCurious featured in Google report

SCMSDC-certified and 2014 Supplier of the Year Award nominee BeyondCurious, a Los Angeles firm that provides digital consulting services for the web, mobile and tablet, is one of two California businesses featured in Google’s annual economic impact report. The report notes the firm’s meteoric rise and how the company, founded in late 2011 by Nikki Barua and Vishal Agarwal was created “with no clients or capital, just a grand vision for their new company… Now, less than three years later, BeyondCurious – an “Innovation Consultancy” – has realized its vision of helping large brands make innovation an everyday occurrence instead of an

occasional event.” Today, the company has 50-plus team members and a growth rate of 500 percent year-over-year and is projected to grow even more. The report adds that building mobile and tablet applications that solve business problems for leading brands is a key focus for BeyondCurious, with Android apps accounting for as much as half of the company’s revenues. The company, which operates an entirely cloud-powered business, “has successfully leveraged an extensive list of Google products to scale globally while competing with multibillion-dollar agencies,” according to the report. Click here to view the report: http://www.google.com/economicimpact/reports/ca.html

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