On October 14th, 500 entrepreneurs, supplier diversity experts, corporate representatives and political dignataries attended the 30th annual awards gala of the Maryland/DC Minority Supplier Development Council (MD/DC MSDC - an affiliate of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). Among the awardees were representatives from Microsoft Corporation, Baltimore Gas and Electric, NextGen Consulting, Thompson Hospitality, and the RLJ Companies - to name a few.

On Thursday, October 27th, Joshua Smith has the pleasure of hosting two of the awardees from the MD/DC MSDC awards gala, Mr. Robert L. Wallace, who received an award for his BITHGROUP Technologies company in the category of firms with annual revenues between $1-10 Million;  and Ms. Laura Welsh, manager for Supply Chain, Contract Management and Supplier Diversity at Washington Gas. The company was recognized as the MD/DC MSDC's Corporation of the Year in 2011.

Robert L. Wallace is an accomplished entrepreneur, author, business consultant and internationally known keynote speaker. He is the founder of three companies: BITHGROUP Technologies, Inc., Entreteach Learning Systems, LLC & BITH Energy.

Laura Welsh has been with Washington Gas for 24 years and her experience in supplier diversity spans over 30 years. She manages the company's programs which have been consistently recognized for their diversity and inclusion.  It is not surprising that Washington Gas spent $68 million with diverse suppliers in 2010.

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