Staying Connected with WPMSDC

Certify. Develop. Connect. Advocate

January/February 2014
Our mission is advancing business opportunities by certifying and connecting minority business enterprises to corporations and buying entities.
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Happy New Year!

We have so much to look forward to for the upcoming year. The councils across the country are going through mergers and realignments. The purpose is to increase opportunities for our MBEs and to make more MBEs available to our corporate members.

 

Starting in January, we will do away with reciprocal agreements. MBEs certification will be recognized across the network. We will also do away with service points with National members.

 

Under our new alignment, WPMSDC will merge with the PA-NJ-DE council, forming the Eastern MSDC or EMSDC of PA, NJ and DE. We will be operating with a 2-site strategy; one site in Pittsburgh and one site in Philadelphia. Wade Colclough has been named the CEO of EMSDC and Alexander Nichols has been named the COO.

 

Our customers and MBEs can expect a higher level of service and dedication.

 

We thank you for your past support of WPMSDC and look forward to your continued support.

 

Alexander "Nick" Nichols

 

Sponsors for 2014 Events Needed

The annual sponsorship opportunities are now available for your review. The first networking event of 2014 is the First Quarterly Meeting on March 5 and the sponsorship is still open. We are again offering a five percent prepay discount if you pay for at least three events before March 31, 2014. Without the help of our generous sponsors, we would not have been able to host all of the successful networking events in 2013, such as the Opportunity Fair, Golf Outing and Opportunity Fair.

 

Corporate Member Sponsor Package

MBE Sponsor Package

 

Thank you to the 2013 Sponsors:

 

AEC Group
Allegheny Conference on Community Development
BNY Mellon
Bombardier Transportation
Bulldog Office Products, Inc.
CDI Printing
Chevron Corporation
CONSOL Energy, Inc.
EQT Corporation
Fenner Dunlop
Gateway Health
Giant Eagle
HABSCO
Halliburton
Highmark
Huntington
Jennmar
KORYAK
Logix Guru, LLC
Marcellus Shale Coalition
Mastech, Inc.
Novus Staffing
P. J. Dick, Inc./Trumbull Corp./Lindy
Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency
Raytheon
Rivers Casino
SAVOY Restaurant
Seubert & Associates, Inc.
South Coast Paper
The Empyrean Group
The PNC Financial Services Group
University Of Pittsburgh
UPMC
UPMC Health Plan, Inc.
Urban Lending Solutions
W. Blazer Holdings

 

MBE Spotlight - Novus Staffing

Ron Alvarado, President of Novus Staffing, was invited to present at a Chevron forum in September. He spoke about his experience as a prospective supplier, key "take aways" and advice about going from a prospective supplier to a current supplier of Chevron.

 

 

A Template for Success - W. Blazer Holdings

Congratulations to W. Blazer Holdings for winning the bid to supply EQT Corporation with landman, abstract, advanced leasing, drilling permit and well pad designing services. This project has helped W. Blazer build their capacity to hire more employees and sign a contract with CONSOL Energy, Inc.

 

We would also like to congratulate W. Blazer Holdings for exceeding $1 million in annual revenue!

 

For more on this partnership, please click here.

 

If you are a WPMSDC Corporate Member and would like to share how your company has benefited from a partnership with an MBE, please email [email protected].

 

IBM Wins Corporation of the Year

Congratulations to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) for receiving NMSDC's most coveted award, Corporation of the Year, during the NMSDC Awards Ceremony on October 31, 2013.

 

A founding member of NMSDC, IBM's corporate policy mandates supplier diversity and development worldwide. The company's procurement spend in the U.S. tops $1.3 billion; another $778 million is spent abroad. A diverse supplier is included on every request for qualifications and request for proposal-without exception. IBM, the 2005 winner of this award, employs four global directives to meet its goals: capacity development, opportunities and/or access, innovation and a global network of qualified minority business enterprises (MBEs). 

 

 

Please click here for more on this story.

 

Certification Department

WPMSDC would like to welcome the newly certified MBEs:

 

If you are interested in certifying your minority-owned business, please click here.

Survey for MBEs

Help us to help you by completing this one question survey. WPMSDC is seeking suggestions for educational seminars we should offer.  Click here to take the survey.

Upcoming Events

March 5 - Quarterly Meeting

 

May 7 - Opportunity Fair at The Monroeville Convention Center