Leading the Way

In today’s fast-paced world, only the best survive. In each instance, it is always a differentiating factor that brings the leaders to the top. For the New York and New Jersey Minority Supplier Devel­opment Council Inc. (The Council TM) that differentiating factor has been a proven ability to develop and unroll an innovative offering.
For instance, The Council was the true leader across the national landscape in utilizing technology as a core component for education for its corporate members and MBEs. “Operating on the cutting edge and thinking outside of the box, we created, developed and offered the first extensive online training for corporate America — Online Suppli­er Diversity Training — that ultimately was licensed and offered by the National Minority Supplier Development Council across the nation,” said Lynda Ireland, president of The Council. “This Supplier Diversity Online training program, developed in conjunction with Rutgers University, has now provided over 100 corporate supplier diversity representatives with extensive training to improve their orga­nization’s initiative in less than one year.”

By the end of the second quarter, The Council will also release its highly acclaimed RFP / RFQ Training Program for MBEs. “With close to 250 MBEs having attended the classroom training successful­ly, we are now moving to webinar-based and online training to allow for greater exposure to the MBE community alleviating the con­straints of time and location,” Ireland said. “By the end of 2008, we will have completed its virtual academy for corporate and MBEs, becoming the premiere organization offering distance learning for capacity building and supplier diversity initiatives development.”

Embracing cohesion
One of the unique and contributing factors of the organization’s ability to continually move ahead and grow as a seamless unit is that The Council’s membership, certified MBEs and staff, have the innate ability to work together as a cohesive team. “A collective effort is made to ensure the success of this mission of the organization by all, with core committees taking the lead on exploring and developing ini­tiatives for implementation,” Ireland said.

Relationship building and strategic alliances are encouraged for council members, and MBEs and are essential for the organization’s advancement, explained Ireland. This is quite evident in the Memo­randums of Understanding that The Council has established with mul­tiple chambers of commerce, government agencies such as the City of New York, the State of New York, Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Minority Business Enterprise Center of the U.S. Depart­ment of Commerce for New York and New Jersey among others. Relationships with NYC Small Business Development Agency and NYS Minority/Women Business Agency also led to acceptance of The Council’s certification by both entities.

“Maintaining close alignment and endorsement of the policies and programs of our national office, and availing ourselves of advice and counsel from the national leadership ensures we stay on the right path to success,” Ireland said. “Thinking outside the box is the ongo­ing aim and strategy of The Council, and the creative internal team and progressive board of directors and advisory board lead to creative and productive plans of action with specific goals.”

Council development
While The Council will celebrate its 35th anniversary this year, it was initially organized and incorporated in 1973 as The NY/NJ Minority Purchasing Council Inc. The organization’s name was changed to the NY & NJ Minority Supplier Develop­ment Council (branded in 2006 as The Council) three years ago to allow for greater understanding of its role in minority business development, and to align more obviously with the national umbrella – the National Minority Supplier Development Council.

Representing downstate New York (Westchester, Putnam Coun­ties, Orange & Rockland, the five boroughs of New York City and Long Island) and Central and Northern New Jersey (all of northern New Jersey and Central New Jersey down to Trenton), The council supports and serves close to 250 members from private, public and foreign-owned corporations, as well as government entities and edu­cational institutions. More than 1,400 bona-fide African-American, Asian, Hispanic and Native-American MBEs are certified with the council representing all industries and service sectors from less than $100,000 in gross sales to $3 billion in sales. Headquartered in New York City, the council also has a New Jersey office located in the lobby of corporate member Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc.’s Newark, N.J. headquarters — a space PSEG donated to the council.

Strong support
The Council anticipates continuing to provide the direction, lead­ership and training required to ensure success for all by helping corpo­rate members in establishing internal supplier diversity councils and hosting presentations to C level personnel within corporate member organizations to facilitate support of their efforts and ultimately help­ing establishing the business case.

Diversity has been and will continue to play a key role as the council moves forward. The role of diversity within The Council’s mission relates to diverse, ethnic minority-owned and controlled busi­nesses, explained Ireland. “Our role is to ensure the entities are bona-fide MBEs before certification, providing security and validation for corporate members when spending is evaluated for MBEs. To this end, it is also our role to develop standard and creative ways for link­ing the corporations with our certified MBEs,” she said. “Recognizing that people do business with people they know, we provide extensive and unique programs to foster this interaction and relationship build­ing. Minority-owned businesses are the fastest-growing segment of America, and are a vital component of the economy, providing employment, spending power and creative solutions and products.”

According to Ireland, The Council is extremely fortunate to have an extensive membership that fully supports its programs and is com­mitted to the council’s success, which in turns means their success. “The passion and commitment of all contributes to the success of this organization, and will continue to translate into success of our efforts,” she said.