New York, NY, Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) today announced it has received  a $350,000 gift for the organization’s Centers of Excellence (COE) initiatives. The COEs are regional business modules designed to strengthen corporate supplier diversity processes and to help minority businesses compete in a global environment. 

With this funding, NMSDC will expand their COE program to their certified Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs). Currently NMSDC is working with one regional location to pilot this program. The council now will be able to expand this to their regional councils across the U.S. COE is a program that contributes to the education and implementation of NMSDC’s Best Practices, with the mentorship of corporate members and are administered by affiliate councils.

“Our Centers of Excellence program provide members with a unique forum to start development opportunities for minority businesses and corporate members alike,” said NMSDC Chairman Joe Hinrichs, who also is president, Global Operations at Ford Motor Company. “With minority businesses responsible for $400 billion dollars of the total United States economy, NMSDC’s Centers of Excellence are designed to help  reach higher productivity and profits.” 

The benefits of the program include:

  • Helping minority businesses better compete in a global environment
  • Aligning more closely the sales methods of MBEs with the procurement processes of corporate members
  • Developing a portfolio of capacity building models/templates for use
  • Strengthening corporate supplier diversity processes
  • Enhancing corporation minority supplier development process by using NMSDC Best Practices
  • Providing opportunities for corporations to benchmark successful minority supplier development strategies among corporate peers
  • Providing increased business opportunities for both corporate members and MBEs through learning from each other’s competitive strengths
  • Having a greater impact on improving the economic environment of the community by reinforcing the concept of buying among and between corporations and MBE companies, and
  • Improving competitive market position by helping corporations satisfy the expectation of an increasingly diverse customer base

The business modules are comprised of 8-10 corporate members, 16-20 MBEs and an affiliate council president, who are committed to enhancing the supplier diversity process by implementing NMSDC minority business development best practices. Each module is facilitated by an NMSDC affiliate regional council and is held during an 18-month period.

NMSDC is proud to have successfully completed the COE programs at Chicago MSDC, Georgia MSDC, Mid-States MSDC, NY/NJ MSDC, Ohio MSDC, Southwest MSDC and Tri-State MSDC. The NMSDC seeks to provide scholarships for 50 to 75 MBEs in COE programs during the next 18 months.

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ad760b57-275b-424b-b686-b7e1d0b700d0

CONTACT: Teena Touch
National Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc.
212-944-2430 x127
[email protected]