Dennis P. Kimbro will keynote the 20/20 Vision: Supplier Diversity Forum (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

On Wednesday, April 4, 2012, Black Enterprise teams up with Walmart to host a forum on supplier diversity business opportunities in Chicago at the Hilton Chicago from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Boasting some of the nation’s most accomplished Black entrepreneurs and business experts on its agenda, 20/20 Vision: Supplier Diversity in the 21st Century, is an economic forum designed to explore how entrepreneurs can best position their ventures to form profitable partnerships with large corporations as part of their supply chain. An RSVP is required to attend this event and seating is limited. Entrepreneurs who want to attend the forum can click this link to RSVP or call 212-886-9599.

ChemicoMays CEO Leon Richardson (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

Featuring a day of expert presentations and case studies, as well as ample opportunities to network, the event aims to identify and increase the profitability of minority wholesalers, manufacturers and artisans, helping them to better prepare for business opportunities with large corporations. Topics to be covered include “Navigating the Procurement Maze” and “Scaling Up To Meet The Right Contract.” The forum will be keynoted by nationally acclaimed author and speaker Dennis Kimbro, a business school professor at the Clark Atlanta University and include remarks from Black Enterprise CEO Earl “Butch” Graves Jr. and Chicago City Treasurer Stephanie Neely.

Jessica Johnson of Johnson Security (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

In addition, Black entrepreneurs who have successfully established partnerships and landed contracts with major corporations will share their expertise and experiences. Among the business owners on the agenda are Chemico Mays CEO Leon Richardson, The Comfort Cake CEO Amy Hilliard, Fair Oaks Farms L.L.C. CEO Michael L. Thompson, Blackwell Consulting Services CEO Robert Blackwell Sr., Johnson Security Senior VP Jessica Johnson, Banneker Industries CEO Cheryl W. Snead and Volt Energy Co-owner Gilbert Campbell. Walmart Stores Inc. executives including Walmart Market Manager Reginald Reese and Divisional Merchandise Director Kaitlin Wolfe will also share information and expertise on procurement business opportunities. Sessions will be moderated by Black Enterprise SVP/Editor-in-Chief Derek T. Dingle and Editorial Director Alan Hughes.

Small business is BIG BUSINESS at the 2012 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo hosted by Nationwide, May 23-26, at the Hilton Chicago Hotel in Chicago, IL. Expect innovative sessions, high-powered speakers, and an early peek at the products, trends, and services you’ll need to stay ahead of the curve. Beat the March 16 Early Bird deadline to get a $200 registration discount at www.blackenterprise.com/ec/! And be sure to nominate your company or another business for our Small Business Awards! Want to pitch your business idea and win $10,000? Don’t miss the chance to enter our Elevator Pitch Competition before March 30 to qualify for the $10,000 grand prize. To register and find out more, visit www.blackenterprise.com/ec/

According to New York State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, state officials “have not received one letter of support ” but 800 opposition letters since the law entered the mandatory 45-day public comment period that began on Sept. 29 and ends on Nov. 12. Says Clem Harris, special assistant to the governor, of the law expected to go into effect on Dec. 8: “Substantive criticism could force the state to review commentary and change the date of adoption.”

The act, a package of four bills, provides for, among other provisions, expansion of contracting practices of public authorities; establishment of a chief diversity officer to monitor and enforce the MWBE procurement process; raising the discretionary purchasing cap on awards to MWBEs from $100,000 to $200,000; and a mandate for executive agencies to invest with minority financial institutions. The legislation was initiated after the governor’s MWBE task force reported it findings last May from a comprehensive disparity study. Paul Williams, task force chair and president of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY), an agency that oversees a portfolio of construction projects worth $6.8 billion, says, “We wanted to ensure MWBEs received their fair share. We found they were capable of handling 30% of $70 billion in state procurement.”

Tepid response from the minority business community was part of the focus of last week’s DASNY MWBE conference, which attracted close to 1,000 attendees, including African American contractors and CEOs of BE 100s financial services firms. During the session on business diversity policies, Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), the only African American on the House Small Business Committee, urged entrepreneurs to vigorously back the act because it “can be repealed in a blink of an eye.”

In accordance with President Obama’s desire to double U.S. exports in five years, two days will be devoted to international trade. Sessions will focus on export basics, such as market research, and resources, opportunities available through trade agreements, global business-to-business networking. Experts will provide tips on how to do business in Africa and representatives from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development and other organizations will discuss financing options. A forum titled “Global Supply Chain: Merging Public and Private Sector Efforts for Supply Chain Capacity Building,” will feature executives from 3M, IBM and Johnson & Johnson, who will talk about how small businesses can position themselves on the global supply chains of major corporations.

MBDA National Director David Hinson

Minority owned businesses have for years expressed frustration over their inability to successfully penetrate the federal marketplace. Several sessions will focus on just that, including how to succeed in a tough construction market and how to form joint ventures, teaming arrangements and strategic alliances. MBDA Director David Hinson firmly believes that the latter holds enormous potential and is a way for MBEs to easily develop the capacity required to compete for larger contracts they would not be able to handle on their own.

Obama also has tasked 17 federal agencies with examining their contracting processes to determine how they can help minority owned businesses become more successful in the federal marketplace.

“We’ll talk about how you identify federal contracting opportunities, preparing a solid proposal, building the relationships that will [help] you successfully do business with the federal government,” Castillo said. “There are half a trillion dollars of federal contracting opportunities out there and we want to make sure that MBEs in particular are able to participate in that process.”

The conference will close with a business-to-business matchmaking session that Castillo says is “truly unprecedented” because MBEs will have the opportunity to meet with major corporations that can offer more than $20 billion in contracting opportunities.

According to Castillo MBEs should leave with the conference armed with the information and contacts they need to develop new skills, increase capacity and, she hopes, some actual deals. To learn more about MED Week forums and events, click here.

Brown and Cottrell-Brown are helping take back ethnic haircare

Husband and wife team Eric Brown and Renee Cottrell-Brown seek to make history and profits in ethnic haircare.

Last year, they became the new owners of Johnson Products Company, the manufacturer of haircare products Afro Sheen, Ultra Sheen, and Gentle Treatment when the Procter & Gamble unit was acquired by RCJP Acquisition Inc., a partnership formed by the Browns and private equity firms Rustic Canyon/Fontis Partners LP and St. Cloud Capital. The transaction was valued at more than $30 million.

What made that deal significant was JPC’s rich history. Founded by entrepreneur and one of BLACK ENTERPISE’s 40 Most Powerful African Americans in Business, George Johnson, the Chicago-based company grew to become a mainstay among the BE 100s for roughly 20 years as well as the first black-owned company with shares traded on the American Stock Exchange.

In fact, JPC supported a number of black institutions, including syndicated television show, Soul Train. By 1993, JPC, after years of internal management turmoil, was sold to IVAX Corp in a deal valued at $67 million, making it the first BE 100s haircare manufacturer bought by a majority-owned company. P&G acquired JPC in 2003.

Today, the company, which is now based in Dallas and grossed $23 million in revenues for fiscal 2009, is once again minority-owned. Brown and Cottrell-Brown serve as CEO and executive vice president, respectively.

The ethnic haircare veterans both held senior management positions at Pro-Line International Inc., a subsidiary of Alberto-Culver and another former BE 100s company. In fact, Cottrell-Brown is the daughter of Pro-Line founder Comer Cottrell, who is also listed among BLACK ENTERPRISE’s 40 Most Powerful Blacks in Business. Gabrielle Greene, an African American financier and partner of RC/Fontis Partners, is JPC’s chairman.

In an exclusive interview with Editor-In-Chief Derek T. Dingle, the Browns detailed their strategy to remake JPC for today’s consumers.

BLACK ENTERPRISE:  Share with me the ownership structure of JPC.

Eric Brown: The majority of the company is under minority ownership. There’s a Hispanic investor out of Los Angles, RC/Fontis.  Between RC/Fontis and ourselves, we represent about 60%. Renee and I have about 20% and the ability, over time, to take on as many shares as we like.  At some point in time, hopefully, we will be able to come back to you and say, “We’re 100% African American-owned.”

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BE: What is your growth strategy that’s going to distinguish JPC in the ethnic haircare market?

Brown: Our vision is very simply to be the number one ethnic haircare manufacturer in the world of ethnic beauty care products.  We’re not going to limit ourselves just to hair.  But right now, that’s the area that we operate in.

Now what is going to get us there?  We look at innovation a lot differently than just products and formulas that go into those bottles and jars that we sell.  We look at innovation in terms of process.  We look at innovation in terms of how we communicate to our consumer.

BE: In terms of communication with the consumer, how has it changed from the way JPC used to reach them, whether it was through Soul Train or other marketing strategies?

Brown: We’re evolving in a sense that I think a lot of companies have gotten away from that.  Multinational companies like P&G, in general, like to do things as broad as possible.  They’ll spend a million dollars on a commercial and hopefully catch everybody in that net.

When Johnson was being built, it was almost a consumer-at-a-time approach where it was involved with setting up things at churches and parks. I think the reason everybody knows Johnson is because they got involved with people and their lifestyle. We want to have an emotional involvement and responsibility with our consumer and the community that our consumer lives in.

We did a model search, and you don’t know how many times I’ve had people come up to me and say, “I remember Johnson Products because of some scholarship that they did.”  Or, “I remember Johnson Products because they had a beauty school.”

Cottrell-Brown: I don’t believe that one medium can deliver the message.  I truly believe that it takes a well-rounded marketing mix.  You need the PR piece to touch the community.  You need to be in radio.  You need to be outdoors.  Today, I just think [technology is] great because with social media you really can engage the consumer and live with them day in and day out with Facebook and Twitter.

BE:  Share your strategies in digital media and social networks.  How have you connected with the consumers?

Cottrell-Brown: We just mentioned the model search; that is a legacy promotion.  It was basically communicated in the past to the consumer via print.  For the first time, we used Facebook.

Once we had them involved in the contest, we began to communicate back to them.  We actually started a little sorority of these different models.  We had over 1,200 girls and we were talking to them all the time.  Guess what?  On Facebook, they started talking to each other.

So, it really created the awareness of what we were doing [and] the awareness of the brand.  They became these little ambassadors for us. We had over 40,000 registered unique voters [and] 250,000 hits over that 90-day period.  So it was pretty incredible.

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BE: What are some other consumer outreach efforts?

Cottrell-Brown: Our first initiative was a giving promotion.  We actually raised proceeds by collaborating with a retailer such as Sally Beauty Supply.  We leveraged our General Treatment brand as a form of brand recognition to raise awareness for domestic abuse. What brand name better speaks to domestic abuse than General Treatment?

We committed about $50,000. On the Southside of Chicago, we basically gutted a kitchen and put in a salon inside. We call it the General Treatment Beauty Center.  We actually hooked up with some of the beauty schools there in the market place.

BE:  Do you have a special focus for male consumers? How has research helped you approach that market?

Cottrell-Brown: When we conducted focus groups, we took in a name we thought was hip. We chose Urbane because [it] means handsome, sophisticated.  We took it into the focus group and those guys were like, “They must think we can’t spell.  This must be Ebonics.”  Because they thought it was Urban.

They saw Ultra Sheen [and] they were like, “That’s for me.  Now, I get that.  That’s what we want.”  So, that’s how we came up with the new brand Ultra Sheen Men.  It came right out of their mouths, something they could resonate with.  We’re looking forward to getting that in the marketplace in the next month.

BE: What’s your approach to the international market?

Brown: We take a little bit of a different approach when we talk about international because it is more about hair texture than skin color.  So our marketing approach and out-of-the-box tactics take on a little bit of a different light.

Hair texture allows you to speak to a much broader audience. Certainly, when you’re talking about West Africa, there are people who look like us.  When we talk about places like Latin America or the Caribbean, you get a much broader range of hair texture as well as skin color.

But we know that people of African descent require certain products to be able to maintain their hair. We think we can really make some significant gain because we have relatively very little international distribution.

BE:  So what will JPC look like in the next five years?

Brown: Five years from now, I’d like to be sitting across from this table and have you, “Eric, did you ever envision that you’d be talking about an IPO [initial public offering]?”  Wouldn’t that be great to be able to say that Johnson Products, which was one of the first publicly-held African American companies, would be public again?

Citing the inability of government agencies to consistently meet their small business contracting goals, Obama wrote in one order that he is “committed to ensuring that small businesses, including firms owned by women, minorities, socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, and service-disabled veterans have fair access to federal government contracting.” The president also said that if those firms can, in fact, do more work than statutory goals call for, the government also should try to exceed those goals.

The heads of the Commerce Department, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Small Business Administration will co-chair the Interagency Task Force on Federal Contracting Opportunities for Small Businesses. They’ve been given 120 days to provide the president with proposals and recommendations for innovative strategies to increase opportunities, such as mentorship programs; remove barriers to participation by unbundling large projects; and improve training for federal acquisitions officials.

The task force also must expand outreach efforts to small business advocates and associations and develop strategies to match firms, including those owned by minorities or located in HUBZones, with contracting and subcontracting opportunities. Within 90 days, the task force will develop a Website that documents small business participation in federal contracting to ensure greater transparency and accountability.

The Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development, which will be chaired by the SBA chief, calls for an improvement in capital access and capacity through loans, surety bonding and franchising and that agencies achieve their pre-established goals.

“It’s a great day in America—potentially,” said Richard Copeland, president and CEO of Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Thor Construction (No. 48 on the B.E. Industrial/Service 100 list with $103 million in sales). Copeland is also national president of the National Association of Minority Contractors.

“We haven’t had this kind of exposure, sensitivity, and initiative around our issues, and the issue of inclusion and making America work for all of its citizens, in decades. This is long overdue,” said Copeland, who a few months ago felt very pessimistic over black business owners’ inadequate access to contracting opportunities.

Timothy Adams is president of the Maryland-based Systems Application Technology, Inc. (No. 87 on the B.E. Industrial/Service 100 list with $45.3 million in sales) and contracts primarily with the Department of Defense.

“The administration understands the importance of small business across the spectrum of government spending, and this shows us how important small business is to the American economy,” said

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Adams. “My concern, though, is whether the agencies will be able to identify the changes they need to make and then find the resources to implement them. I’m also excited about the Website and hope it will show real-time participation.”

The two memorandums represent a great opportunity for minority businesses to finally get their fair share of contracting opportunities, said long-time advocate Hank Wilfong, president of the National Association of Small Disadvantaged Businesses. But, he also cautions them against sitting back and waiting for things to happen. Despite their good intentions, the officials tasked with implementing the orders and their staffs will still need to be pushed.

But because he also recognizes that entrepreneurs have both limited time and resources to devote to advocacy efforts, Wilfong urges them to reach out to associations like NASDB and the Minority Business Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which can provide guidance on how they can all “organize and mobilize” to ensure that the orders don’t become yet another set of empty promises.

Copeland, whose association belongs to both of those groups, agrees. Many of the very acquisitions and procurement officials who have, for decades, denied opportunities to small businesses are still entrenched in the system, he said. And without additional pressure from those who will most benefit from them, the orders will not be adhered to.

“If we can get the carrot coming from the top and we use a hammer from the bottom, we might finally make some headway in this economy and bring prosperity to the businesses that are creating the jobs for the emerging workforce,” Copeland said.

For the first time in several years, the Small Business Administration has conducted a comprehensive review of its 8(a) program and will announce regulation changes this summer. Created to help small, economically disadvantaged firms expand their businesses and access government contracting opportunities, the program has frequently come under fire for being inadequate and out of touch with current economic realities.

The SBA is proposing strengthening the Mentor-Protégé program by requiring that 8(a) firms receive business development assistance and perform at least 40% of the work on joint-venture projects. It also would prohibit mentor firms from acting as subcontractors to protégés in joint ventures. The goal is to ensure that small firms truly benefit from the relationship and aren’t taken advantage of to help large firms win contracts.

Size standards would be increased for 71 different types of businesses, mostly retail trade, hospitality, and food services. This purportedly would open up the program to thousands of more businesses.

The SBA also proposes to require that 8(a) firms adhere to the size limit for their primary industry or face early graduation from the program if it exceeds that limit for two consecutive years. Other proposed changes would clarify income requirements used to determine program eligibility. IRAs would be excluded from net worth calculations. Gross income and total assets could not exceed $200,000 and $3 million, respectively, to enter the program or $250,000 and $4 million to remain in it.

“A lot of what we’re doing is clarifying, cleaning up and strengthening areas we thought were lax in previous regulations,” explained SBA deputy associate administrator Calvin Jenkins.

Black business owners and advocates applaud SBA’s efforts, but lament that they don’t go far enough.

“They need to focus on how to grow larger minority businesses because changing demographics will require a strong minority business class,” says Ralph G. Moore about the SBA. As president of Ralph G. Moore & Associates, a Chicago-based management consulting firm, Moore, who is also a graduate of the 8(a) program, believes the agency has put more focus on accountability and policing rather than building stronger businesses. He adds, “The limitations government continues to place on minority businesses, like net worth and size standard limitations are counterproductive to growing a larger pool of viable minority businesses.” He’s not alone.

According to National Minority Supplier Development Council Vice President Steve Sims, the proposed changes are “useful and constructive, but don’t get at the heart of the major issues that impede or restrict minority business growth.”

The Minority Business Development Agency, a branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is on a mission. Under the leadership of National Director David A. Hinson, the agency’s top goal is to achieve “economic parity,” by matching the percentage of private businesses owned by minorities with their representation in the U.S. population. If that target is reached, MBDA believes minority-owned companies would generate more than $2.5 trillion in annual revenues, create 16 million new jobs, and contribute more than $100 billion in annual taxes. The nation’s 4 million minority-owned businesses currently generate $660 billion in revenues and employ nearly 5 million workers.

President Obama Lifts U.S. Image Worldwide

The image of the United States has improved markedly in most countries under President Barack Obama, according to a 25-nation poll conducted by The Pew Global Attitudes Project. The survey found double-digit boosts in a number of countries viewing the U.S. favorably in 2009 versus previous years’ surveys. Israel was the only country where the U.S. is viewed less favorably now than at any time in the last 10 years, with a 71% favorability rating in 2009 versus 78% in 2003 and 2007.

Flu Fears Don’t Increase Vaccinations

African Americans have higher rates of chronic illness, putting them at higher risk of developing flu-related complications. Despite the recent threat of swine flu and the annual occurrence of seasonal flu, a November BlackEnterprise.com poll shows that a majority of people have opted not to get vaccinated.

This article originally appeared in the February 2010 issue of Black Enterprise magazine.

Lenny Johnson traveled from Buffalo, New York to be in the nation’s capital this week. In 10 years, he took L & D Plumbing & Heating “from a basement” to  a $3 million commercial contractor. For his efforts,  Johnson has earned honors as one of 10 regional minority small business people of the year.

Sundra L. Ryce, president and CEO of SLR Contracting & Service Company Inc., transformed her enterprise into a $20 million construction powerhouse over the past 13 years. Her company recently graduated from the SBA’s 8(a) set-aside program and continues its double-digit expansion. As a result, SLR is the 8(a) Graduate Firm of the Year. “I was in Black Enterprise several years ago,” she told me. “Next year, I plan to see my company among the BE 100s.”

 

SLR Contracting CEO Sundra L. Ryce

Johnson and Ryce were two of 14 honorees I met at a White House reception on Wednesday that kicked off the Minority Enterprise Development Week Conference. Better know as MED Week and hosted by the Minority Business Development Agency, the three-day event is designed to celebrate entrepreneurial achievement, provide minority entrepreneurs with strategies to grow their businesses, and create access to networking opportunities that may lead to business partnerships.

The reception, which recognized a mix of entrepreneurs, small business advocates and government officials, was also used to communicate that minority business was considered a vital component of the U.S. economy at the highest levels of the Obama Administration. Vice President Joseph Biden, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, SBA Administrator Karen Mills and recently-installed MBDA National Director David Hinson spoke at the event.

(When I shared my entrepreneurial adventures as a the owner of a comic book company with Vice President, Biden he jokingly responded: “I know about superheroes. There’s Batman…and I’m Robin.”)

 

Vice President Biden and Dingle

Biden noted that it was symbolic that an event honoring minority business achievement was being held on the day that the nation mourned the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy. He said the revered “Lion of the Senate” spent his 46 years in Congress fighting for those denied access to opportunity through discriminatory practices.

Surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd and flashing bulbs from digital cameras, Biden made the connection between Kennedy’s commitment to service and entrepreneurial drive to build a business. “He believed in something that I’m sure all of you do: possibilities,” he asserts. “In fulfilling his service, he never explained and never complained. He was always reaching back. He measured his success by how many people he can help.” I found out, during the course of the event, that most of these successful business owners were involved in community service or mentored other entrepreneurs.

But the business-battering challenges that the nation’s 4 million minority companies have faced over the past year was not lost on Locke. He maintained that they “bore the brunt of the economy.” Locke, along with Hinson and Mills, shared a commitment to ensure that minority firms gain access to financing in a tight credit market as well as access to contracts through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In fact, Mills maintained 13 percent of such contracts have been awarded to minority firms thus far.

Biden said that “when your kids reach your age then 53 percent of the population will be comprised of minorities. The world has fundamentally changed. We can have a negative outcome or we can have a positive outcome. We need more middle-class Americans. If you don’t grow (your business), it will not happen.”

Hinson maintained that “minority business is a central part of the U.S. economy” needed for  job creation and commercial innovation. Over the next two days, these entrepreneurs will attend panels and sessions–in fact, I’m moderating one on Thursday morning–to achieve that goal. If they possess the same drive as Johnson, Ryce and the other awardees that mission will be accomplished.

Derek T. Dingle is the editor-in-chief of Black Enterprise Magazine.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency hosted a two-day summit to gather input on the effectiveness of minority business enterprise programs and create a blueprint for government and private sector programs that will help minority businesses survive and thrive for the next 20 years. “This is an important event that provides an opportunity for minority business stakeholders from across the country have a dialogue around important issues like the Recovery Act and how to access and become more aware of where those opportunities are,” says Rick Wade, deputy chief of staff at Commerce. “There are myriad issues but one that I think is recurring is access to capital and how you get from competing for contracts to real dollars floating back to our communities.”

Most of the concerns expressed by entrepreneurs in attendance focused on funding and contracting issues. If MBE programs are to be truly effective, they maintain, the agency must offer mentor-protégé opportunities with major corporations, help firms build their size to compete for large contracts, and provide clear goals, timetables and metrics for MBDA programs. Roughly 400 pages of comments and suggestions were collected from summit participants. MBDA officials say they will present a full report by July 28 and offer an action plan during its MEDWeek conference in late August.

Ed DeSeve, a special advisor to the Office of Management and Budget’s  director for implementation of the Recovery Act, encouraged minority businesses to compete for federal, state, and local contracts available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. He told them to provide his agency with feedback on the process and report any barriers they may face to MBDA via e-mail at public_affairs@mbda.gov. Citing that the nation’s economic recovery will not be possible without the participation of minority businesses, DeSeve and Wade emphasized the administration’s commitment to helping entrepreneurs navigate federal bureaucracy.

In order to gain access to assistance, however, minority entrepreneurs find out how stimulus funds have been allocated in their states, research potential business opportunities and identify officials charged with awarding contracts. At the same time, experts say, business owners must be prepared to act quickly, making sue they have the requisite capacity, staffing, and other resources in place. “If you don’t do your homework, you won’t be able to reap any of the rewards. Know where the money is, research the projects that they’re putting the money on, and find the niche that you can show that you’re best person to fill it,” advises Glen Delgado, assistant administrator for NASA’s Office of Small Business Programs. “The other thing is you have to be able to be flexible and react quickly because there’s a lot of pressure on every agency to spend the money quickly. They’re going to be awarding contracts in a rapid fashion so you have to be able to put together a meaningful proposal in a short period of time.”

Delgado also stresses the importance of developing a network among small business specialists at various agencies. “Develop relationships, show them your capabilities and let them introduce you to the program and technical people and to their large prime contractors so you can start getting your foot in the door as a sub,” he explains. “Then the people at the agency start to recognize your name and work. That helps build the relationship so when a requirement does come out they’ll think, ‘Oh, this guy does that work; he’ll be a good fit for that.’ But it takes time; don’t get discouraged.”

Richelle Thomas, deputy director of the Maryland Department of Transportation’s Office of Minority Business Enterprise, offers similar advice. “I wish there was some magic formula, but unfortunately there isn’t,” she says. “Stay informed, market your firm, and don’t wait for the opportunity to come to you. Be in touch with the agencies involved and go to pre-bid conferences. You’ve got to commit the time.”

If entrepreneurs are encountering hurdles in their pursuit of contracting opportunities, they should be able to offer solutions when seeking help, maintains Steven Sims, vice president of programs and field operations for the National Minority Supplier Development Council Inc., a trade association that connects minority-owned businesses with major corporations. He says: “If you have a problem, you go to someone to resolve it but have an idea about how it should be resolved. Say ‘Here are a couple of ideas I think might help, but if I can work with you we can make it happen,’ as opposed to ‘He won’t let me in the door, she won’t let me have access to a contract. Can you help me?” Using Obama as an example, Sims adds. “He didn’t get elected because he’s a nice guy or because he had a message. He got elected because he understands how the system works and how to get what he needed out of the system to get to where he needed to go. We’ve got to start doing that.”