By Subcontractors USA News Provider
The Houston Minority Supplier Development Council (HMSDC) is a nonprofit organization committed to driving the economic growth of minority-owned businesses. The HMSDC is a vital link between major corporations and minority business enterprises (MBEs). During this pandemic, our minority business community is facing unforeseen struggles. And continuing to answer the call during these times is the HMSDC. An extension of their efforts is the upcoming HMSDC Virtual EXPO held on November 18th and 19th. This event is Texas’ largest minority business trade-fair, supporting the advancement of our minority business community.
Adapting to COVID-19, this event will be hosted virtually, with a theme reflecting on the state of minority business owners and the advice HMSDC has been offering since earlier this year to: Reimagine. Reconnect. Rise Stronger.
The EXPO will bring a forum, sessions, award events, and speakers who include Houston Rocket and certified MBE entrepreneur Russell Westbrook III and award-winning TV host, journalist, and author Roland Martin.
HMSDC’s goal is to provide a virtual experience that delivers on their four pillars: Certify, Develop, Connect, and Advocate. They have designed components of this year’s EXPO to address each of the four pillars for attendees to:
- Reimagine your business.
- Reconnect with customers.
- Rise Stronger by investing in your business today to position you for tomorrow.
Subcontractors USA talked with Ingrid M. Robinson, the President of HMSDC, on the upcoming EXPO.
Talk about the honorees, speakers, and partners who are supporting the HMSDC to make this virtual EXPO a great success for attendees and the minority business community.
HMSDC is proud of its partnerships with Houston’s most prestigious businesses. HMSDC has had a 20+ year relationship with the Houston Business Journal, which began with our Emerging 10 (E-10) Awards and has grown to include our BizTalk session that provides key insights into the latest business issues impacting Houston industries and businesses.
Each year, our Rigel Awards are HMSDC’s most prestigious awards that recognizes those corporations that are setting new standards and establishing best practices for corporate supplier diversity programs. It also features those MBEs who are providing best in class service to their corporate customers. The Rigel Awards brings exhibitors together with general attendees to receive genuine recognition for their continued support and contribution to the development of minority businesses. This is our opportunity to recognize our champions in minority business development!
As the HMSDC is tracking the contributions of MBEs that are helping combat the coronavirus, what have you found?
We have found that MBEs are innovators. They respond to market demands quickly and have formed strategic partnerships to allow them to scale and build capacity, providing the industry with the PPE it needs to protect its workers and their families from COVID-19. Some of our MBEs have provided thousands of pieces of PPE equipment to our medical centers, energy companies, refineries, and universities. Frankly, our MBEs have also stepped up to support HMSDC, other business development organizations, and MBEs alike. Firms like Tom Ren’s (Global XLR) donated to nonprofit organizations like HMSDC, SBA, the City of Houston, and others with hundreds of PPE masks for use by staff and to distribute to MBEs struggling as a result of the global pandemic who could not buy cost competitive PPE in small quantities. In some cases, they even offered discounted pricing to prime suppliers of our major corporations so that the construction industry could access the demand it needed without pulling from the resource stock pile needed by our medical industry. It is stories like these that happen over and over again that make us proud of the MBEs we have in the HMSDC.
Talk about your progress on HMSDC’s COVID-19 Relief Assistance Program.
Shortly after COVID-19 shut down our city back in early March, the HMSDC did a survey of its MBEs to better understand their needs and their struggle to survive as small businesses. We understood how critical it would be for those struggling firms to be able to maintain their certification in order to do business with major corporations and governmental entities in Texas. We reached out to our corporate partners and larger MBEs and asked for donations to invest in our COVID-19 Recertification Assistance Program (RAP). We were pleasantly surprised at how quickly they responded to the need. We are proud to report that we have been able to provide every MBE who has requested assistance with the funds needed to maintain their certification for the next year. We have corporate members like Waste Management who have stepped up to sponsor the certification of 40 black female entrepreneurs who participated in their Share the Mic and the Money Now program.
In addition to this EXPO, how else has the HMSDC been serving/supporting our minority business community in the midst of this pandemic?
We have also received a sponsorship from Russell Westbrook Enterprises that has allowed us to sponsor those 40 black female businesses participating in the Waste Management program through our Pathways to Excellence (P2E) program. P2E is a business self-assessment that helps diverse suppliers understand the standards and business requirements used by major corporations and governmental entities in the supplier selection process. P2E provides the technical assistance training to close identified gaps within the six pillars (HSSE, Cyber Security, Quality, Corporate Policies, Technical, and Financials) reflecting business standards and corporate requirements. This increases MBEs ability to compete for higher added value contracts. Also, we have been hosting our CEO Conversations program designed to allow MBEs to discuss leadership directly with CEOs and senior executives of Houston’s largest public and private institutions. CEO Conversations is a transformational learning journey designed to enable large MBE companies to learn from top industry leaders and enable them to innovate within their business and ultimately within their industry. Participants engage in robust dialogue with peers during the CEO Mindshare sessions, allowing them to share ideas and seek feedback to develop new solutions to business challenges – all while leveraging learnings from the program. The key sponsor of this program is Accenture. Featured CEOs since March include: Sylvester Turner, Mayor of the City of Houston; Bob Harvey, President and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership; Armando Perez, Executive Vice President of H-E-B; and Brian Coffman, President and CEO of Motiva Enterprises.
The HMSDC understands the difficulties that this pandemic has brought to businesses, as they have been faced with adapting to these challenging times as well. But through leveraging online learning and communication tools, seeking new sources of revenue to help small businesses through the pandemic, and hosting events like this EXPO, they are remaining sensitive to the needs of their members without diluting the value of their services. For more information and to register for the HMSDC’s Virtual EXPO held on November 18th and 19th, please visit expo.hmsdc.org or call (713) 271-7805.
