Minority Business – Minority Owned Business

CHICAGO — Governor Pat Quinn joined state officials today to promote equal economic opportunity programs available for businesses and to encourage diversity in state government contracting. More than 500 people attended the Illinois Department of Central Management Services’ (CMS) Business Diversity Summit, where Acting Director Malcolm Weems and experts from state government highlighted vendor certification processes and support services offered by CMS and other state and federal agencies. Officials discussed programs for small businesses, and businesses owned by minorities, women and persons with disabilities, and underscored procurement rules regarding veterans’ preference in contracting and hiring at the state.

“One of our top priorities is to continue increasing diversity in our business practices and contracts, and create greater awareness of state government programs from which businesses can benefit,” said Governor Quinn. “The Business Diversity Summit offers a one-stop resource for companies to learn how to do business with the state, and gives us an opportunity to share important details that can help small and diverse entities grow, retain and create jobs and continue to drive our economy.”

Representatives from fourteen state agencies, several federal and local government agencies, and business and not-for-profit groups participated in the Business Diversity Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Hermann Hall. Following a presentation by CMS, attendees met with government officials and current state vendors during a networking session.

“By providing access to our staff members and representatives of relevant government entities and business groups, we can foster more dialogue with companies and entrepreneurs,” said Acting Director Weems. “The goal is to help us better understand the changing needs of the business community.”

Participating entities included: the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the Capital Development Board (CDB), the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS), the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA), the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), the City Colleges of Chicago, the Illinois Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) and the minority business Development Agency (MBDC).

Demonstrating the agency’s commitment to accountability, efficiency and service, Acting Director Weems also announced the launch of the new CMS web site, which is focused on enabling better feedback from stakeholders, including state agencies, employees, local governments and the public. More information about the Business Diversity Summit and CMS is available at www.cms.illinois.gov.

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Technorati Tags: Business, CMS, diversity, Summit

A brief look in Women’s Business Enterprise Counsel West Annual Conference. A Great place for Women owned Business to grow and expand.

Duration : 0:1:39

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Technorati Tags: Business, businesses, Certification, contract, Government, Minority, nonprofit, owned, training, WBEC, women

SBA 8a certificaition – an overview of the application process by Mark Ryan the managing partner of ez8a. www.ez8a.com

Duration : 0:5:38

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Technorati Tags: 1010, 413, 8a, Administration, Business, Certification, firm, Minority, overview, professional, qualifications, SBA, small

An overview of the SBA’s 8a certification prcess by Mark Ryan managing partner www.ez8a.com

Duration : 0:4:47

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Technorati Tags: 8a, aside, Business, Certification, ez8a, Federal, firm, Government, Minority, set, www.ez8a.com

http://www.wbec-west.com To cultivate sustainable relationships between certified Women Business enterprises and Corporate America through certification, education, and targeted networking. Contact Us (480) 969-9232

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Technorati Tags: Businesss, Certification, Minority

Minorities need "certificates" to get jobs, but white people don’t.

Question (possibly inadvertently) assumes that minorities are less capable of passing a test.

I am looking to take a particular IT course in remain competitive in my job. However, it costs nearly $4,000 and my employer can barely reimburse me for $1,000. I myself can dig up another $1,000 (I don’t have Cable, Smartphone, I use public transportation, and I cook food at home, rather than going to restaurants, etc, etc)

Which means I need to find a way to be reimbursed $2,000.

Are there organizations that give grants to promote IT education for young, minority, females? Any programs promoted by the US Government?

Right now, I’m taking lot of heat from where I work because I am perceived as not having much knowledge.

And I’m surrounded by older males who are resentful that a young, (especially non-white) female is working in the IT field.

If I can attend this $4,000 training course, and take the certification exam, I feel that I will have a strong footing just to KEEP MY CURRENT JOB.

I deeply appreciate any guidance you can offer.
The older males around me have tenure, so they surf the Internet all day and not do work, so my lack of knowledge is not burdening them in any way. As a matter of fact, they would get MORE resentful once I get certified and get more knowledge. They told me flat out, since day one.

Any further guidance anyone can provide will be greatly appreciated.

There is no government funding for something like that. If you have good credit you can apply for a personal loan from your bank though.

You are hardly at risk of losing your current job just because you work with colleagues that you perceive as resenting you. If you are perceived as not having much knowledge, prove that you do by doing your job better than them. If you lack the knowledge, then go get that personal loan and take the course so you can get the knowledge. Any resentment from your coworkers is more likely related to work performance than your age, sex, or race. From my experience most people in IT are young and not white. While most are male, there are plenty of females.

Communications: The communication type called “Update Request” has been added to send a Communication from Companies-Show/Search/Export, and Send Communication from a Sub’s record. When sent, it will provide a direct link to the “Update My Info” screen on the sub side. The “Send Communication” screen within companies has also been updated to include this communication.

Defined Areas of Work: User can now choose to set a default mile radius for all subcontractors that will populate based off of the zip code in the subs profile. This will be applied to every sub that has not personally defined their areas of work. Users can generate a report to show which subs have no defined their areas of work yet. Users can also Bulk Update selected subs under show/search/export with an area of work. With this option, the ability to filter bid projects by area of work has been added.

Prequal: A “Read Only Company Structure” question has been added to the prequal form fields.

Reports: Minority searches can now be filtered to show and export only designated statuses and certifications. This means users can isolate a certain certification or a certain group of certifications when exporting.

Duration : 0:2:46

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Geri Swift, President of the Women’s Business Enterprise Council (WBEC) of PA, DE and sNJ, discusses WBE stars, the benefits of certification and what her organization offers its members.

Duration : 0:3:3

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Technorati Tags: 2011 wbenc national conference, geri swift, mbe, MBEConnect, mbeconnect videos, minority owned business, MWBE, sandra eberhard, Supplier Diversity, WBE, WBEC, wbec pa-de-snj, WBENC, wbenc las vegas, Women Owned Business

http://www.wbec-west.com. Women Business Enterprise Council West helps women owned business in the Certification process. WBEC-West is a regional Partner of WBENC. WBEC-West focus on women Owned certification. (480) 969-9232

Duration : 0:2:19

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Technorati Tags: Women Business