Top Minority Entrepreneurs Honored At NY Gala
NEW YORK - The New York & New Jersey Minority Supplier Development Council (The Council) Partnership Awards Gala honored top minority entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies for their successes in creating outstanding business collaborations at the New York Marriott Marquis.
“National Corporation of the Year Award” was presented to IBM Corporation. New York Life Insurance received the “Regional Corporation of the Year Award.” Interpublic Group earned the “Chairman’s Award.” Joy Crichlow, director of the supplier diversity program at Con Edison of New York and chairman emeritus of The Council, received the “Advocate of the Year Award.”
“Con Edison’s commitment to the development of supplier diversity helps to ensure minority businesses maximum opportunities to participate in its competitive procurement,” said Crichlow. “We believe that creating beneficial relationships with today’s vendors create employment for future generations.”
“Although we are now living in a challenging economic period, there are opportunities for small business to excel and grow—as witnessed by our minority business winners,” said Lynda Ireland, president and CEO, The Council. “We would like to congratulate all our corporate members. Even in this difficult economy, they understand the bottom line value and quality of utilizing minority businesses.”
Supplier of the Year Awards were presented to minority companies certified by The Council that have excelled in growing their business, supplying services to their clients and reaching out to help communities. The Class II award was presented to RDZ Media Group, a New York based African American-owned award winning media production company, which specializes in producing marketing and viral videos, creating new media applications and developing social media software. The Class III award was won by Park Avenue Building & Roofing Supplies is a Hispanic American owned business, located in a Brooklyn state of the art facility, is considered the New York metro area’s premier minority owned supplier of building materials to companies, contractors and consumers. The Class IV award went to York Telecom, a New Jersey based Asian American owned company that is recognized as a pioneer and innovator in the audio, video and web collaboration industry through its well-blended expertise in system design, integration and managed conferencing services.
Glamorous entrepreneur B. Smith, founder and chief creative officer of B. Smith Enterprises, hosted the awards gala, which featured corporate chair Eliseo Rojas, vice president of global sourcing and procurement at Interpublic Group; MBE co-chairs Raymond Rivera, Park Avenue Building & Roofing Suppliers and Emmett Walker, founder & CEO, Walker International Transportation; and Hilton O. Smith, senior vice president, Turner Construction and The Council’s chairman. Gold sponsors were Bank of New York Mellon, Con Edison of New York, PepsiCo and Prudential.
The New York & New Jersey Minority Supplier Development Council, an award-winning affiliate of National Minority Supplier Development Council, certifies African American, Asian-American, Hispanic-American and Native-American-owned businesses to be eligible to compete for major corporate contracts. The Council has over 200 corporate members, including Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies and educational institutions. There are approximately 1,300 New York and New Jersey minority-owned businesses with annual revenues from $100,000 to $3 billion certified by The Council.
