2nd annual Minority Business Enterprise Summit November 15th

The second annual Minority Business Enterprise Summit will feature the release of two new reports about family-owned small businesses and best practices in supplier diversity. Companies doing more than $1 million in business with minority- and women-owned firms also will be recognized as part of the Arizona Million Dollar Circle of Excellence.

 The MBE Summit, hosted by the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Phoenix MBDA Business Center, takes place November 15, 8:00 to 10:00 a.m., at the Arizona Biltmore Resort in Phoenix. Registration and a mini business expo begin at 7 a.m.

 “This is only the second year for the MBE Summit, but it’s fast becoming a fixture on the state’s business landscape,” said Gonzalo A. de la Melena Jr., President and CEO of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “Arizona Hispanics may constitute the largest share of minority-owned businesses, but we’ve created this event because we understand the growing overall importance of minority- and women-owned companies in our economy. The Summit is designed to highlight that very real trend.”

 The Summit’s keynote speaker is Bill Moon, chairman of the Billion Dollar Roundtable (BDR), a non-profit international organization dedicated to expanding the participation and advancement of minority- and women-owned businesses providing supplies for larger companies. The 18 corporations that are members of the BDR each purchase more than $1 billion annually in goods and/or services from minority- and women-owned companies.

 A highlight of the Summit is the release of the 2013 roster for the Arizona’s Million Dollar Circle of Excellence, co-chaired by Donald E. Brandt and Don McKneely. Brandt is chairman and CEO of Arizona Public Service. McKneely is president & CEO of TexCorp, and a founder of the Billion Dollar Roundtable. The Million Dollar Circle of Excellence, modeled after the BDR, represents member companies that spend more than $1 million annually with minority- and women-owned companies in Arizona. The 13 AZ MDCE inductees for 2013 are: Arizona Public Service Co., Arizona State University, Austin Commercial LP, Bank of America, CenturyLink, City of Phoenix- Aviation, Cox Communications, Freeport-McMoRan, Hensel Phelps, Southwest Gas, Salt River Project, Sundt Construction, Inc., and The Apollo Group. 

Two new reports will be released at the Summit: the Family-owned Business Enterprises Report and the Supplier Diversity Best Practices White Paper. The reports are part of the Arizona Business Research Series commissioned by the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Phoenix MBDA Business Center. Previous reports in this series surveyed minority-, women- and Hispanic-owned businesses. In September, the Chamber also released its annual DATOS: The State of Arizona’s Hispanic Market, a detailed analysis of consumer and demographic trends in Arizona’s Hispanic community. On November 21, the Chamber will release DATOS: Tucson.

 Among the highlights in the 2013 Family-Owned Business Enterprise Report: 56 percent of minority-owned businesses are family-owned; are slightly smaller in terms of median revenue in 2011 ($197,600) as compared to minority-owned businesses that are not family-owned ($227,000); and are more likely to be home-based (49% vs. 38% not family-owned) and women-owned businesses (41% vs. 32% not family-owned).

 “Given the state of Arizona’s rapid economic recovery and the growing role of minority entrepreneurs, understanding how minority family-owned businesses are faring and how they feel about the future is integral to planning our economy,” said de la Melena.

 The release of the Supplier Diversity Best Practices White Paper will be coupled with a roundtable discussion moderated by Nora Neibergall of the Institute of Supply Management. The panel will discuss best practices researched in the white paper. The panelists will be Michael Garcia (Boeing), Frantz Tiffeau (Nationwide Insurance), Jesus Borboa (APS) and Lorena Valencia (Reliance Wire). The report address common challenges faced by companies seeking to diversify their supply chains, such as: fostering support among management; having the purchasing division embrace supplier diversity; developing a qualified and diverse bidder pool; and making sure diverse spending flows down.

 In addition, this year’s winners of the Phoenix MBDA Center Awards will be announced. The center counsels mid-sized minority-owned firms on how to take their companies to the next level. The annual awards are designed to celebrate and recognize the outstanding achievements of minority entrepreneurs, as well as individuals and organizations, who have demonstrated leadership and commitment in advancing minority business enterprises. Local winners are eligible to be nominated to receive regional and national MBDA awards.

Arizona is home to an estimated 100,000-plus minority-owned business enterprises, two-thirds of which are Hispanic-owned, contributing billions annually in revenue to the state’s economy.

Notably, the already substantial impact of minority-owned businesses is growing at a phenomenal rate. The number of businesses owned by Hispanic women, for instance, are growing three to four times the national average of non-Hispanic-owned firms. Hispanic-owned businesses are expanding at a rate two to three times the national average, while Asian American-owned companies are recording historic growth as well.