Tweet YouTube is great place to find practical business advice from top leaders and business owners. ConnXus has searched for quality video blogs that will help your business grow. You can find advice on meeting short-term challenges and planning “big-picture” strategy from individuals, organizations and publications that want to help small business owners. YouTube makes it easy for you look through these videos, and to subscribe to channels that create videos. If you haven’t already, create a YouTube profile, take a look at the YouTube video bloggers below and subscribe to the channels that speak to your business needs! 1. WBENC’s Official Channel — The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), is the largest third-party certifier of businesses owned, controlled, [...]
Read More »Tweet Supplier Diversity is an emerging way for large corporations to save money, spur innovation and competition and grow the economy. Supplier Diversity Managers take on a variation of tasks, depending on their company’s goals. At their core, Suppler Diversity Managers oversee programs that support the diverse businesses that supply a large company. As the phrase implies, Diverse Suppliers are many, and can include: Minority and women-owned businesses Veteran owned-businesses LGBT-owned businesses and more We’ve interviewed several Supplier Diversity Managers, who’ve shared insights about what they do, and how small businesses can join their supplier diversity programs. Pamela Coleman, Senior Director, Supplier Diversity and Sustainability for Cintas Corporation in Cincinnati, spoke about her work for America’s largest uniform supplier. Among [...]
Read More »Tweet Credit can be a lifeline for a small business. Used properly, it can help your business reach new heights. Though banks are loosening the purse strings a little, it’s still very difficult for some businesses to get loans. Your credit score is a quick snapshot of your credit history that tells lenders if you’re worth taking a chance on. It’s a predictor of your future actions, based on the past. It’s not the only thing that lenders look at, but for traditional bank loans it’s one of the most important. Your credit score is a very important tool for lenders determining whether you qualify for loans or a line of credit. There are some things every business owner should [...]
Read More »Tweet The federal government is a huge buyer of products and services, but it takes careful preparation to successfully secure the federal government as a buyer. So where can you start? The U.S. Small Business Administration offers an 8(a) certification program geared at setting up small business for success in supplying the federal government. The SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program is named for the section of the federal Small Business Act designed to boost the competitiveness of small and disadvantaged businesses in the marketplace. It’s a lucrative area. In fact, small businesses earned more than $18.4 billion in 8(a) contracts in Fiscal Year 2010. 8(a) also helps companies become better prepared to supply federal and private procurement markets. For those [...]
Read More »Tweet The U.S. Small Business Administration is asking small business owners and entrepreneurs across the country to tell their stories through its Small Business Owners Speak Project. The SBA’s Small Business Owners Speak Project builds on the organization’s recent National Small Business Week video contest. The SBA asked small business owners to submit videos detailing how SBA services helped their businesses grow. You can see those stories — which include many diverse businesses and women-owned businesses — and perhaps add your own diverse business to the Small Business Owners Speak web platform. The SBA is looking for videos from small business owners who can talk about their experiences with SBA services like: Counseling Training Guaranteed loans Government contracts Disaster recovery [...]
Read More »Tweet Technology is supposed to save us time, right? But with mountains of emails to check, social media accounts to update, blogs to read, schedules to set and cell phone to answer, it sometimes can feel like technology is taking over our days instead of making us more efficient. Don’t fear! You can take tech into your own hands. Managed correctly, technology can be a help and not a hindrance in getting work done. But it does take a little planning, focus, and willpower (don’t touch that smartphone during lunch!) to make that happen. An article on Mashable.com, Five ways to get your email under control, gives some handy tips, including this little gem: Don’t Open Mail Twice. Inbox Zero [...]
Read More »Jones Lang LaSalle is a global real estate services firm specializing in commercial property management, leasing, and investment management. The company serves clients in 60 countries. The firm is an industry leader in property and corporate facility management services, with a portfolio of approximately 1.8 billion square feet worldwide. Marc Campbell is responsible for serving more than 125 clients in North and South America, with approximately 750 million square feet of facilities under management.
Read More »Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is a leading medical research and teaching hospital consistently ranking as one of America’s Best Children’s Hospitals by U.S. News and World Report. It is also the second-highest ranking recipient of research grants from the National Institutes of Health among pediatric institutions. In 2010 Children’s served patients from 45 countries and 48 states. Supplier Diversity Program Manager De Asa Brown spent some time telling connXus.com about her role at this internationally recognized pediatric institution.
Read More »Cintas Corporation is probably best known as America’s largest uniform supplier. However, the company also provides entrance mats, restroom supplies, promotional products, first aid and safety products, fire protection services and document management services to approximately 800,000 businesses. As the Senior Director of Supplier Diversity and Sustainability since 2007, Pamela Coleman develops the strategy for both programs. She provided connXus.com with an inside look at how supplier diversity works at Cintas.
Read More »As the Vice President of Sourcing and Supply Chain Management, Gary Cornett is responsible for both sourcing all the company’s spend with outside vendors across the country, and the overall movement of materials within the company and its network. Or, as he describes it, his job is to “have the materials we need, when we need them, and stay as close to nothing more than that amount.” It’s a delicate balance to achieve, and he shared how his organization makes that happen with connXus.com.
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The ConnXion Point is the blog for connXus.com, an online service connecting small, minority- and woman-owned businesses with companies seeking to hire diverse suppliers.
I'm Rod Robinson, founder and chief connector of connXus.com. I've spent 15 years in the procurement business as a minority business owner, company procurement officer and industry consultant.
The ConnXion Point will focus on issues, events and news about procurement and supplier diversity. So, whether you're purchasing or selling, we'll have information you can use. We also hope to facilitate a healthy, respectful exchange of viewpoints on issues surrounding supplier diversity and procurement.
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