SCMBDC to Honor Outstanding Minority Suppliers; 20th Annual Supplier of the Year Awards Luncheon to Be Held July 7

Business Wire, June 23, 2004

LOS ANGELES -- Southern California Minority Business Development Council will be honoring outstanding minority suppliers at its 20th Annual Supplier of the Year Awards luncheon on July 7 at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel, located at 251 S. Olive St.

The event spotlights top-performing minority business enterprises (MBEs) who were nominated by SCMBDC corporate members. MBEs are judged on the company's history, growth and development and major obstacles they overcame; demonstrated growth in sales and employment; quality of products or services, delivery performance, and competitiveness; utilization of other MBEs, and community involvement and major accomplishments.

"This is one of our most popular events of the year. Major corporations attend to recognize MBEs for outstanding performance and for their contributions to the business community. MBEs attend to support their colleagues," says DeLynne Ano, SCMBDC chairperson and supplier diversity development manager for Nestle, USA. "Since the event is MBE-focused, it's an excellent opportunity for minority businesses to make new business contacts."

As a group, this year's nominees employ 1,900 people of which more than 1,200 are minorities, gross nearly $2 billion in annual sales, and have a combined 320 years of business experience. One winner in each class category will be selected, based on annual sales of less than $1 million (Class I), annual sales between $1 million and $10 million (Class II), and annual sales greater than $10 million (Class III).

As in past years, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. is title sponsor for this event. In addition to Honda, the following corporate members provided nominations for 2004 Supplier of the Year awards: ChevronTexaco; Comerica Bank; Kaiser Permanente; Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; Nissan; Nestle, USA; Raytheon Company; Southern California Gas Company; Union Bank of California; WellPoint Health Service Networks, and Xerox.

Highly diverse in the products and services they provide, award nominees include: American Contractor Services, Upland; Abisco Products, Inc., Santa Fe Springs; Applied Research West, Inc., Los Angeles; Campos Creative Works, Inc., Santa Monica; CC-Ops, Inc., Culver City; Creative Cuisine Concepts, Inc., Torrance; D.O.D. Construction, Bakersfield; Empire Maintenance Company, Inc., Alhambra; Global Branding Group, Inc., Torrance; Icon Blue, Inc., Los Angeles; LandPro, Inc., Garden Grove; The Lee Andrews Group, Inc., Los Angeles; Natel Engineering Co., Inc., Chatsworth; Nelson Davis Television Productions, Los Angeles; Phoenix Engineering, Company, Inc., Compton; Software House International, Inc., Somerset, NJ; Sherwood Florist, Inc., Claremont; Superbtech, Inc., Los Angeles; Techcolor Graphics, Chino; Tentek, Inc., Glendale; and V.R. & Associates, Huntington Beach.

Class I and Class II winners will receive scholarships to the Management Development for Entrepreneurs Program at the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA, donated by Union Bank of California. Class III has historically been awarded a scholarship to the Advanced Minority Business Executive Program at the Amos Tuck School of Business Management at Dartmouth University, donated by Honda. Like last year, Honda has arranged to have this year's Class III winner featured on a segment of "Making It," the KTLA-TV program that focuses on minority entrepreneurs.

Local winners move on to regional and national competition. The national competition takes place later this year at the National Minority Supplier Development Council headquarters in New York City; regional and national winners are recognized at NMSDC's annual conference in the fall.

For information, tickets or sponsorship opportunities for the 2004 Supplier of the Year awards luncheon, contact Shawn Smith at 213-689-6940, or visit www.scmbdc.org.

Southern California Minority Business Development Council -- formerly Southern California Regional Purchasing Councils -- serves 1,300 minority business enterprises and 200 corporate members throughout 13 counties. It is the region's leading minority business advocacy organization. Founded in 1975 and headquartered in Los Angeles with chapters in Orange County and the Central Valley, it is one of 40 regional councils in the National Minority Supplier Development Council.