Forty minority businesses, representing a wide array of industries, were nominated for 2016 Supplier of the Year Awards.
Forty exceptional minority business enterprises (MBEs) sharing accounts of their journey to success and an inspiring keynote speaker urging supplier diversity professionals to be “change agents” were among the highlights of SCMSDC’s Supplier of the Year (SOTY) awards celebration.
The annual event, held July 22 at the Hilton Long Beach Hotel, celebrated the outstanding performance of MBEs in their contracts with corporate members.
A crowd gathers during the reception for the nominee “art gallery.”
“This year’s awards program was among the most competitive and most memorable,” according to SCMSDC President Virginia Gomez. “We had a near-record number of nominees, many of whom were nominated for the first time, and three of the four top award recipients were first-time winners. Congratulations to all of our award winners and nominees!”
From left, Rick Hobbs, Class I winner Malee Tansavatki of AmmMmm, Charles Harmon and Virginia Gomez.
“The nominees represent the great strides minority businesses and corporate America can make when working together in open, diverse and inclusive partnerships,” adds SCMSDC Vice Chair Charles Harmon, senior manager, Corporate Procurement/Corporate Services at American Honda Motor Co., the event’s title sponsor for 26 consecutive years. “Diversity is simply good business, and this year’s nominees and winners exemplify this principle.”
SCMSDC Board Chair and Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) Director of Supply Management and Supplier Diversity Rick Hobbs also applauded the group, noting “To be nominated for a Supplier of the Year award is no small feat considering only 3% of the council’s MBEs receive this recognition.”
Class II winner Eddy Duong of Sun Engineering receives award from Virginia Gomez, Charles Harmon and Rick Hobbs.
Collectively, the nominees have gross annual sales of more than $765 million and employ about 6,800 of which approximately 4,600 are minorities. Nominated by corporate members, they competed for the award in four categories, based on gross annual sales of less than $1 million (Class I), between $1 million and $10 million (Class II), between $10 million and $50 million (Class III), and $50 million or greater (Class IV).
SOTY award winners
The following received 2016 SOTY awards:
Class I: AmmMm Inc., a distributor of janitorial supplies, disposable food services and protective supplies. Headquartered in Rancho Palos Verdes, the firm was nominated by Comcast NBCUniversal and is the recipient of a complimentary registration to the National Minority Supplier Development Council’s (NMSDC) conference in Chicago this fall, courtesy of SCMSDC.
From left, SoCalGas’ Joe Chow, Class III winner Kevin Narcomey of Osceola Consulting, Virginia Gomez, Charles Harmon and Rick Hobbs.
Class II: Sun Engineering Services, Inc., a full-service engineering consulting firm. The Westminster-based company was nominated by SoCalGas and received a scholarship from Wells Fargo to the Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth’s program for minority business entrepreneurs.
Class III: Osceola Consulting, a management consulting and technology services company with an emphasis on the utilities industry. Osceola, based in Tiburon, was nominated by SoCalGas and received a scholarship from the utility to the UCLA Anderson School of Business Management Development for Entrepreneurs Program.
Eric Fisher and Dennis Thurston of Southern California Edison with Class IV winner Hal Hays, Hal Hays Construction, Virginia Gomez, Charles Harmon and Rick Hobbs.
Class IV: Hal Hays Construction Inc., a construction firm based in Riverside. It was nominated by Southern California Edison and received a scholarship from Toyota to the Kellogg School of Business of Management at Northwestern University.
Winner’s Circle Class I recipient Marcus Moore, Genesis Professional Staffing, with Charles Harmon.
Runners-up in each category received Winners’ Circle awards. These included (Class I) Genesis Professional Staffing, Inc., a staffing company in Burbank, nominated by American Honda; (Class II) ICE Safety Solutions, a safety training and equipment firm in Fremont, nominated by Toyota; (Class III) and RMI International Inc., a security services firm in Paramount, nominated by American Honda. For the first time in the council’s history, there was a tie in Class IV between SodexoMAGIC, a food and facilities management firm in Beverly Hills, and Walton Isaacson, which offers corporate marketing and branding services from its Los Angeles headquarters. Both companies were nominated by Toyota.
Pamela Isom, ICE Safety Solutions, accepts the Winner’s Circle Class II award from Virginia Gomez and Rick Hobbs.
Award recipients gave brief remarks and shared moving stories of overcoming challenges to achieve success. They also expressed heartfelt gratitude to the council, corporate nominators and others for providing support during their journey.
Other nominees included:
CLASS I: Cho Estrada Communications, a Valencia-based provider of public relations consulting, writing and editorial services; and Integritas Resources, Inc., a Los Angeles company specializing in finance and accounting recruitment and staffing.
Winner’s Circle Class III recipient Rick Rodriguez, RMI International, with Virginia Gomez and Charles Harmon.
CLASS II: AB Unlimited, a Los Angeles-based marketing resource agency focused on event promotional products and event graphics; Andry Specialty Vehicles Inc. an experiential marketing and design fabrication company in Torrance; CeteraMarketing, LLC, a North Hollywood marketing company focused on promotional products, corporate gifts and web stores; Clear Cloud Solutions, headquartered in Pomona, a security systems integration, design, installation and consulting firm; Décor Interior Design, Inc., a Los Angeles facility resource company specializing in tenant improvements, design, planning and janitorial and grounds maintenance; Icon Blue, Inc. (American Honda), based in Los Angeles, designs, manufactures, packages and distributes promotional merchandise; Material Acquisition Services, Inc., a Lake Forest firm, provides industrial material fabrication and distribution services; OrangePeople, headquartered in Irvine, offers enterprise architecture services, IT strategy, business analysis and program/project management services; Phoenix Engineering Co., Inc. of Carson provides temporary and full-time IT, engineering and administrative staffing services; Roque Development and Investment, Inc., an engineering, drafting and related services in Monterey Park; RICOM, offers IT hardware, software and telecom equipment from its Irvine office; SuperbTech, Inc., a Culver City staffing firm specializing in contract and permanent placement; Think Ink, headquartered in Brea, provides printing, promotional products and design services; and Vobecky Enterprises Inc. offers construction and nationwide trucking services from its Glendora base.
There was a tie for the Winner’s Circle Class IV award. Above, a SodexoMAGIC representative, Chris Morrow, accepts the award.
CLASS III: A.P.R., Inc., headquartered in Thousand Oaks, offers temporary employment and staffing services; Area51-ESG, Inc., is an Irvine-based electronic components distributor; Blair, Church & Flynn Consulting Engineers is an engineering and construction management services firm headquartered in Clovis; Clipper Corporation, based in Carson, specializes in restaurant supplies, small wares and uniforms; DSS Staffing, Inc. provides comprehensive employment services from its Brea headquarters; Graycon Inc. is a City of Industry-based HVAC and plumbing contractor; Growth Development Marketing, Inc. provides construction equipment, tools and materials from its Chino headquarters; Intertrend Communications is a full-service advertising, public relations and media company based in Long Beach; IW Group, Inc. of West Hollywood offers advertising production, media planning/buying, public relations and event coordination services; Johnson-Peltier Electric is a Santa Fe Springs-based electrical contractor; MARRS Services, Inc. offers a full range of engineering, management and environmental services from its Fullerton base; PRAVA Construction Services, Inc. is a general contractor and construction management firm in Escondido; and Stage3 Agency provides marketing services focusing on strategy, technology and creative from its Torrance office.
Walton Isaacson tied for the Winner’s Circle Class IV award; Rochelle Newman Carrasco accepts the award.
CLASS IV: Agile Sourcing Partners, based in Corona, provides project management and equipment distribution services for utilities; and Burrell Communications Group LLC of Chicago focuses on transcultural marketing communications.
Nikki Barua, last year’s regional and national SOTY award recipient, shared her personal story of the events that led her to start BeyondCurious, which specializes in transforming brands by creating mobile and digital experiences, and how she became focused on becoming a “change catalyst” (see accompanying story). Her message of overcoming personal loss and acceptance and finding her voice to help others resonated with the audience, which gave Barua a standing ovation.
Keynote speaker Nikki Barua of BeyondCurious.
At the awards luncheon, the council also announced two MBE recipients of the first Jeff Thorsen Scholarship — Walter Hill of Icon Blue and Hector Mendoza of Roque Development and Investment Inc.
Thorsen was a highly respected supplier diversity leader who helped shape SoCalGas’ supplier diversity program before losing his battle to cancer this year. His passion for helping diverse firms grow and succeed was well known, and a video clip with quotes from MBEs and supplier diversity leaders alike reminded the audience of Thorsen’s impact.
Michele Ruiz, president and chief strategist at Ruiz Strategies, a consulting firm that develops content messaging strategies, served as the event’s Mistress of Ceremonies.
Mistress of Ceremonies Michele Ruiz
Established by NMSDC, corporate members nominate certified MBEs in good standing with the council for a SOTY award. Nominees are judged by an award selection committee comprised of SCMSDC corporate members and evaluated on: demonstrated growth and development; employment and job creation; consistent high quality operations, products/services and business performance; procurement/purchasing spend with MBEs; mentoring and other forms of assistance to MBEs; regional council involvement, and more.
One winner is selected in each class category, with local winners receiving business scholarships and special recognition and competing in the regional and national competition for the NMSDC SOTY award.
Nominee facts
Total employees: 6,800
Minority employees: 4,600
Gross annual sales: $765 million-plus
Corporate nominators
American Honda Motor Co.
Comcast NBCUniversal
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Northrop Grumman Corp
SoCalGas
Southern California Edison
The Walt Disney Company
Toyota
University of Southern California
UPS
Award selection committee
Charles Harmon, American Honda Motor Co.
David Iwata, Valley Economic Development Corp.
Johnny Elias, IBM
Michelle Chieks, SoCalGas
Ken Ashford, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Monetta Stephens, Toyota
Rhonda Thornton, University of Southern California
Click here to access event photos and the nominee video.
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