2022 Mid-Year Update from NMSDC CEO and President Ying McGuire
I cannot believe we are already halfway through 2022. Earlier this year we set big goals for 2022. If you missed the strategy briefing I did back in February (or just need a refresher), I encourage you to go back and watch it for a great overview of the ambitious strategic journey NMSDC is on.
I want to thank our team, board, MBEs, corporate members, regional and international affiliate councils, and strategic partners for your feedback, engagement, and support as we continue the important work needed to accomplish NMSDC’s goal of increasing MBE revenue and ending the racial wealth gap.
As part of my continued efforts to foster open and transparent communication throughout the NMSDC community, I wanted to give you all a mid-year update on our organization’s progress on our strategic goals and where we are headed next.
Capacity Building
As many of you know, one of the goals from NMSDC’s strategic plan involves building a winning team so that we can not only achieve but exceed our stakeholder expectations. I am happy to report that we have made great strides in that area and have added several new members to our team over the last six months. We have hired nine new employees to improve our capacity in the following areas:
- Marketing and Communications
- Strategic Programs and Alliances
- Finance and Accounting
- Field Services
- Human Resources
In addition, we continue to prioritize developing the technology infrastructure that is key to NMSDC’s success over the next 50 years. With help from our partners at McKinsey & Company and World Wide Technology, NMSDC has developed an end-to-end technology roadmap that will guide us as we implement the technology solutions needed to support our mission.
We have also continued to enhance service consistency across the NMSDC network through certification workshops and rationalizing our programming to focus on high quality programming that provides the greatest amount of value to the NMSDC community.
Finally, we have made forward progress on achieving NMSDC’s internal goal of financial sustainability. We moved NMSDC headquarters to a new location in the Avenue of Americas which will save the organization $900,000 in operating expenses that we can reinvest in our efforts to help MBEs grow. I also want to thank our corporate members and MBEs who have helped us exceed our first half revenue targets. I want to give a special thanks to World Wide Technology and Mastec for their combined commitment of $3.5 million over the next five years to NMSDC’s 50 for 50 Capital Campaign.
Increasing Impact
We recently released the 2021 Minority Business Economic Impact report to better understand how the coronavirus pandemic and the racial justice movement affected NMSDC certified MBEs over the last two years. Although the pandemic has disproportionately impacted systematically excluded communities of color, the racial justice movement, along with NMSDC’s steadfast focus on serving as an MBE growth engine, has seen certified MBEs grow significantly over the last two years. Some highlights from the report include:
- A 22% increase in total revenues from NMSDC-certified MBEs.
- A 64% increase in total US jobs at NMSDC-certified MBEs.
- A 126% increase in wages earned by US employees at MBEs.
I am thrilled by the gains our MBE community experienced. I encourage you to read the full report on our website.
In addition, we continue to build meaningful connections between our MBEs and corporate members through NMSDC’s matchmaking program. The program has led to over 450 meetings between MBEs and our corporate members so far this year!
We also continue to develop NMSDC-certified MBEs through our development programs including the Emerging Young Entrepreneurs and Centers of Excellence programs.
- Thanks to the help of over 50 corporate partners, the 2021 – 2022 cohort of the Emerging Young Entrepreneurs included a record-breaking 37 individuals across all industry groups.
- A combined 100 MBEs participated in the Cargill and Johnson & Johnson Centers of Excellence programs. A special thanks to the mentors, executives, and regional affiliates who made these cohorts a success.
And of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention the successful launch of NMSDC’s Inaugural Minority Business Economic Forum. The Forum was a tremendous success and led to many meaningful connections between corporate leaders and our Corporate Plus members and MBEs.
It was great to see The Forum help galvanize the chief officers of so many corporations around our goal of achieving $1 trillion in certified MBE revenue. I want to thank all our corporate members who have joined NMSDC on the march to $1 trillion including:
- JPMorgan Chase
- Disney
- DuPont
- Hightowers Petroleum Co.
- LSI
- MillerKnoll
- Rose International
- VDart
We appreciate everything you are doing to reach this important milestone for certified MBEs.
Looking Forward
Now that you know where we have been this year, you are probably wondering what’s next as we enter the second half of 2022.
People: As we have discussed in the past, the key to NMSDC success is ensuring we continue to onboard visionary leaders who will help take us into the next phase of our development. To that end we recently hired NMSDC’s first Entrepreneur in Residence who will focus on driving MBE growth, and our Chief Growth Officer who will work to diversify NMSDC revenue streams and give us the flexibility needed to make substantial strides toward tackling the racial wealth gap once and for all.
Technology: Lexico Consulting, a certified MBE and supplier of the year, will help NMSDC evaluate technology solutions aimed at automating MBE certification and building a new Customers Relationship Manager (CRM) platform that will help address some of the network’s largest technology needs.
Organization Design and Certification Modernization: The NMSDC board created a task force that is working with a top advisory firm to reimagine our organizational structure and certification process to better support our mission. This will include an online “Digital Conversation” that will take place in the coming weeks to tap into the full network (regional councils, MBEs, and corporate members) to hear your thoughts in your own words.
50th Anniversary Annual Conference and Exchange: I am excited to share that early bird registration is now open for NMSDC’s Annual Conference and Exchange which will be taking place in New Orleans October 30 – November 2. I encourage you to visit the conference website to register at nmsdcconference.org. For our 50th anniversary, we have reimagined the conference to include your unique insights, goals, and points of view. This year our community can submit session ideas and vote on the sessions they are most interested in seeing at this year’s conference. Visit nmsdc.awardsplatform.com to submit your ideas by July 15.
We are also introducing new awards this year aimed at recognizing the entities and individuals that are moving the needle on supply chain diversity. Stay tuned to future NMSDC communications to learn how to apply!
50th Anniversary Steering Committee: I am looking forward to the first meeting of the 50th anniversary steering committee. Co-chaired by Earvin “Magic” Johnson and David Steward of World Wide Technology, this small group of MBE giants will provide the visionary leadership and expertise needed to achieve $1 trillion in certified-MBE annual revenue, successfully execute our 50 for 50 capital campaign, and take the other necessary steps to set NMSDC up for success over the next 50 years.
New Programs: I am excited to announce that NMSDC is offering several new programs in the coming months including:
- The OMD Growth Academy: This new partnership affirms NMSDC’s commitment to social and racial equity by providing Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) valuable marketing knowledge, resources, and insights needed for continued growth. Visit https://nmsdc.org/omd-growth-academy/ to learn more.
- NMSDC Learning Center: Thanks to a generous sponsorship from Wells Fargo, NMSDC is now offering an online learning center that gives our MBEs and corporate members access to an extensive catalog of top learning and training resources, courses, and webinars-available online for choice and convenience. Visit https://nmsdc.org/nmsdc-learning-center/ to sign up today.
- CyberReadyMBE: CyberReadyMBE is a five-week program developed by Industry Workforce Solutions (IWS) to provide pathways for companies to increase their cyber capabilities and resiliency, allowing them to become integrated into corporate and public-sector supply chains. More information on the program will be available soon.
I want to thank OMD, Wells Fargo, Industry Workforce Solutions, GE, Truist, Bank of America, the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, Bobcat Cyber, Blackgate Cyber, and everyone else who helped make these programs possible.
Public Policy: I am honored to serve on the U.S. Small Business Administration Council on Underserved Communities where I provide advisory on the best ways to remove barriers for MBEs doing business with government agencies. Over the next six months I, and the rest of the council, will be focusing on access to contracts with an emphasis on those in the infrastructure space.
We know the competitive landscape has expanded, creating more options in the marketplace for the services we provide. We also know that our MBEs and corporate members are looking to us to innovate to meet their evolving needs. I am extremely excited for this opportunity to refresh and evolve NMSDC. I believe you can all play a role as we continue taking steps towards ending the racial wealth gap and creating economic and social equity for all. As President Barack Obama once said, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe 4th of July holiday!Ying McGuire
CEO and President
NMSDC
