Vocabulary Changes

If we live long enough in interesting times, we will likely experience changes in our language’s vocabulary.  Maybe different definitions for the same or similar words, new words replacing currently accepted ones or, my personal favorite, dialogues so obfuscated with acronyms and protocol that we’re not exactly sure what we might be talking about. We’re…

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Help! I don’t have that document.

The certification process is co-dependent. The business itself is being certified as being capable to provide its products and/or services. The business is being certified as being at least 51% owned, operated and controlled by a diverse individual(s) who possesses the knowledge and skill to run the business applying for certification. This is why certifiers require supporting documentation…

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Profiles in Certification – SourceOne Innovations, Inc.

This year we decided to do something different, profiling a SDMWVLGBTBE (Small Disadvantaged or Disabled, Minority, Women, Veteran, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered Business Enterprise) and a specific diverse certification. Samantha Smith interviews potential businesses, so email us with a request to be included — no, you don’t have to be a GetDiversityCertified.com client. Next…

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Best Practices

In the world of supplier diversity literature, best practices are defined and expressed by the professionals in corporations and government agencies. SDMWVLGBTBE (Small Disadvantaged or Disabled, Minority, Women, Veteran, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered Business Enterprise) owners are often unaware of the challenges facing supplier diversity organizations. We’ve written about The Inclusion Dividend: Why Investing…

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Perspectives

We often talk about the history of supplier diversity, how its roots are buried in the affirmative action/equal employment opportunities that came out of the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations.  Some of our staff actually marched (and sat) in solidarity with Martin Luther King, Jr’s mission at various locations and campuses in the Midwest and…

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You Should Get Certified!

If you’re a DMWVLGBTBE (Disadvantaged or Disabled, Minority, Women, Veteran, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered Business Enterprise), particularly if you’re a small business, you’ve probably heard that advice. We’ve talked about having a strategy when it comes to selecting the certifications that are right for your business, but just jumping right into filling out a…

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Getting Certified ~ Six Simple Steps

Our company has always been a women-owned business enterprise (WBE), and getting WBE certified in 1989 was a piece of cake compared to today’s rigorous process. Through various organizations and events we have met many other small business owners who became minority- or women-owned certified at the recommendation of a large corporate supplier diversity contact.…

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Confidence

Summer time is reading time, especially if you can find time to bask in the sunshine with a good book.  The Confidence Code by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman was on our list this year.  We talked last time about the many mixed messages we overheard growing up and as we ventured out into entrepreneurship.…

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Intentional Involvement

Being involved in the SDMWVBE (Small, Disadvantaged, Minority, Women or Veteran Business Enterprise) community should mean more than taking advantage of opportunities.  We’ve often written about “walking the walk”, creating our own opportunities for and supporting other SDMWVBE businesses.  For us, this meant commenting at a public hearing in Allegheny County Pennsylvania regarding potential changes to…

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Size Standards Revised!

Claiming Small Business Status? It is important to know that there are sizing rules and regulations that you must use to determine whether or not your business is considered small. And, the definition of small depends on your business’s industry based on NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes. At the federal level, being classified as…

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