Navigating NAICS

NAICS (the North American Industry Classification System) codes, pronounced “NAKES” can have a profound impact on SDMWVLGBTBEs (Small Disadvantaged or Disabled, Minority, Women, Veteran, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered Business Enterprises) for a bunch of reasons. NAICS is a shorthand description of your business’s good and services used by many of the US certifying agencies.…

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Practicing Patience

So we’re all entrepreneurs here, right? SDMWVLGBTBE (Small Disadvantaged or Disabled, Minority, Women, Veteran, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered Business Enterprise) owner(s), certified or on the path to certification or interested in the topic. We write and talk about supplier diversity professionals and certifying organizations, but it occurs to us that we haven’t talked much about the…

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Thoughts About Roots

We’ve talked about how Supplier Diversity has its roots in Civil Rights and Affirmative Action legislation before.  Long story short, President Johnson amended President Kennedy’s E.O. 11246, which established the Office of Federal Contract Compliance. This required companies with federal contracts to make good-faith efforts to expand employment opportunities for both women and minorities. Once…

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Profiles in Certification – OQ Point LLC

We’re back with another certification profile. As a reminder, Samantha Smith interviews potential businesses, so email us with a request to be included — and no, you don’t have to be a GetDiversityCertified.com client.  Next up, OQ Point, LLC. If you are considering diversity certification, you might be asking yourself: Which certification should I choose? And…

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Profiles in Certification – Bill Evans

We’re back profiling another SDMWVLGBTBE (Small Disadvantaged or Disabled, Minority, Women, Veteran, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered Business Enterprise) — this time speaking with a business that holds multiple certifications, though the conversation focused on their Disability Owned Business Enterprise status.  Samantha Smith interviews potential businesses, so email us with a request to be included…

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What’s Being Certified?

We get asked this question frequently: I’m selling my business (or buying one). Is the diversity certification transferable? There is no short yes or no answer, the reality is that it depends on the type of certification held and who is  purchasing the business. What’s actually being certified? The certification process is two-fold. 1) The business…

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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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Golden Tickets

We hear stories from SDMWVLGBTBE (Small Disadvantaged or Disabled, Minority, Women, Veteran, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered Business Enterprise) owners about how a client told him or her to get a diversity certification. And, while we’re perfectly happy to work with those owners, there are a few thoughts we like to share. Because we’re certification neutral, we…

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Opposites Day

A group of SDMWVLGBTBE (Small Disadvantaged or Disabled, Minority, Women, Veteran, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered Business Enterprise) owners got together for lunch at Coach Monique & Associate’s office the other day.  And it was wonderful.  Amazing company, delicious food, comfortable and comforting to spend time with others who face similar business issues in such a…

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Dog Days

It is the hot, humid and last lazy dog days of summer, as our mother used to refer to them.  Then we were excited about new home room teachers, cool clothes and maybe even a new school building.  These days, its the return to a more normal business landscape.  Our customers will be back from…

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