Providing The Gold Standard In MBE Certification
Mission
The Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. (ChicagoMSDC) is a premier organization for increasing business opportunities between major buying organizations and minority-owned businesses.
History
In 1968, a chain of events erupted into civil and economic mayhem that shook Chicago at its very core. Rising above the turmoil, a group of corporate and community leaders were determined to cast a spotlight of hope on seemingly hopeless situations and created The Chicago Business Opportunity Day.
The following year in 1969, the event was officially renamed CBOF, Chicago Business Opportunity Fair. CBOF was a game-changer then and is still a game- changer in the new millennium. It remains the signature event of ChicagoMSDC, a thought leader in minority business.
Philosophy
ChicagoMSDC was founded on two fundamental principles: there had to be a partnership between minority business, corporate America and government, and there had to be basic fairness in the marketplace for all. For more than four decades, ChicagoMSDC has operated on the premise that all those who have an idea to sell and a dream to fulfill and are willing to sacrifice and take risks can get the opportunity to do so anywhere in the country.
Along the way, minority businesses have created jobs for American workers, increased the tax base and contributed to the gross national product. ChicagoMSDC supports
the premise that the overriding reason for business development is job creation. The effective creation of above-the-poverty-level jobs benefit not only the minority economy but the national economy as well.
Accomplishments
For the minority entrepreneur, ChicagoMSDC’s programs and resources are avenues for increasing sales to private and public-sector buying organizations. For the buyer, ChicagoMSDC serves as a credible resource for locating qualified minority suppliers. To both the entrepreneur and the buyer, ChicagoMSDC is the central network where trading partners meet and business alliances flourish. The ChicagoMSDC partnership includes over 250 private and public-sector buying organizations and more than 1,100 minority businesses.
CBOF
CBOF, the oldest and largest procurement show in the nation, is devoted exclusively to developing partnerships between minority and majority- owned corporations and government agencies. The CBOF has served as a catalyst for creating billions of dollars in contracts and opportunities for minority-owned firms, and 20,000 jobs annually through its member base that includes corporations and government agencies.
Services offered by the ChicagoMSDC include:
Business Consortium Fund
Provides working and equity capital to minority businesses doing business with NMSDC buyer members.
Buyer-Seller Networking Events
Over 20 sponsored networking events each year.
Chicago Business Opportunity Fair – CBOF
Promotes interaction between 4000 participants from public and private-sector buying organizations and minority companies.
Chicago’s Minority Business Newspaper
An issue-oriented newspaper for minority businesses and major purchasers.
Corporate Bridges
An entrepreneurship training program that “links small business with big business in Chicago”.
Internet Presence
On-line buyer directory, links to your company’s home page, bid opportunities, calendar of events and MBE-to-MBE communication.
MBE Certification
ChicagoMSDC certification is accepted at Fortune 500 corporations, State of Illinois, Cook County, Chicago Park District, City Colleges of Chicago and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority. Addition services for MBEs include:
- Organize industry specific round tables to promote MBE marketplace expansion
- Serve as a liaison to financial institutions for MBEs seeking financial assistance
- Evaluate and assist MBEs in pursuit of venture capital funding or alternative capital access resources
- Oversight of a Mergers and Acquisitions committee designed to initiate and support growth strategies for MBEs through a platform of pre-qualified minority owned businesses and minority investor groups with access to M&A services and business opportunities.
- Global Link Partners
- Canadian Aboriginal & Minority Supplier Council
- Minority Supplier Development China
- Australian Indigenous Minority Supplier Council
- Minority Supplier Development United Kingdom
- South Africa Supplier Diversity Council
NMSDC National Affiliate
The ChicagoMSDC is the founding council with 36 other regional councils of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), one of the nation’s leading business membership organizations. The NMSDC and its regional councils serve as a direct link between corporate America and minority-owned businesses. There are 3,600 corporate members throughout the network, including most of America’s largest publicly owned, privately owned and foreign owned companies, as well as universities, hospitals and other buying institutions. The regional councils certify and match more than 16,000 minority owned businesses with member corporations which want to purchase goods and services. Most of America’s largest and most successful MBEs are counted among NMSDC’s 16,000 certified minority suppliers, including several companies with annual revenues in the billions of dollars.
