Career Fair: Revving Up the Motor City ….. Ready. Set. Go! Putting Detroit Back to WORK

Career Fair 2010

Revving Up the Motor City…Ready, Set, Go

Whether you are a job seeker, employer, or potential sponsor—we invite you to participate in the inaugural Revving Up the Motor City…Ready, Set, Go Career Fair—an event sure to help get Detroit back on its feet!

WHO:

CareerBuilder, Focus: HOPE, Fox 2 News, Kelly Services, and the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council are teaming up to host this event, featuring potential job opportunities with employers throughout the Metro Detroit area, as well as key employment tips for attendees.

WHEN: Thursday, October 7, 2010 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. WHERE: The Masonic Temple Detroit, MI (directions)

HOW:

The career fair will be divided into three sections:

• Ready – Detroit-area organizations will help job seekers become job-ready; covering topics from preparing a resume to dressing for interview success.
• Set – Job seekers will have the opportunity to talk one-on-one with a recruiter, job counselor, or coach to review qualifications for strengths and learn about job opportunities with participating employers on-site.
• Go – Employers will be talking to job seekers about available jobs—including seasonal, part-time, temporary, or full-time openings.

WHY:

To help put Detroit back to work!

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Job Seekers – no need to pre-register. Come to the Career Fair ready to make a connection to Detroit’s job opportunities. Employers – Reserve your booth space in the Go section of the career fair and connect to Detroit’s workforce. Sponsors – Let us know how you would like to participate. Various sponsorship levels are available for your convenience.

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We look forward to Revving Up the Motor City and getting Detroit back to work—see you there!

If you have any questions, please contact us at readysetgo@focushope.edu

or Ken Harris at 313.873.2141 (www.mmbdc.com)

Visit ReadySetCareerGo.com for more information on the event.

October is Minority Business Month - MMSDC Celebrates Supplier Diversity at Max Fisher Theatre

An Overview of Minority Business Certifications

And Celebrating the Stars of Supplier Diversity at 27th Annual Awards Program

There are minority business certifications available to assist small businesses in getting more work. Some are from the federal government, others local governments, and even some that are third-party certifiers for the corporate world. Following is a quick overview of some certifications that a minority small business can pursue.

8(a). The 8(a) certification is a designation given by the United States Small Business Administration (SBA). The program is for socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses. The economic disadvantage is easily determined measuring business revenues and the owner's net worth. The socially disadvantaged part may be harder to determine as a narrative must be submitted with anecdotal evidence that the business is disadvantaged because of the ownership. There is a predetermined list of ethnic minorities that may have an easier time getting certified than others. Once certified a business and owner has a once in a lifetime span of nine years to leverage the 8(a) certification for government business.

The SBA 8(a) is probably the premier minority certification and can assist in getting other certifications.

[Optimizing resources is key to continued success in today’s diverse marketplace. Now, you can tap into a network of resources to save you time and money. 2010 Recertification]

HUBZone. The SBA HUBZone stands for Historically Underutilized Business Zone. It is a geographic designation and a business is allowed to moved its business primary offices into a designated zone to qualify. A HUBZone is determined by the previous census to find areas with high unemployment and/or high levels of poverty. Then businesses that have their principal office and a certain quota of employees who live in these zones qualify for the certification. This certification can help get federal contracts.

Local. Many states, municipalities, counties, etc. and their agencies have their own certification for their projects and contracts. Many times they accept other certifications in lieu of going through their own certifying process.

Minority Supplier Development Council. The National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) has a number of regional councils that certify businesses as being minority owned. This is a private certification that is used by Fortune 500 type companies diversify their vendor base. The regional councils typically have strong relationships with corporations that have a presence in their area, allowing certified minority owned small businesses a chance to get more work.

More information is available for minority business certifications. There is also more information available for specific certifications like the SBA HUBZone certification.

Optimizing resources is key to continued success in today’s diverse marketplace. Now, you can tap into a network of resources to save you time and money. 2010 Recertification

The Business of Running a Business with Melinda Emerson

Meet Melinda Emerson

Listen to internet radio with Diverse Business on Blog Talk Radio

Melinda Emerson, known as "SmallBizLady," is one of America's leading small business experts. She is a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, social media strategist and small business coach and the Start-Up columnist for Small Business Trends.

Melinda has lectured on small business at The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and Rosemont College and for clients including: IKEA, Verizon, GlaxoSmithKline, National Association of Women Business Owners, PA Governor's Conference for Women, U.S. Department of Labor, International Association of Business Communicators, the Small Business Administration, and the Center for Women's Business Research. Her areas of expertise include small business start-up, recession-proof marketing and social media strategy.

Melinda Emerson began her professional career in television as a producer. Within five years, inspired by Oprah Winfrey's HARPO Studios, Inc., she left television to pursue her entrepreneurial dream to create an award-winning production company. As the founder and CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda has created productions for clients such as Johnson & Johnson, Verizon, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Comcast and Radio-One. Melinda hosts #Smallbizchat a weekly talk show on Twitter. #Smallbizchat is the trusted resource on Twitter to discuss everything entrepreneurs need to know about launching and running a profitable small business.

Melinda also blogs at Succeed As Your Own Boss. Emerson's first book, Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works is being released in March 2010 by Adams Media. She has also recorded an audio CD, 10 Things You Must Never Forget in Business.

Melinda has been featured on NBC Nightly News and in the Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report and Black Enterprise. She is a graduate of Virginia Tech. Melinda Emerson has also won numerous awards including Top 50 Women in Business in Pennsylvania, Top 30 Leaders of the future by Ebony Magazine, and the National Association of Women Business Owners' Woman of Distinction Award. Melinda is a dedicated wife, mother and woman business owner who lives in Philadelphia, PA.

Website

http://www.melindaemerson.com/