People/Places
(continued)
Diversity Information Resources (DIR) is celebrating its 45th anniversar y. DIR was founded in
1968 in North Minneapolis with a sole purpose
to advance race relations and improve economic
oppor tunities for African-Americans in the Minneapolis community
following the untimely
death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. DIR’s mission has been modified
slightly for inclusion
and is now to develop,
maintain and provide
information resources
that enhance and suppor t the development
and economic growth
of diverse-owned businesses.
Leslie Bonds, executive director, is celebrating her 27th year with
DIR, having started at
Bonds
DIR in 1986. She was
appointed executive director in 1997.
DIR’s vision is to be recognized as the leader in
supplier diversity by providing global information
resources that develop, influence and support supplier diversity growth. DIR’s integrity rests in the
quality of its data, the long-standing relationships
it maintains with its client corporations and the
professional education and support it provides to
diverse suppliers.
W
illiam “Billy” Granville, III,
CEO and managing member of
Granville Financial Group (GFG), has
been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Independent Bankers Association
o f Te x a s
(IBAT).
G F G
was founded in 2010
and is a
boutique
consulting
firm specializing in
Granville
executive
benefit solutions for financial institutions. In addition to the IBAT board,
Granville also serves on IBAT’s Associate Member Advisory Council and
is incoming chair. He has served as an
executive partner for the C.T. Bauer
College of Business Future Leaders
mentoring program at the University
of Houston, as well as on the board of
the Fellowship of Christian Athletes
(FCA).
IBAT, headquartered in Austin, TX,
is the largest state community banking
association in the nation.
54
May/June 2013
MBE
T
he Bartech Group, Inc. President and CEO, David Barfield
was recently elected to serve on the
National Minority Supplier Development Council’s (NMSDC) Board of
Directors. The NMSDC is one of the
nation’s leading corporate membership
organizations dedicated to advocating
for increased procurement opportunities
for Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Native
American businesses in the global corporate supply chain.
Bartech, a leader in global workforce
management solutions, is certified by
NMSDC as a minority-controlled
company with Corporate Plus status;
and has more than 210 diversity suppliers, which provide nearly 40 percent of
total spend (over $500 million), Bartech
provides its clients with 100 percent Tier
1 diversity spend.
B
rian Chapman, president and
founder of Mill City Environmental Corporation (MCE), a licensed,
minority-owned, full service environmental firm, has been named the U.S.
Small Business Administration’s 2012
Massachusetts
and New England Minority
Small Business
Person of the
Year, an award
presented annually to recognize a minority
small business
Chapman
person who is
certified in the 8(a) business development program, and who best exemplifies
entrepreneurial success.
Chapman founded MCE in 2001 as a
waste management company, specializing
in assessment, management and disposal
of hazardous wastes and mater ials. Over
the years, the company has expanded to
offer a complete range of the highest
quality waste management solutions,
including asbestos abatement and most
recently rail services. MCE has 46 employees that serve federal, commercial and
private sector clients in 17 states in the
New England, Mid Atlantic, South and
Southwestern territories.
W
ashington, D.C.-based BlackStartup, led by CEO Nathan
Fleming and comprised of six young
black professionals who met as Omega
Psi Phi fraternity brothers at Morehouse
College, the nations leading college for
black men, is the first black team selected
for the prestigious Yale Entrepreneurial
Institute (YEI)
Fe l l o w s h i p.
BlackStartup
was one of 12
teams competing for this
year’s YEI FelFlemming
lowship, which
will provide the company with a $20,000
stipend and experienced mentors in the
fields of technology, marketing, and
venture financing. BlackStartup was
created to address the need to close the
black start-up gap by generating financial
resources for the funding of AfricanAmerican-owned businesses and community projects around the nation.
The YEI program includes a 10week summer business boot camp in
New Haven, Connecticut Since the programs inception in 2007, YEI-supported
teams have raised over $60M in outside
financing.
Martha J. Williams, who appeared on the cover
of MBE magazine’s January 2003 issue, passed
away on April 21, 2013. She was born on April 14,
1953 to Willis Jr.
and Mar y Davis
in Memphis, Tennessee. Williams,
the first of eight
children, was a
noted entrepreneur and president and CEO
of JR Plastics,
which later became StyleMaster Inc. She was
among the first
female AfricanAmerican manufacturers and distributors of plastic housewares
and storage products. In 1998, she was inducted
into the Entrepreneurship Hall of fame.
In June 2000 Martha broke ground on the infamous dumpsite named “Operation Silver Shovel”
where she built her manufacturing and distribution
facility, thus creating hundreds of jobs in Chicago’s
South Side.
Williams is survived by her husband Clarence Jefferson, daughter, step-children, mother, four sisters,
brother, grandchildren; and a host of loving aunts,
uncles, nieces, nephews, and friends.