Minority Vendors Awards

Minority Vendor Awards

Hard work and flexibility are cornerstones of small business success

Written by Tomi Morris Johnson. Photos by Kurk Johnson

Atlanta, GA…The 8^th Annual Georgia Entrepreneur’s Night saluting minority vendors was held February 22 at the Four Seasons Hotel. Sponsored by Women Looking Ahead News Magazine (WLANM), the Mexican American Business Chamber – Atlanta, Inc., and La Vision de Georgia Newspaper, the event highlighted partnerships between big business and small companies run by African Americans and Mexican Americans.

The event's co-hosts were Rebecca J. Franklin, Publisher and CEO of WLANM, and Terrell Slayton, Georgia’s Assistant Secretary of State. “Tonight, we honor you, the best and the brightest,” said Terrell Slayton in opening remarks. All the award recipients were inducted into the Georgia Goodwill Ambassador Corps.

“These men and women have risen to the top of their working sector,” said co-host Rebecca Franklin. “They have reached out unselfishly to our communities.” Hard work, perseverance, dedication and excellent customer service were qualities attributed to each of the honorees.

(L to R) Alvaro Velazquez, Martha Macias, Representative from Mexican American Business Chamber – Atlanta, Inc., Rebecca Franklin, Victoria Chacon, Rocio Woody, and Terrell Slayton.

A proud mom posed with Belinda Stubblefield, WLANM Board Ms. Woody beamed after receiving award.

of Directors Member and VP of Global Diversity at Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Staff of La Vision de Georgia Music was provided by Melvin Miller.

Mr. Ferrell of Ferrell Realty nominated Clyde Sutton for award.

Award winners included:

Victoria Chacon, La Vision de Georgia

Richardo Espinosa, Zuma Importing Company

Faidra E. Ford, Culinary Artisans, Inc.

Alicia Gywnn, Churchs Chicken

Ira Jackson, Jr., Perfect Image

Martha Toribios Macias, Los Loros/Los Rayos Restaurants

Clyde Sutton, Sr., Sutton’s Ace Hardware

Jeanine Copper Taylor, JCEC, Inc.

Alvaro Velazques, Colorprint

Rocio Del Milagro Woody, The Road to Recovery, Inc.

Ron Lewis, Coca-Cola Enterprises

Dinner was officially announced by the hotel’s head executive chef, Kevin Hickey, who offered a menu containing corn, a Mexican staple: a flavorful, effervescent soup with green chilies and fried corn Tortillas garnish; a main course with corn-feed beef tenderloin, grilled salmon with black eyed peas, corn relish and asparagus; and white chocolate cheesecake with fresh blueberry dust for desert. Attendees were serenaded by trumpeter Melvin Miller, currently touring with the Universoul Circus. The only thing missing was salsa dancing!

Ira Jackson received award from Coca-Cola Enterprises, and Faidra Ford received an award from AGL’s Staci Bush.

Receiving their awards which resembled translucent Oscars, all the honorees gave emotional acceptance speeches. Peruvian born Entrepreneur of the Year Victoria Chacon is publisher of the first bilingual newspaper in the US. LaVision de Georgia, with a daily circulation of 5,000, will become the official Hispanic publication for the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau in April 2002.

Tomi Johnson: What does it take to be a successful businesswoman in Atlanta?

Victoria Chacon: Definitely hard work, honesty, respect for the rules and laws of the place where you live, in this case Georgia, USA. I’m very grateful. I have been working very hard and sacrificing a lot of things, but I have always received help and open arms from the community, regardless of the color of the skin. That is what has made me this successful.

Johnson: What words of advice would you give to other business people?

Chacon: Everybody can do it. Just try it; start it now! Right now is the right city, the right time, and I think we have the right people around…We are part of this new Georgia society. We are part of this reality. Since I came to this country, I have made my dreams come true.

One surprising award recipient at the black tie dinner was Ron Lewis, Corporate Director of Procurement, Coca-Cola Enterprises.

Johnson: I guess you’re really glad to receive this type of award which shows that your company is behind diversity.

Lewis: Yes.

Johnson: Could you speak about Coke’s 2002 initiative as far as minorities are concerned?

Lewis: You may not be aware that Coca-Cola Enterprises is a separate company from Coca-Cola Co. Be that as it may, Coca-Cola Enterprises is a very large bottler, and we understand that Coke is sold one bottle at a time. It’s important that we be a part of our diverse communities. We recognize diversity and celebrate it through our supplier diversity initiatives which Kaye Tyson manages…Our business objectives cannot be met if we don’t respect, honor, celebrate and achieve these types of initiatives.

Johnson: Everything hinges on competitive pricing these days, even when a customer is deciding whether to buy a Coke or a Pepsi. If you have a small minority firm trying to bid on a contract, what kind of incentive can you give him/her to compete with the big guys?

Lewis: Today we made a decision to provide our entire company with a particular service that we need. We had a choice between a very large company with a nationally recognized name, but they didn’t have the kind of flexibility that we needed. We ended up using a small business. We’re going to be their number one customer. We’re going to help them grow. Sometimes being big isn’t always being the best. We have very specific goals.

We also help small businesses procure contracts by having corporate round tables with prospective minority and women owned business suppliers and tell them how they can do business with us. Senior management knows our corporate initiatives, they know full well why diversity is important, and we execute against that.

Click on this link - MPN Metro Correspondent to e-mail Tomi Morris Johnson about this article, any suggestions, or other news stories of likely relevance and interest to MPN viewers and subscribers.

This information is the opinion of the author and, therefore, should not be construed as libelous.

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