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More Than 1,600 Companies Share One Strategic Mission At Conference

16 April 1999

More Than 1,600 Companies Share One Strategic Mission At 18th Annual Michigan Minority Procurement Conference

    DETROIT, April 16 -- Representatives from more than 1,600 of
Michigan's largest companies and minority-owned organizations will convene
May 24-26 at Detroit's Cobo Hall and Exhibition Center at the 18th Annual
Michigan Minority Procurement Conference (MMPC).
    This year's conference will recognize the demise of philanthropic minority
procurement programs across the United States as companies begin to replace
these programs with aggressive diversity initiatives aimed at increasing
minority market share.
    "One important barometer of a company's commitment to minority procurement
efforts is the institutional support placed behind the effort," noted E.
Delbert Gray, president, Michigan Minority Business Development Council
(MMBDC).  "Top CEOs consider the ability to capture the minority market a
make-it or break-it factor in the new millennium."
    More than 600 exhibitors representing Michigan's largest companies and
minority-owned organizations will be in attendance at the 1999 MMPC.
Activities will focus on increasing business opportunities in a diverse
marketplace where the ethnic consumers are now projected to represent the
single largest competitive market factor tied to market retention and growth.
    The annual event, which had grown from 75 exhibitors in 1990 to more than
300 in 1998, expects to draw 600 exhibitors and nearly 3,000 participants.
    Hundreds of tier one suppliers have already registered to attend the MMPC,
recognized as the largest minority business forum in the Midwest.  Minority
procurement mandates, introduced by Big Three automakers as a means of
accelerating minority supplier participation among tier one suppliers, have
taken hold across industry sectors scrambling to increase market share in an
increasingly competitive and diverse marketplace.
    "We expect this year's contract awards to be the largest ever," stated
Gray.  MMBDC reported more than $2 billion in new contract awards to minority
business enterprises (MBEs) in 1998, created by alliances between minority-
and majority-owned companies.  The organization's 800 MBEs reported annual
revenue of more than $6.4 billion in 1997.
    Scheduled business forums include e-commerce, Y2K preparation and
financing.
    MMBDC is a coalition of more than 1,600 major corporations and minority
businesses from throughout Michigan that work cooperatively to develop
profitable relationships among themselves.  Businesses interested in
participating may call 313-873-3200.