MBE/EDGE Committee Meeting
05/11/2010
Minutes
In attendance: Betty Anzaldua, Tom Bebley, Lawrence Burns, Shanda Gore, Jeremy Gutierrez
(guest), Olivia Holden, Gary Johnson, Greg Jones, Kara Mominee, Dean Monske, Shaun
Murray, Danielle Nameth (guest), Lisa Olvera (guest), Karl Parker, Megan Reichert-Kral, John
Ryan (guest), Lorie Sarnes, Andrew Schmidt (guest), Jacob Studer, Larry Sykes, Mark Urrutia,
Renee Warnimont (guest), David Wood
Mr. Burns welcomed all in attendance and guests: Ms. Lisa Olvera, Chair of Minority Business
Services Committee (MBS); Mr. Jeremy Gutierrez, Vice President and Market Manager of
Huntington National Bank and member of MBS Committee; Ms. Renee Warnimont, Huntington
National Bank ; Mr. Andrew Schmidt, Owner of Hexistor Data Protection Services, Inc. and
tenant in the Minority Business Incubator; Mr. John Ryan, State Director of Ohio Senator
Sherrod Brown’s office; and Ms. Danielle Nameth, Regional Representative for Northwest Ohio
from Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown’s office.
Dr. Gore reviewed the committee minutes from the 4/13/10 meeting.
Dr. Gore stated that the Building Connections event on April 22 was successful and thanked
committee members for attending.
Action Item: Dr. Gore will request that the video of the event be placed on the Web.
Mr. Burns asked committee members if they had received the latest issue of the “Catalyst” enewsletter. No members had received it yet.
Action Item: Mr. Burns stated he would contact the UT contact again to get it sent out.
Dr. Gore stated that Mr. Burns developed a subcommittee that would be charged with the MBE
policy. Mr. Burns reported that the subcommittee met and came up with a revised draft policy for
the President’s Council on Diversity to review (Attachment A).
Mr. Burns explained the changes to the draft policy. He stated that a paragraph was added which
includes the indication of where MBE opportunities exist. Mr. Burns stated that the original
percentages in the document for MBE participation were at 8%, but are now raised to 15%
because the subcommittee felt that 8% was not high enough. Mr. Burns stated that a short term
percentage would be 10% for MBE participation.
Mr. Burns explained that it was and remains very important to have not only UT employees as
part of the MBE policy subcommittee, but to have business professionals and community
members as well.
Mr. Johnson stated that the subcommittee really needs to micro-analyze how they are going to
achieve these goals. Mr. Johnson stated that there will have to be some creative, out-of-the-box
thinking in order to overcome the goals and percentages put forth in the policy.
Dr. Gore reported that she reached out to more than 100 diversity officers throughout the state of
Ohio, and of the few that responded, none of them had policies that dealt specifically with
Minority business construction and purchasing.
Mr. Burns indicated that the branding imitative will take place on June 16 at the Toledo Club,
which all committee members will be invited. Mr. Burns stated that if members would like to
attend then please contact either himself or Mr. David Nolan, President of Destination Toledo.
Action Item: Mr. Burns will provide a full branding report at the July committee meeting, after
the June 16 event takes place.
Mr. Burns invited Mr. Ryan to talk about the Senator’s Office efforts.
Mr. Ryan reported that the office has been looking at finding creative ways to create and grow
jobs in Ohio without spending government money. Mr. Ryan referred to the French company,
Airbus, as an example. Mr. Ryan stated that Airbus does a lot of work in Ohio, while Ohio also
happens to be the number one supplier to Airbus. The Senator’s Office has also gone to Airbus
about increasing the supplier network in Ohio.
Mr. Ryan reported that his office has held two different sessions in Cleveland and Dayton for
individuals to attend and think about if they could become suppliers of Airbus. As a result of
these sessions, many companies have begun to do business with Airbus.
Mr. Ryan reported that they are now going to hold a minority supplier session for businesses
who want to do work with Airbus.
Mr. Ryan reported that the Senator has attended about 170 round tables to make sure laws are
being passed that are helpful to Ohio. Mr. Ryan stated that one thing his office noticed is that the
Latino community did not have access to grants that other companies had. The Senator’s office
decided to hold a round table specifically for Latino’s to be able to help out a number of smaller
nonprofits to write grants that may not have specific grant writers.
Mr. Ryan also reported that the Senator’s Office will be holding small business administration
sessions as well as procurement sessions.
Mr. Sykes stated to Mr. Ryan that in assisting small minority and women-owned businesses, the
critical component that is missing are lines of credit and loans. Mr. Sykes questioned where the
state is at in working with smaller minority and women-owned businesses in getting loans. Mr.
Ryan stated that his office has done a lot of work with the Small Business Administration (SBA)
in holding workshops throughout the state to bring in small businesses and explain how to access
the small business loans. Mr. Ryan stated he has seen an increase in small business loans, in part
because of the workshops throughout the state and also from working with the SBA.
Mr. Johnson asked if they have had a chance to monitor to see how well the mentorship
programs are working between the larger contractors and smaller contractors. Mr. Ryan stated it
is too early to tell at this point, but his office will continue to go back and see what people are
saying about it and also to view the numbers.
Ms. Holden questioned if the Senator’s office will have some of the sessions held in Northwest
Ohio. Mr. Ryan stated that his office will make a constant attempt to hold sessions in smaller
towns like Toledo or Bowling Green. Ms. Holden asked if the committee members can get on his
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email list for the sessions. Mr. Ryan asked that committee members send him their email
addresses at (john_ryan@brown.senate.gov) and he will put them on the list for whatever areas
members are interested in.
Action Item: Please send your email address to Mr. Ryan if you would like to be added to the
mailing list.
Mr. Burns stated that the loan program has been renamed as the Minority Contractors Lending
Program (MCLP). The concept of this program is to have organizations within the community,
led by the Port Authority, to commit money as a revolving loan of total funds for minority
contractors who need help with paying for loans. Mr. Burns stated that The University of Toledo
has committed $200,000 to the MCLP program.
Mr. Burns stated that since the last committee meeting, Mr. Toth, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Wiggins
have met about how to run the loan program. The conclusion to move forward quickly is that Mr.
Toth has indicated that he will provide the resources from the administrative standpoint to get it
started. Mr. Toth will also get the funds put in from the Port Authority to get the program
running. Mr. Burns stated that once it is up and running and they learn exactly what it requires
from an administrative standpoint, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Wiggins organizations may take over
the operation as a joint venture.
Mr. Johnson stated that the ultimate goal is to have the MCLP ran completely by minorities and
wishes it to be housed in the Minority Business Incubator. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Wiggins will put
together a memorandum to make sure everybody understands exactly what they want to do with
this program and how they intend to do it. Mr. Toth has agreed to assist Mr. Johnson and Mr.
Wiggins with needed forms and other resources through the Port Authority.
Ms. Holden questioned if the loan program is limited to just contractors, or any small business.
Mr. Johnson stated that in the beginning it is designed just for contractors for public projects, but
the goal is for it to grow and eventually roll it out to be more robust.
Mr. Monske asked how the process works, what kind of eligibility and criteria do they have for
the program, and how the message about the MCLP will get out. Mr. Johnson stated that the
companies will sign a power of attorney so the checks from the contractor will come directly
back to the MCLP pool. Companies will provide purchase orders and will then go out and pay
for the product. The companies will give certified payrolls, and the MCLP will reimburse the
companies for the payrolls. There will also be someone out at the projects monitoring and taking
pictures of the progress in order to make sure to continue with ongoing certified payroll. Once
the project is finished, fees will be incurred, right now it is 9%, but they are still in the process of
figuring out the final percentage. Mr. Johnson stated that they will begin talking about marketing
initiatives and outreach to different groups.
Mr. Jones stated that he would still like to see bonding issues solved for minority-owned
businesses in addition to the MCLP. Mr. Johnson stated that they are still very interested in
coming up with a solution for bonding, but the process is more in depth compared to the lending
program.
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Ms. Holden recommended working and collaborating with as many organizations as we can such
as ASSETS Toledo and the Toledo Minority Contractors Business Assistance Program
(MCBAP). Mr. Johnson stated that this is a great idea because these are the programs that have
been working with the individuals and know the individuals who may be asking to participate in
the MCLP.
Mr. Burns invited Ms. Olvera to provide information about the Minority Business Services
Committee.
Ms. Olvera stated that the idea of the Minority Business Services Committee (MBSC) is, in a
large part, to discuss how minority-owned business can get loans. The mission of the MBSC is to
educate minority-owned businesses and to provide guidance and training. The MBSC has
planned various workshops in order to develop relationships with minority-owned businesses
and the Toledo community. Members are from Bowling Green State University, Ohio
Department of Transportation, The University of Toledo, Directions Credit Union, Huntington
National Bank, and four minority-owned businesses.
Ms. Olvera asked that if any MBE/EDGE subcommittee members would like to be a guest of the
MBSC, then to please let Ms. Olvera know at lsadgo@yahoo.com or 419-297-1751.
Mr. Burns inquired about the MBSC member from The University of Toledo. Ms. Olvera stated
that Ms. Pastorek sits on the MBSC committee.
Dr. Gore introduced Mr. Andrew Schmidt, owner of Hexistor Data Protection Services, LLC,
and Minority Business Incubator tenant. Dr. Gore stated that Mr. Schmidt originally heard about
the Incubator on a radio station, and then contacted Ms. Reichert-Kral about an Incubator
opportunity.
Mr. Schmidt stated that his company mainly does data backup. Mr. Schmidt provided and
example that they replace tape for customers who are large enough to have a line item on their
budget. Most of Hexistor’s customers are hotels like the Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton hotels
nationally.
Mr. Schmidt stated that Hexistor has already hired one intern from the College of Engineering
from The University of Toledo, and is now looking for an additional computer science intern.
Mr. Burns asked if he, Dr. Gore, and Ms. Reichert-Kral are connecting his company to the
University the way he would like. Mr. Schmidt stated that at this point, his company has not
really been with the University for very long, but so far so good.
Mr. Schmidt stated that as time goes on, he will continue to use student interns from various
departments at the University such as the College of Business.
Ms. Olvera asked Mr. Schmidt where his data centers are located. Mr. Schmidt stated that the
data centers are currently located in Chicago, which is where Mr. Schmidt was at before. Mr.
Schmidt stated that he would like to move the data centers to Toledo, but it has been a little more
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difficult than he thought since there are not a lot of appropriate places for his data storage
machines in this part of Ohio.
Ms. Anzaldua stated that she had talked with a company about the Third Frontier Internship
Program which is created to find a match between a technology company and students looking
for internships. Ms. Anzaldua explained that if the company is qualified to participate in the
program then they are offered up to a $3,000 match.
Mr. Burns asked Dr. Gore to provide an update regarding UT’s new relationship with the Equal
Employment Opportunity (EEO) office.
Dr. Gore stated that a meeting was held with Ms. Sarnes and Mr. Burns to discuss the
Construction Reform Project, in which The University of Toledo is one of three in the state that
is participating. During that meeting, EEO Officers, Mr. Donald Stetson and Ms. Stacy Cornett,
stated that they have heard very positive things about the Incubator and are very interested in
getting to know more. Mr. Burns and Dr. Gore have provided space for the EEO office in the
Minority Business Incubator to hold a satellite office.
Mr. Parker invited committee members to attend the Urban Green Sustainability Event on May
21 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Scott Park Auditorium. Mr. Parker stated that there are
currently over 130 RSVPS.
Dr. Gore included that a Construction Reform Project event is being planned and that the
tentative date is June 30 from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. in the Memorial Field House room 2100 on
main campus. EEO Outreach Coordinator, Patrice Davis will be at the event along with other
state officials. The event is supposed to cover how the minority business community can be part
of the bid process on this project. Dr. Gore stated that both subcontractors and primes will be
invited to attend this event.
Action Item: Additional information regarding the June 30 event will be emailed to committee
members once more details are worked out.
Dr. Gore thanked Ms. Sarnes and Mr. Studer for putting together a list of all MBE and EDGE
certified companies within an hour of Toledo.
Action Item: Dr. Gore asked that if committee members know of any companies that are not
listed, then please let her (Shanda.Gore@UToledo.edu), Ms. Sarnes
(Lorie.Sarnes@UToledo.edu) or Mr. Studer (jstuder6@UTNet.UToledo.Edu) know.
Mr. Burns thanked everyone for attending.
The meeting concluded.
The next meeting will be on June 8, 2010 at 12:00 p.m. in the Scott Park VIP room.
Please mark your calendars with the following 2010 MBE/EDGE Committee meeting dates:
June 8 at Noon
July 13 at Noon
August 10 at Noon
September 14 at Noon
October 12 at Noon
November 9 at Noon
December 14 at Noon
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