NEW YORK:

The National Minority Business Council hosts its 40th anniversary awards ceremony on Thursday, June 28.

The event will honour individuals and organisations that support its mission of “enhancing the success and profitability of the small business community, especially women, minority and veteran-owned businesses” through its advocacy work on all levels of government and with major corporations committed to a diversified workforce and supplier chain.

NMBC CEO and president, John F. Robinson, announced that William ‘Bill’ C. Thompson, chair of New York State Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s Minority- and Women-owned Business Enterprise Team will be the keynote speaker at the awards ceremony and reception.

The event will be hosted by BNY Mellon at One Wall St., New York and is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. Thompson, the former New York City Comptroller and 2013 Mayoral-hopeful, hailed the group, noting in a release, “NMBC is more significant than ever in an era when more and more individuals are launching their own businesses in response to persistently-high unemployment.

OPPORTUNITY

Thompson said the organisation, “offers four-decades of experience in working with all levels of government and Corporate America, opening doors for the equal opportunity to compete for lucrative contracts that will help both new entrepreneurs and established but struggling organisations sustain and grow their businesses and create new jobs in the process.”

The recipient of the Minority and Women-owned (MWBE) Award for Green Initiative is New York-based Crescent Energy, a LEED-certified consulting firm that manages energy and green building programs for its clients. “I am especially pleased that we will be presenting an award in this new category for Green Initiative,” said Ben Jones, NMBC chair and whose Teaneck , NJ-based company, Lightning Supply, Inc.. is a distributor of environmentally safe safety and cleaning products “The theme of our 40th Anniversary is ‘Reflect, Rekindle, Refocus, Resolve’.

We encourage not only our members and our corporate sponsors to embrace this goal when reviewing their hiring practices and selecting suppliers, but all government agencies and private enterprises who recognise the importance of a diversified workforce and supply chain in this global economy,” added Jones.

Sponsorship opportunities range from $750 to $5,000. Individual tickets range from $75 to $150 for NMBC members.