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MWMCA is proud of its rich tradition of advocating for businesses of diverse origin and ownership. Over the years since we have been passionately trading in this line of work, much of our focus has been on government procurement as it pertains to Minority/Women Business Enterprise (M/WBE) protocol. We are pleased that positive results have been achieved through the State of Maryland reforming its M/WBE program and establishing the “Small Business Reserve” program. Baltimore County establishing an Executive Order, and Anne Arundel County Public Schools’ establishing a historic first ever Small Minority Business Enterprise (SMBE) program. With each positive step government takes small and/or diverse businesses win more opportunities.
The State of Maryland, its subdivisions and its public school systems, lead the nation in creating enabling policy for diverse business opportunities. Our government’s proactive role is both praised with emulation and scorned for being too liberal, depending upon which perspective one takes. However, from a diversity perspective we are very proud of our government leaders for displaying inclusive vision.
Now, as we move on to open up major procurement opportunities within our private sector of commerce, the road to inclusion gets much tougher. Health care facilities, financial institutions, utility companies, private educational institutions, to name a few, are being called upon to consider enabling inclusion policies. Simple rationale is that if those private concerns market and accept funds from any business or individual of a diverse or disadvantaged background, likewise diverse procurement opportunities should co-exist. We feel it is fair and equitable to distribute diverse procurement opportunities and break the monopoly that majority business employs and enjoys by only conducting business with one another. Furthermore, we feel that if this practice of inclusion procurement is good for American government, then surely it is good for private industry.
We hope you enjoy the morning’s activities and speakers. We are so honored to recognize the distinguished awardees because they have worked very hard to be inclusive. We thank all the speakers for volunteering their time to prepare and deliver their messages. We thank all of the sponsors and advertisers for believing in the spirit of diversity inclusion.
Bless you all!
Sincerely,
Wayne
R. Frazier, Sr.
President
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