Maryland Live! Casino Teams With Other Maryland Casinos, Private Corporations, State Agency’s and Major Utilities To Attract Over 750 Small, Minority and Women-Owned Firms To Discuss How To Do Business
Once again, Maryland Live! Casino served as host and partnered with various other casinos including, Casino at Ocean Downs, Hollywood Casino, Horseshoe Baltimore Casino, and 25 other corporate and state government agencies for the 4th Semi-Annual Minority Outreach Fair. Over 750 minority- and women-owned businesses packed into Rams Head Center Stage to identify procurement and work opportunities for their companies. President and General Manager of Maryland Live! Casino, Robert Norton, greeted the exhibitors and attendees with a warm welcome and shared why minority and women owned businesses are important to the casino. “Maryland Live! Casino is committed to supporting local and regional businesses, particularly MBE/WBE, by providing opportunities for them to network and meet companies interested in doing business with them,” said Robert J. Norton, President & General Manager, Maryland Live! Casino. “We value our continued partnership with the MWMCA, which has made our semi-annual minority outreach fairs a tremendous success.”
Director of Purchasing for Maryland Live! Casino, Charles Felton, made this end of the calendar year event even more special by inviting several of their prime first tier vendors to exhibit including Acme Paper, Document Imaging Systems, Edward Don & Company, Grainger Industrial Supplies, Halo Branded Solutions, and Performance Foodservice Maryland. They all shared with minority- and women-owned firms how to do business with their perspective companies. “This is important”, according to Felton, “because maybe, just maybe our actions here today will lead to a new collaboration between our first tier primes and some deserving state certified MBE’s & WBE’s.” Those services and products that are necessary for Maryland Live! Casino are also needed for the other Maryland casinos, corporate entities and state agencies and that is why it just makes sense to include a diverse group of prime corporations and state agencies in one venue so that minority and women owned firms can identify as many opportunities as possible quickly. “What I witnessed this morning were major corporations coming together and partnering. It really was refreshing to see so many Maryland casinos under one roof; these types of collaborations will make a major impact in assisting each of them with meeting the State’s minority spending goals,” said Wayne R. Frazier, Sr., President of Md. Washington Minority Companies Association.
The public utility sector was represented strongly by FirstEnergy/Potomac Edison, Washington Gas, Pepco Holdings, Inc. and Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO).
Reggie Jarvis, Vice President of Centennial Surety Associates one of the exhibitors also addressed the guest and said , “Centennial is proud to offer construction and commercial bonds to minority and women owned firms. It is important to seek coverage now prior to waiting when the bid is due or when you have won the project. We aggressively want to protect our clients and will patiently wait for your business. Call me for a free review of your present coverage, 410-888-9110 ext. 213.”
In closing Wayne R. Frazier had this to say, “Maryland Live! Casino, is the best casino for MBE and WBE outreach and inclusion, they go to great lengths to incorporate minority and women businesses into their procurement process and within their culture. A special shout out goes to McCormick & Company, Inc. and Capital One for joining us as exhibitors for the first time. More private corporate participation is needed and McCormick and Capital One are leading the way.”
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