Description

The Arizona Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Business Center and the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (AZHCC) will celebrate the 13^th Annual Business Diversity Summit on Thursday, October 17, 2024, in a virtual format. 

This year’s hybrid summit will feature two dynamic speakers:

• John Pombier, Senior Manager of Community Engagement at Amazon, and
• Chavon Woods, Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Accessibility (DEIA).

Both speakers will deliver insightful presentations on advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within business operations and the broader community.

2024 Minority Business Development Award Winners:

• 2024 Minority Construction Firm of The Year: Primavera Grading & Paving LLC, Oscar Estrada
• 2024 Minority Professional Services Firm of The Year: Trooper USA, LLC, Jesse Villarreal
• 2024 Minority Veteran-Owned Firm of The Year: DAP Construction Management, Alicia Hernandez
• 2024 Minority Business Enterprise of The Year: Banda Group International, Zeferino Banda, Jr.

In addition to honoring these minority firms, the Champions of Minority Business Development will be recognized for their efforts in supporting the growth and success of minority-owned businesses.

Additional Awards:

• Access To Capital Award: Rasheena R. Hawkins & Zuleima I. Granados, BMO Bank
• Advocate Of the Year: Michael Greene, City of Tempe

The event will celebrate the Minority Business Development Agency becoming a permanent, expanded and elevated to increase programs to the Nation’s 9 million minority-owned businesses(MBEs). The event will include the recognition of leading MBEs, and induct businesses and corporations that spend more than $1 million dollars annually in Minority-owned Businesses and Diversity Spend in Arizona, into the into the Million Dollar Circle of Excellence.

This year we invite all economic development organizations and agencies to join us in celebrating an Arizona Statewide “Minority Enterprise Development Month” during the month of September.

We expect some of the state’s top entrepreneurs and procurement executives, community leaders, industry leaders, and public officials to attend and gain the latest business insights and best practices on diversity and inclusion.

The annual Business Diversity Summit in August provides the ideal platform to facilitate a meaningful engagement with W/MBEs. This is the perfect opportunity to connect with W/MBEs in Arizona, now 120,000 strong! Sponsorship opportunities are available. Please visit: https://bit.ly/BDS24SPONSORSHIPS to learn more.

About the Million Dollar Circle of Excellence

The AZHCC in collaboration with our Arizona MBDA Business Center and other partner agencies will once again celebrate the collaborative AZ MDCE. The AZ MDCE, program, spotlights and recognizes companies that have spent at least $1 million in procurement with minority and women-owned suppliers in the last fiscal year within Arizona.

The Business Diversity Program will be followed with a digital recognition campaign. The combination of initiatives provides valuable tools to small business, highlights their achievements, as well as corporate investment in supplier diversity, actively pairs buyers and suppliers, and provides insight into companies leading the way in Diversity & Inclusion.

2024 Million Dollar Circle of Excellence

The Application For FY 2023 is due on July 19, 2024.

If your company is eligible to be recognized, please download and complete the AZ MDCE application and email it to Alika Kumar alika@arizonambdacenter.com. Please call or email Alika Kumar at 602-294-6087 or alika@arizonambdacenter.com if you have any questions. We look forward to receiving your application. (Remember to include a high-resolution logo with your application.)

We look forward to your participation at this year's Business Diversity Summit!