NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 717.255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
25 July 2005

MAYOR REED ANNOUNCES HARRISBURG REGIONAL CHAMBER & CREDC’S FIRST ANNUAL BUSINESS DIVERSITY WORKS CONFERENCE

At a press conference today, Stephen R. Reed, Mayor, City of Harrisburg, announced the first annual Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC Business Diversity Works Conference. The event will be held on Wednesday, September 7th at the Hershey Lodge, with registration and a continental breakfast at 7:30 a.m., and the program beginning at 8:30 a.m.

“This conference is an important opportunity for both minority and women-owned businesses and the companies who utilize their services,” said Mayor Stephen R. Reed. “Inclusiveness in the day-to-day business affairs of the region makes good business sense and serves to strengthen us economically, socially and culturally.”

The day features two dynamic nationally-recognized morning and luncheon speakers, minority and women-owned business exhibitors, and a series of workshops that range in topics from Best Practices in Creating a Diverse Workforce to Using Diversity to Leverage Growth. These workshops will include local, regional and national speakers.

Reggie Williams, the morning keynote speaker, coined the term supplier diversity back in 1985. His book, 2nd Tier Minority Purchasing: Effective Strategies in Supplier Diversity, is the most widely read text on the subject. His company, Procurement Resources, Incorporated, is focused solely on helping organizations to effectively implement strategies that will promote business with minority and women-owned suppliers.

Dr. Mel Gravely, the afternoon keynote speaker, is a frequent guest on radio stations from Los Angeles to New York and has been featured in many national magazines including Black Enterprise Magazine and Ebony Magazine. He is the creator of COMSDA, the competitive supplier diversity assessment tool and author of “When Black and White Make Green: The Next Evolution of Business and Race.”

The Business Diversity Works Conference was created to assist in building the framework to strengthen the capacity and competence of women and minority-owned businesses, enabling them to gain access and opportunities to competitively bid and successfully complete significant contracts with larger corporations, while at the same time creating more diversity within larger member corporations, resulting in increasing the economic growth and development throughout the region.

Janis Leftridge, Senior Director for Business Diversity at the Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC added, “As the Chamber moves into the second year of its Business Diversity Program, the Business Diversity Works Conference is the next logical step to provide our members and businesses throughout the region a forum where information about the benefits to business and consumers can be shared, as well as providing the opportunity for networking among a diverse group of attendees. Our long range goal is to make diversity an integral part of the business community within the workforce, suppliers, and customers. This conference is an important step toward accomplishing that goal."

The Business Diversity Initiative was officially launched at the Whitaker Center on June 22nd of last year. Beginning with a clean slate, the program has evolved into a dynamic resource and service the Chamber has made available to its members. Business Diversity provides an opportunity for regional businesses to expand their customer base increasing their bottom line and assist women and minority-owned businesses to grow. It is about business. Using their core strengths, HRC/CREDC focuses on two major goals: 1) identifying supplier diversity needs and opportunities for businesses in the region and network those needs to women and minority-owned firms that may meet the needs; and 2) increasing the business capacity/competence of women and minority-owned businesses to be in a position to compete for new business opportunities and successfully complete them.

The Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC serves as a catalyst for promoting growth and quality of life in Cumberland, Dauphin and Perry Counties by providing a unique blend of business, community and economic development and advocacy services under one roof to boost our economic vitality and livability as a region. HRC/CREDC was named 2004 Economic Development Agency of the Year by the Pennsylvania Economic Development Association (PEDA).