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A Message from the President With 1999 behind us, this is a good time to summarize the activities of the New Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association over this last year and develop plans for the new millennium. During the first half of 1999, the Association's main focus was on the Sandia National Laboratories/8(a) Task Force. The Task Force was established by Sandia National Laboratories Director, Dr. C. Paul Robinson, and was tasked to comprehensively evaluate the procurement policies and processes. The Task Force presented its findings and recommendations to Sandia's top executives on August 11, 1999. The recommendations were enthusiastically endorsed by Dr. Robinson, his deputy, Dr. Joan Woodard, and senior management. There was a subsequent Task Force meeting on December 15, 1999 to review the progress and the Task Force members agreed to meet in six months for a progress report (refer to Sandia article). In August, the Association met with Los Alamos National Laboratory Director, Dr. John Browne, to initiate a process similar to Sandia's. The Association established a LANL Procurement Committee to begin a dialog with Dr. Browne and senior management; however, the Association is proceeding with a construction initiative starting by targeting construction opportunities (refer to LANL article). In the meantime, LANL has undertaken several initiatives to examine its procurement practices and policies. In September, at the Washington, D.C. MEDWeek function, the Association convened a briefing for the NM Congressional Delegation on the Sandia initiative. While in Washington, we seized the opportunity to brief Mr. James Lewis, Department of Energy's Director for Economic Impact and Diversity, and Esther Aguilera, DOE Secretary Richardson's Assistant for Hispanic Affairs, on the Sandia/8(a) Task Force initiative. The Department of Energy is interested in adopting general aspects of the Sandia model for implementation throughout all National Laboratories. The Association plans to meet with officials at White Sands Missile Range in January to encourage WSMR to utilize all the federal procurement programs that assist the SDB and Minority Business Community. We also plan to meet with officials at Holloman Air Force Base and Cannon Air Force Base in the spring. Your Association plans to stay very focused on our mission to increase procurement dollars to New Mexico 8(a) and minority businesses. We will be meeting with top level procurement and government officials at the state and national levels to promote and increase contracting opportunities for our constituency. We will work diligently toward achieving those goals in 2000. Finally, the Association's Board of Directors wishes you, your family and your employees a peaceful and joyful Holiday Season and a happy and prosperous New Year. Sandia National Laboratories (by Dr. Miguel Rios)The Task Force was briefed on December 15, 1999 by Frank Figueroa, Vice President, CFO, Business Management. The Task Force members were impressed with the organizational structure Mr. Figueroa developed to make the organizational changes at Sandia. A Procurement Council was formed with Mr. Figueroa as the chair and senior management as council members. Members of the council include: Dan Hartley, Vice President, Laboratory Development; Bob Kestenbaum, Vice President, Legal; Jim Tegnelia, Vice President, DoD Programs; M. Lynn Jones, Vice President, Laboratory Services; Lenny Martinez, Vice President, Defense Programs Products & Services; Al Romig, Vice President, Science, Technology & Components; Dave Palmer, Director, Procurement & Logistics; Cynthia Schneeberger, Manager, Supplier Relations; and Dave Wallace, Manager, Sandia Livermore. The team of high level officials that were assembled to form the council demonstrates Sandia's commitment to change the corporate culture of the organization. The goal of the Council is to oversee the corporate strategy for strategic sourcing including definition of overall policy and vision for the future. The ultimate goal of strategic sourcing is to enhance and strengthen the mission of the Laboratories. The Council combines the mission of the Laboratories with the corporate strategic sourcing plan to optimize the relationship with our contractor community and enhance Sandia's economic impact in New Mexico and the region. The Statement of Intent was agreed upon by Council members committing Sandia to:
In addition, Sandia has formed a Supplier Community Advisory Council whose mission is to provide advice and a forum for dialogue with Sandia National Laboratories regarding the use of New Mexico purchasing strategies and the establishment of measurable goals which:
The Council's activities are intended to foster mutual understanding, cooperation and trust between the local business community and Sandia National Laboratories. The New Mexico 8(a) and Minority Business Association is confident that the Sandia Procurement initiative is on track and wants to thank the Task Force members for their diligent efforts. The Task Force is co-chaired by Dr. Miguel Rios and Jim Tegnelia. The other Task Force members are: Cynthia Schneeberger, Eutimio L. Sena, Boris Starr, Jaime Oaxaca, Dennis S. Miyoshi, Ken Haug, and Dominic J. Monetta. Association Joins to Protest Redefinition of Minority-Owned Business The New Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association, at its October 13, 1999 Board of Directors meeting, passed a board resolution opposing the proposed rule change by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) to lower the 51% ownership threshold for an enterprise to qualify as a minority owned business. NMSDC proposed a plan to allow minority owned businesses to sell off as much as 70% of their equity to investors and yet retain "minority-owned" status. The council, which represents large corporations in their efforts to spread procurement dollars among minority companies, asserts this is the only way for minority firms to grow to the scale required to compete in the top tier of corporate contractors. The New Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association joined forces with the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Latin American Management Association and other Hispanic and African-American leaders to denounce the proposal. In a letter to the NMSDC board of directors, the Association stated the obvious: "It is our understanding that the deliberations on the proposed rule change started with a NMSDC task force in 1997. The task force had a preponderance of corporate members and virtually very little minority representation. From inception, the minority business community was under-represented. There have been numerous news releases from the NMSDC explaining the organization's position and taunting the fact that MBEs have been enthusiastic and supportive. Our board of directors reviewed the Growth Initiative for Minority Business NMSDC position paper and there is no compelling reason to go along with the proposal. We are joining our esteemed colleagues that are requesting that the October 26, 1999 vote be postponed until this is a national debate with all of the stakeholders in the minority business community." Anna Muller, President, NEDA Business Consultants, Inc., represented the New Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association at the NMSDC national conference in Phoenix and circulated our letter of protest to conference participants. U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Aida Alvarez said she opposes a plan to relax the definition of minority-owned businesses for corporate suppliers. Ms. Alvarez said even though the plan wouldn't affect government contractors, she wanted to register her opposition because the plan "runs counter to federal law," which requires 51% minority ownership for any company to be considered "minority-owned." "The minority small-business community is not well served by a resolution that flies in the face of existing laws," the Administrator said. The National Minority Supplier Development Council postponed its scheduled October vote on the issue until late January. The New Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association will continue to oppose this proposal and we express our gratitude to SBA Administrator Alvarez for joining us in this heated battle. Anna Muller, President, NEDA Business Consultants, Inc.; Roxanne Rivera, President, PMR Construction Services, Inc.; and Alice Quintanilla, President, Information Assets Management, Inc., met with LANL procurement officials Bill Barr, Dennis Roybal, Carlos Chacon, Michael Day and Linda Baker to develop a strategy to increase construction opportunities for minority contractors. As a result of the December meeting, the following plan of action was agreed to:
Subsequent to our meeting at LANL, we met with Gary Johnson, Project Manager for Hensel Phelps, to start the match-making process. We will be updating construction company capability statements to accurately present your company and provide company profiles to the buyers and estimators. For information, call Anna Muller at NEDA Business Consultants, Inc. (843-7114). This Newsletter is a publication of The New Mexico 8(a) & Minority Business Association Editor: Anna Muller, President NEDA Business Consultants, Inc. 718 Central Avenue SW Albuquerque, NM 87102 Ph: (505) 843-7114, Fax: (505) 242-2030 email: info@nedainc.net
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