New group aims to open doors to aboriginal, minority suppliers
Certified entrepreneurs get better chance at selling to firms across North America
By Shirley Won, Toronto
October 13, 2004 - Aboriginal and visible minority businesses in Canada will get a better chance at selling to many major North American corporations thanks to yesterday's launch of an new group to help these entrepreneurs, its promoters say.
The Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council (CAMSC), modelled after a similar, established U.S. organization, aims to boost the economic development and employment for Canada's native population and visible minority suppliers.
They can apply to the council for certification that will open doors to Corporate North America once they prove they are 51-per-cent owned by aboriginals or minorities.
"Certification opens up opportunities to compete for contracts with corporate members of CAMSC, and our sister organization in the United States," Orrin Benn, president of CAMSC told a news conference.
The National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), which was founded in the United States in 1972, has about 3,500 corporate members, including top American publicly and privately owned companies as well as universities and hospitals.
"We don't certify quality," Mr. Benn said in a later interview. "It is up to every business to compete on exactly the same level as a main-stream corporation. The certification just enables a minority business to have easier access."
Harriet Michel, president of NMSDC, said that aboriginal and visible minority entrepreneurs certified in Canada will have access to its membership, which reported more than $72-billion (U.S.) in minority procurement in 2002. "This opens up a much larger market for Canadian entrepreneurs," Ms. Michel said.
Jack Pong, owner of Toronto based Nature Select, said he welcomes the initiative in Canada to help his three-year-ole company gain access to the U.S. market in order to sell his soy products, such as chips, butter, nuts and pasta. Mr. Pong, a Chinese immigrant who emigrated to Canada from Hong Kong in 1952, said he has participated in many trade shows to market his products south of the border, but with little success. Many U.S. supermarkets and department store retailers won't see him unless he is "certified," he said.
Doug Lord, chairman of CAMSC and president of Xerox Canada Ltd., said the council will help aboriginal and visible minority entrepreneurs gain opportunities to corporations "that they might not have been able to access in the past. Many large businesses, like my own at Xerox, are interested in ensuring that their procurement policies are inclusive and reach out to the broadest possible community."
CAMSC has 15 founding corporate members, including Royal Bank of Canada and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd., as well as subsidiaries of major U.S. corporations.