Aug 15 - OhioMBE

OhioMBE...Page 1
August 15, 2011
Published by
The 912 Group
Ronda Watson Barber, Publisher
Volume 2 No. 15
Promoting and advocating minority, women and disadvantaged businesses
Publisher’s Note
Call to Action: Give your lunch to
help a starving child in Africa
I continue to watch in horror the newscasts about the
starving children in refugee camps near Somalia. It is
hard to believe that over 600,000 children are on the
brink of starvation.
I have decided to forego my lunch at least one day a
week and donate the cost of my average meal to an
organization that is providing aid. Will you join me?
Those accepting the challenge drop me an email or
tweet @OhioMBE. We will publish your businesses
name in the next issue of OhioMBE.
Below is list of organizations that are providing food,
water, and medical care.
Action Against Hunger
The organization is providing treatment and medical
care for acutely malnourished children, general nutritional support for children under 5 years of age, and
emergency access to food, clean water and improved
Publisher’s (Continued on page 3)
I
Gary Turner with Smoot Construction teaches students the basic concepts of reading blueprints during
the COMBA Construction College Blueprint Reading Class.
f it is August, it must the training time for women and minority contractors at the Central Ohio
Minority Business Association. For the past seven years, the minority business advocate has
hosted blueprint reading and a construction management course for women and minority owned businesses.
Area contractors and business professionals are offering their expertise to develop the skills and capabilities of local women and minority owned businesses during the COMBA School of Construction
Management. The 10 week course has a prerequisite blueprint reading course which began last week.
Thirty companies will receive instruction on how a construction project is managed from start to finish
when the S Topics will include estimating, scheduling, insurance and bonding, safety and field operations, accounting basics for construction contractors and bid preparation.
Developing (Continued on page 6)
www.OhioMBE.com
Inside this issue:
CMACAO Reunion
2
The Law According to Moses™
3
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 5
announces new director
Bid Opportunities
7
Marketplace
8
OhioMBE...Page 2
SECRETARY OF STATE HUSTED UNVEILS RESHAPEOHIO.ORG TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN REDRAWING LEGISLATIVE
LINES
CMACAO hosts First Reunion
At the first meeting of the state Apportionment Board, Secretary of State
Jon Husted unveiled ReshapeOhio.org, a website sponsored by the Legislative Task Force on Redistricting, the Ohio Apportionment Board and the
Ohio Secretary of State’s office that is designed to give Ohioans an opportunity to engage in the effort redraw state and congressional district
boundaries.
For more information call, 614-371-7797 or find us on Facebook @ CMACAO Reunion.
Columbus Metropolitan Area Community Action Organization
(CMACAO) is seeking former employees, volunteers and board members
for its, first CMACAO Reunion. The reunion will take place August 26-27
Election 2011 - Get ready to vote
“The new legislative districts, and the leaders who will be elected to represent them, will help to shape Ohio for the next 10 years and beyond,” Secretary Husted said. “It was an important priority for us to provide an open
and interactive means to educate the general public and get Ohioans more
involved in the process.”
OhioMBE is committed to advocating for minority business. Until Election Day 2011, we will
print information on issues and candidates that
have the best interest of MBE’s at heart.
At www.ReshapeOhio.org, Ohioans can:
 Learn more about the two separate but parallel processes of redrawing
Statehouse and Congressional districts, which takes place only once every
10 years;
 Follow the proceedings of the state Apportionment Board and the legislative committees the Ohio House and Senate have established to take
testimony from the general public on redistricting, and
Soon try their hand at drawing their own maps using the same technology
those legally responsible for drawing the maps will be using.
What are the qualifications to register and
to vote in Ohio? You are qualified to register
to vote in Ohio if you meet all the following requirements:
Maptitude -- a web-based, map-drawing program -- complete with detailed
2010 Census data, will be available at www.ReshapeOhio.org in coming
days. For the time being, interested Ohioans can go to the website to learn
more about the process and take advantage of web tutorials to familiarize
themselves with Maptitude so they will be ready to draw their maps. They
may also sign up to be notified when the data and software become available.
“Technology has come a long way over the last 10 years and I am pleased
we can provide a portal whereby Ohioans can participate in drawing legislative lines from the convenience of their own homes,” Secretary Husted
said. “Whether members of the public plan to formally submit a map to the
Apportionment Board or just want to tinker with the software, it serves to take
1. You are a citizen of the United States;
2. You will be at least 18 years old on or before the day of the general election. (If you will be 18 on or before November 8, you may vote in the
primary election for candidates, but you cannot vote on issues until you
are 18);
3. You will be a resident of Ohio for at least 30 consecutive days immediately before the election in which you want to vote;
4. You are not incarcerated (in prison or jail) for a felony conviction under
the laws of this state, another state or the United States;
5. You have not been declared incompetent for voting purposes by a probate court; and
6. You have not been permanently disenfranchised for violations of the
election laws.
some of the mystery out of the process.”
You are eligible to vote in elections held in your voting precinct more than
30 consecutive days after you are duly registered to vote in this state; however, you may request an absentee ballot during that period.
OhioMBE is published by The 912 Group. Copyright ©2011. All Rights
Reserved.
Ronda Watson Barber
Publisher
www.OhioMBE.com
rbarber@the912group.com
OhioMBE welcomes letters to the editor from readers.
Typed letters of 200 words or less are preferred; all might
be edited. Each letter must include name, home address and daytime
phone number.
P.O. Box 533 |Granville, OH 43023 |614-522-9122 phone |
news@ohiombe.com
The 912 Group is an Ohio certified Minority Owned and EDGE business.
www.OhioMBE.com
You may obtain a form in person, and register in person, at any of the following locations:







The office of the Secretary of State;
The office of any of the 88 county boards of elections;
The office of the Registrar or any Deputy Registrar of the Ohio Bureau
of Motor Vehicles;
Public libraries;
Public high schools or vocational schools;
County treasurers' offices; or
Offices of designated agencies including:
 The Department of Job and Family Services;
Publisher’s (Continued on page 5)
OhioMBE...Page 3
THE LAW ACCORDING TO MOSES TM
Publisher’s (Continued from page 1)
The Racial Wealth Gap: What is Wealth?
sanitation for vulnerable populations.
By Ambrose Moses, III
To help Action Against Hunger's efforts, text
"NOHUNGER" to 20222 to donate $10 from the
United States or visit their website: https://
www.actionagainsthunger.org/
My people. My people. My people. Where y’all at?!
We are working on closing the racial wealth gap. There are, and should be,
a variety of approaches that one can take in pursuing this objective. For
the remainder of this year, we are devoting this column to pursuing this
objective.
We do not have a magical, instant solution to the racial wealth gap. There
is none. Where shall we start? With most things, I like to start with an understanding of what we are
talking about. So, “What is wealth?”
Wealth describes all of the economic assets owned by an individual. It is having an abundance of
valuable possessions or money. Wealth is the value of one's property.
People can inherit wealth, or they can create it by earning large amounts of money. Wealth is also generated by the rising value of owned property (like real estate or company shares) without regard to the
actions of the owner. It is another way of describing your net worth. Thus, your wealth is your assets
minus your liabilities. The more assets you have over your debt, the wealthier you are.
Your Property
minus
(-)
Your Debt
equals
(=)
Your Net Worth
125,000
-
50,000
=
75,000
225,000
-
50,000
=
175,000
750,000
-
50,000
=
700,000
Having a job is not wealth. Owning a business is not necessarily wealth. The income you earn at the
job or business could help you to build wealth when you are able to save and invest a portion of your
income and accumulate more and more economic assets. The business could be part of your wealth if
it is successful and its value increases over time.
One definition of wealth is how much freedom you have. If you have the resources to allow you to quit
your job and travel around the world you would probably be considered wealthy. On the other hand if
you have to work two jobs just to pay your bills it is hard to say that you are wealthy no matter how
much stuff you have.
It is important to remember that you need to account for debt when you are calculating your wealth.
Again it is all well and good to have lots of stuff but if you owe more than the stuff is worth then you
really aren’t wealthy. One of the biggest problems facing the country is that many people are living a
lifestyle that exceeds their ability to pay for it. They have the appearance of being wealthy but they
really aren’t since it is mainly built on debt. You can only live beyond your means for so long before it
comes back to bite you. Sooner or later all that debt has to be paid back.
Your Property
minus
(-)
Your Debt
equals
(=)
Your Net Worth
125,000
-
250,000
=
-125,000
225,000
-
250,000
=
-25,000
750,000
-
900,000
=
-150,000
Now that we have a working definition of wealth, how do we get some? We will talk about it in more
depth in the coming weeks, but, in a nutshell: increase your income, minimize your expenses,
and save more of your money.
Be Fearless. Be Free. Build Wealth.
Ambrose Moses, III is an attorney and founder of Moses Law, a law firm serving the needs of individuals, families, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Contact: Email info@MosesLawOffice.com . Telephone - (614) 418-7898.
www.OhioMBE.com
The Facts:
UNICEF
The money will help pro Twelve million
vide therapeutic treatpeople are facing
ment for women and
a hunger crisis in
children with severe malEast Africa.
nutrition, access to clean
drinking water and vacci-  Nearly half a milnations to prevent deadly
lion children are
diseases like measles and
at risk of dying
polio.”
from malnutrition
and disease.
To help UNICEF's ef
forts, text "FOOD" to
864233 to donate $10
from the United States or
visit their website:
http://www.unicefusa.org/
The United Nations warns that
the crisis could
spread.
International Medical Corps
Provides food, water, hygiene, sanitation and
mental health services to people in refugee
camps.
Visit https://internationalmedicalcorps.org/
eastafrica to donate from various countries or
text "AFRICA" to 80888 to donate $10 to the
group's drought relief.
United Nations Word Food Programme
Plans to airlift high energy biscuits and highly
nutritious supplementary foods for children and
pregnant or nursing mothers in southern Somalia
To donate $10 from the United States, text
"AID" to 27722
World Vision
World Vision is working to regain safe humanitarian access in south central Somalia where
millions of children are in urgent need of food
and assistance.
To donate to relief efforts from the United
States, visit http://www.worldvision.org/, or call
1-888-56-CHILD or text "4AFRICA" to 20222 to
donate $10.
Just my thoughts...
OhioMBE...Page 4
Ohio Business Development Group
Webinar Wednesday

Certification 101. Learn about
the certification process, programs (MBE, DBE, EDGE and
W/FBE) and what information is
submitted with your application.
August 17 at 2pm

Handyman’s Legal Toolkit. As
a residential contractor have you
taken care of the “business” side
of your operations? Have you
taken steps to protect yourself,
your family amd your house from
liability and risk? Is Your LLC Complete? Do you have written contracts with your customers? Have your contracts and invoices been
reviewed by an attorney? August 24 at 6 pm
Grow Your Business - Fall Session I
Certification 101. Learn about
the certification process, programs (MBE, DBE, EDGE and
FBE) and what information is
submitted with your application.
September 1 and 29
Walk-in Certification Assistance. Need assistance with
your MBE/DBE/EDGE/FBE application? Walk-in assistance is
available on a first-come, firstserve basis. August 18; September 8 and 15.
Business Basics. Do you have what it takes to be a business
owner? The discussion will focus on the business startup checklist,
legal considerations, and marketing. September 13
Register at www.OhioBDG.com
These are online events. You will need access to the internet, a computer, a
microphone and speakers to participate.
Business Plan Writing. This class will provide information on how
to write a great business plan. It will cover the three components of
a sound business plan: management, marketing and financial projections. September 20
Women’s Business Center Networking Lunch. Bring your lunch,
network and learn. Come meet other women business owners and
business resource service providers. August 29.


Register at www.COMBA.com


Bid Opportunities
Calendar of Events
Certification Info
Resources
Services are provided on a non-discriminatory basis.
Central Ohio Minority Business Association
1393 E. Broad Street - 2nd Floor
Columbus, OH 43205
614-252-8005
www.comba.com
www.OhioDiversityNetwork.com
produced by The 912 Group
The 912 Group and OhioMBE reach over 10,000
minority, women and disadvantaged businesses.
Connecting you to the MBE community.
www.OhioMBE.com
OhioMBE...Page 5
The Hispanic Chamber of
Columbus is proud to introduce
the Executive Director
Jordi Arimary is a native of Guatemala with an
MBA earned in the United States. Jordi is a seasoned investment banker and businessman in
the Central American region, and has served at
both Miami based LAFISE and Banco Industrial,
Central America's largest local bank. Jordi was
involved in the management and implementation of merger and acquisitions, turnarounds,
and corporate financing deals. Recently Jordi
served as Senior Vice President of Business Development at First Diversity Management Group
where he was involved in group's Atlanta and
Cleveland acquisitions.
His areas of expertise include financial services,
renewable energy, telecommunications and
business services.
Jordi has a passion for social development. He is
experienced in international philanthropy, has
served in the Board of the Guatemalan Neurological Institute, a non-profit school serving
marginalized low income families with children
with mental disability and was in the Board of
Elders and the Administrative Council of the
Union Church of Guatemala.
Letters to the Editor
OhioMBE welcomes letters to the editor from
readers. Typed letters of
200 words or less are preferred; all might be edited. Each letter must
include name, home address and daytime phone
number.
The publisher or editor of OhioMBE reserves
the right to edit or withhold from publication
any letter for any reason whatsoever. Once received, all letters become the possession of
OhioMBE. Letters reflect the opinion of the
author, not necessarily that of OhioMBE or its
staff.
Please forward any letters to
news@ohiombe.com
What is Life Insurance?
By Deon Cromwell
Life insurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where
the life insurance company promises to pay the beneficiary a sum of money
upon the death of the insured person.
In early years of adult life you have more responsibilities such as young children, debt, mortgage and education expenses. As a result, your assets are not
built up to provide for your family. Life insurance then plays a critical role in
estate planning, education expenses, mortgage payments and providing financial stability for your family. In the event of a premature death, life insurance
will provide financial stability to the beneficiary’s family as if the insured person was still living.
A good way to calculate the life insurance needed to properly protect your family include: debt (how
much debt needs to be paid off), income replacement for 15-25 years, mortgage (how much money is
needed to pay off the home) and education expenses. As inflation continues to climb over the years to
come, so will the cost of tuition.
It is important to note that life insurance is not designed for people to have their whole life (cash value
policies). The sole purpose of life insurance is to serve as a financial tool that will provide for your
family for a certain amount of time as if you were still living.
You can contact Deon at deoncromwell@gmail.com
www.OhioMBE.com
Vote (Continued from page 2)
 The Department of Health (including




the Women, Infants and Children
(WIC) program);
The Department of Mental Health;
The Department of Developmental
Disabilities;
The Rehabilitation Services Commission; or
Any state-assisted college or university that provides assistance to disabled students.
What is the registration deadline?
Ohio has a 30 day voter registration requirement. However, if the 30 day voter registration
deadline falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, then
the deadline is extended to the next day that is
not a Sunday or legal holiday.
Five Customer Service Tips:
1. Build a rapport with your customer base and
try to make every single customer feel valued.
2. Empower your employees to make good customer service decisions on the spot, even if
it means that your business has to make
slight concessions occasionally.
3.
Create a network with other local small
businesses offering services that complement your own, therefore allowing you to
refer customers if they have specific needs
that you cannot meet.
4. Make sure that you give back to the community in some way. Don’t forget that the entire local community is your main target
market.
5. Provide an email newsletter for all of your
customers to keep them informed of special
offers and new products.
OhioMBE...Page 6
Customer
First
Developing (Continued from page 1)
Estimators from Miles-McClellan instruct students on
basic blueprint reading.
Customers are waiting for good service
If your clients are waiting for good customer service, it's time to wake up! Good service isn't
something a customer should have to wait for-or
heaven forbid; ask for-it should be offered sincerely, spontaneously, and before it is expected.
In difficult economic times, service is one of the
key components for keeping your business viable. Unless your product is completely unique
your customers have the choice to purchase it
anywhere-and when a product or service is readily available, the level of service your customer
experiences is the thing that will give you an
edge over your competition. If the interactions
your customers have with your company leave a
positive, lasting impression, that relationship
will translate to an improved bottom line. Good
service shows that you truly care about your customers, their business, and their overall satisfaction with your staff and your products... and best
of all... it's free.
Achieving excellent service levels may feel impossible right now. Many companies have been
forced to downsize, and may feel they don't have
the manpower to increase their service levels.
But there are things the staff can do that will
wow the customers, and the costs-if any-will be
minimal.
One of the most impactful actions an owner or
manager can take is to anticipate what their customers need. The Webster's Dictionary's definition of anticipate is "to give advance thought,
discussion, or treatment to". That means you
need to study your customers and try to determine what you could do to augment their customer experience. An example might be, if a customer stops to make a small purchase at a store
and she is already carrying a number of small
packages, the clerk could offer to place her all of
her purchases in a larger bag-or better yet, in a
shopping bag with handles-so that she can consolidate her load. Travelers are usually interwww.OhioMBE.com
ested in places to eat-a notebook in a hotel lobby
that lists nearby local restaurants, places of interest, and emergency medical and dental numbers will make that establishment memorable.
And speaking of restaurants, a map of the local
area on the placemat and a wet-nap at the end of
a meal can score high points for taking customer
needs into consideration.
Complimentary sales offer another way to anticipate customer needs. Think about the item
you're promoting, and what other items you sell
that the customer might need at the same time.
If you're selling jackets, ask the customer if he
needs gloves or a hat to go with it. If your customer is purchasing shirts, ask if he wants to
look at a tie or pocket square while he has the
shirt in hand. People sometimes don't think of
these little things because they're focused on the
primary item they came to purchase; but a sincere offer (not a hard sell) may trigger a sale and
save them a trip back to the store at a later date.
Good customer service is like a race. You expend
all of your energy and creativity to get out in
front of the pack, and suddenly, there you
are...all alone at the front. Everyone is trying to
emulate your business because you're the leader;
but this is the point where many top contenders
actually lose the race. They start looking back
over their shoulders to see what the competition
is doing instead of focusing on the finish line.
They see one of their competitors offering something different so they decide to try something
similar, then another company draws their attention and they're off in another direction. This
is a dangerous and self-condemning process.
Think about it! You are out in front... why would
you want to copy the people behind you-the very
people that are trying to catch you? That isn't to
say you don't want to be aware of where your
competition is and what they are doing-just be
original and true to the values and service levels
Estimators from Mile-McClellan and The Smoot
Construction Company donated time to provide
training on how to read a scale, take measurements and how to read symbols and construction documents.
“Smoot Construction has a long history of involvement with minority organizations, as well
as minority contractors. This collaborative effort
will help COMBA achieve the goals of making
our diverse contracting community better,” said
Lewis R. Smoot Jr.
In addition to Smoot Construction and MilesMcClellan, the following companies have committed to instructing on best practices in the
construction industry:






McDaniel’s Construction
Bricker & Eckler
Moses Law Office
Messer Construction
Ginger Cunningham & Associates
The 912 Group
COMBA has been providing services to area contractors since 1978. The non-profit agency operates a construction plan room.
that got you where you are in the first place-out
in front. Stay focused on the goal... offering the
very best customer experience possible, and let
the competition strive to catch you. As long as
you're the one setting the bar, achieving success
should be a given
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6448817
Place your bid
notice here!
614-522-9122
OhioMBE...Page 7
bid opportunities
The Columbus Regional Airport Authority invites you to visit ColumbusAirports.com to
sign-up for RSS feeds to automatically receive
notifications of new bid opportunities and results.
NOTICE TO VENDORS
Columbus City Schools is seeking qualified venues at which to
conduct group meetings.
Interested facilities should check
the District’s web site for more
information at http://
www.columbus.k12.oh.us
$300 Million Reasons To Do Business
With The City of Columbus
Did you know that the City of Columbus spends over $300 million dollars a year
in construction, goods and services and professional services projects?
Are you interested in learning how to compete for these opportunities?
Call 614-645-0248 or sign up by going to the following link:
http://vendorservices.columbus.gov/e-proc/
Michael B. Coleman, Mayor
Equal Business Opportunity Office, City of Columbus
Fifth & Sunbury Market
“Attention DBE Companies"
Kokosing Construction Company, Inc. is preparing bids for the Easterly WWTP Aeration Blowers Rehabilitation Project, Cleveland, Ohio
which bids August 24, 2011. We are seeking
quotes for any portion of the project listed that
you are qualified to perform or provide supplies
for which includes the following: Clearing/
Grubbing, HVAC, Electrical, Asphalt Paving
and Instrumentation & Controls. Bidding documents can be viewed at the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, 3900 Euclid Avenue,
Cleveland, Ohio 44115, or by calling Kokosing
Construction Co., Inc. at 614-212-5777. Please
have your quote to Mr. John Rigo by 4:00 PM
August 23, 2011: fax 614-212-5711. Mr. Rigo
may be contacted via telephone at 614-2125706.
Come Shop with Us, You’ll Come Back
Mon-Sat 9 am to 9 pm
Sunday 9 am to 8 pm
2157 E. 5th Avenue - Columbus
www.OhioMBE.com
Member of the Shepard Community Association
614-258-1809
The Shepard Community 11th
Annual Family Day Festival
When:
August 20
Time:
12 pm to 6 pm
Where:
Old Shepard Elementary School
(Walcutt & Fifth Ave)
A Green Company
“Kokosing Construction Company is an equal
opportunity employer.”
Boost Mobile Cell Phone Dealer
ATM
Selling Clothes for The Upbeat
Carryout Food Items (Hunt’s Pizza & Chicken)
Fun for all ages.
OhioMBE...Page 8
marketplace
theplanforyou@yahoo,com
www.OhioMBE.com