WBDC Client Successes
Every day at the WBDC we hear about our clients doing well in the business world. They are featured in the media, receive awards, gain certifications, secure new contracts and much more. Keep reading to learn more about their achievements as we recognize our fantastic clients!
If you are a WBDC client and would like to see your business successes included here, please email bhartley@wbdc.org for consideration. Please note that this space is reserved for business achievements, not sales or promotional materials.
-WBDC is pleased to share WBE Desert Rose Design is recognized by DiversityBusiness.com
Desert Rose Design Awarded Nation’s Top 500 Diverse-Owned Business for 2012
Lombard, IL (May 24, 2012) Desert Rose Design, a full service agency offering both integrated marketing and web application development and located in Lombard, Illinois, was selected as one of the Top Businesses in the United States by DiversityBusiness.com.
DiversityBusiness.com, the nation’s leading multicultural B2B Internet portal that links large organizational buyers to multicultural product and service businesses, announced the Div500, the 12th annual listing of the nation’s top 500 diverse-owned businesses. Ranging in revenue size, the companies listed on the Div500 represent the nation’s top companies and challenge the long-held notion that diverse-owned businesses are small or insignificant.
This is the fourth year in a row that Desert Rose Design has made the Nation’s Top Business List, and they are honored to be recognized for their efforts yet again. “There are no words to describe how fortunate we feel for achieving this distinguished award for four consecutive years,” said Helen Levinson, Principal at Desert Rose Design. “As a company, we continue to dedicate ourselves to creating business opportunities and solutions for our clients through our services, and being recognized for the work we love is extremely rewarding.”
“The Div500 companies are the heroes of diverse-owned business in America,” said Kenton Clarke, CEO of Computer Consulting Associates International, Inc. and founder of DiversityBusiness.com. “These are the entrepreneurs that have conquered the hurdles and made the sacrifices, building and strengthening their communities, providing jobs and helping to keep the fabric of the U.S. economy together.”
Desert Rose Design was recently honored for this award at DiversityBusiness.com’s 12th Annual National Business Conference, which took place April 25 – April 27, 2011 at the Foxwoods Resort & Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
About Desert Rose Design
Desert Rose Design is a hybrid marketing and web application development firm located in Lombard, Illinois. They are a WBENC certified woman owned business that provides brand positioning, web application development and integrated marketing specialties. Their online communication solutions include custom web applications, SEO and PPC programs, eMarketing campaigns, and social media management, while their offline programs help build product and service sales with rebranding programs, product launches and sales support tools.
Learn more about Desert Rose Design here.
-Recently one of our Minnesota WBEs, Shirley Engelmeier of InclusionINC. published an e-book:
Why “Inclusion” is the linchpin to creating a high performance workplace and connecting to and engaging continually changing markets. Shirley Engelmeier was a pioneer of inclusion as a business catalyst more than 10 years ago when she launched InclusionINC. The insights gained over the past decade and years of experience as a highly effective business executive in a world dominated by “the majority” puts her at the forefront of a business revolution-the migration from diversity to inclusion… In Inclusion: The New Competitive Business Advantage, Engelmeier presents insights, tools, and tactics that form a compelling case for an inclusive business culture. She urges companies to move away from a focus on compliance and counting to the recognition that the simple solution to most business challenges lies in capturing, nurturing and leveraging the input of all employees. The culture change and transformation required in today’s volatile global economy needs a fundamental shift in thinking-a shift that recognizes how to engage and capitalize on the diverse inputs within human capital to drive performance and profit. From an in-depth look at the trends impacting business today to a road map about how strategies of inclusion can drive business success, this timely book also presents perspectives of inclusion champions at high-performing companies that have embraced inclusion as a new global business imperative.
Click here to view and purchase.
-Articles featuring WBENC certified businesses or our clients:
Crain’s Chicago Business “Teamwork can really pay off” features one of our WBEs Lynn Sutton of Kairos Consulting Worldwide, LLC. The article was originally published in Crain’s Chicago Business, read the part of the article below.
When it comes to pursuing government contracts, two companies often are better than one.
Lynn Sutton, 44, won her first contract in 2008 from the U.S. Navy when she teamed up with Interos Solutions Inc., a supply-chain risk-management company based in McLean, Va. Ms. Sutton heads Kairos Consulting Worldwide Inc., a Chicago management consulting firm with almost $2 million in revenue last year. They analyzed the Navy’s warehousing logistics, leading to the demolition of 102 unneeded facilities.
Ms. Sutton and her counterpart at Interos met through their volunteer work for San Francisco-based business group Women Impacting Public Policy. Their companies meshed well because each possessed a strength the other lacked. Ms. Sutton had sought and obtained certification as an 8(a) business, a designation for small, disadvantaged companies, meaning procurement officers could award Kairos a “sole source” contract without seeking other bids. Interos had built relationships in the military procurement world through subcontracting work.
Thinking Bigger Business “25 Under Twenty-Five” awards highlighted Consolidated Printing Supplies as one of it’s awardees, with the dinner and gala taking place March 3, 2012 in Kansas City. Learn more about the awards here and read the article from February’s magazine below, originally published in Thinking Bigger Business.
Buying a company that has been leaderless for 18 months and is in a downward spiral may not seem like the best scenario for testing one’s entrepreneurial wings.
When Deneen and Ryan Slack purchased Consolidated Printing Supplies in 2005, they knew the company was limping along after its owner died 18 months earlier. During purchase negotiations, the last salesperson quit, and the company lost its largest customer, representing 25 percent of revenues. The Slacks withdrew their original purchase offer, not sure if the company could be saved.
With no experience in the industry, the lack of knowledge was only one of their challenges. Still, they renegotiated their offer and reduced their exposure by making conditional monthly earn-outs a large part of the financing. Today the company provides barcode printing expertise and supplies to the manufacturing and logistical departments of business customers in 45 states and 18 countries, including Fortune 500 companies and government entities.
Our client was asked by the Governor of Illinois to attend as a guest, During during the State of the State address, the Governor of Illinois recognized Vintage Tech Recyclers for the job growth in Illinois:
Governor Pat Quinn Recognizes Vintage Tech in “State of the State” Speech
One of the certified WBEs in our region discussed how she adapted to the recent economic climate:
Burnsville CEO diversifies her business to survive credit crash
Continental Transportation Services Secures New Warehouse Space
Northlake, IL – Continental Transportation Solutions (a CTL Global, Inc. company) announces the opening of a new warehouse in Bensenville, Illinois. This modern facility provides more than 3.1 million cubic feet of flexible production and storage space supporting various clients with the three business units of CTL Global. In addition to the space, CTL Global gains the ability to offer extensive cross-docking solutions, with over 20 docks available within this facility. The new facility is located at 560 Supreme Drive in Bensenville, IL, just 4 miles to O’Hare International Airport’s Cargo Entrance.
In January 2012, due to continued growth, Continental Transportation Solutions will be moving their headquarters from its current location in Northlake, IL to the Bensenville, IL facility. Continental Logistics Solutions (a CTL Global, Inc. company) will expand its footprint in the Northlake, IL facility as well as sharing some of the warehouse in Bensenville, IL.
“The Bensenville facility symbolizes our ongoing commitment to building solutions that help our clients meet the need of their growing businesses,” said Mark Skowron, Director of Operations of Continental Transportation Solutions. “Our team members worked tirelessly to ensure that our new facility was operating smoothly. I am proud of what we have accomplished in such a short time.”
About Continental Transportation Solutions
Continental Transportation Solutions, a CTL Global, Inc. company, is a leading provider of same-day & overnight delivery, freight distribution and final mile logistics solutions within the Midwest region of the United States. Incorporated in Illinois in 1978, our transportation solutions include the pick-up, cross-docking, and delivery of sensitive packages for financial services, pharmaceutical, distribution, critical parts and electronic retailers across a multi-state region.
About CTL Global, Inc.
Founded in 1978 by President and Chief Executive Officer Sharon Dalenberg, CTL Global is a privately held, woman-owned corporation. Beginning as a banking courier, CTL Global has evolved to become a premier global transportation, logistics and technology company that works with over 300 clients, including 41 of the Fortune 500 companies. For more information visit http://www.ctlglobalsolutions.com or contact Josh Miller, Sales Director at jmiller@ctlglobalsolutions.com.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20120407/ISSUE02/304079991/teamwork-can-really-pay-off
