Supplier Diversity Leaders Headline Speakers at NMSDC Conference

NEW YORK, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire/ --- The National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) today announced the headline speakers for its 2008 Annual Conference and Business Opportunity Fair in Las Vegas, Nevada. The four-day event will take place at the Las Vegas Convention Center beginning Sunday, October 26th, with more than 7,000 people expected to attend The theme of the Conference is "Minority Businesses and Corporations: Playing to Win."

"Our roster of speakers represents a broad cross-section of industries, and we are pleased to have them join us to offer their insights and perspective on minority supplier development," said NMSDC President Harriet R. Michel. "The business arena is global, and minority business owners continue to grow more competitive in the global marketplace. This year's speakers will share their experience and proven strategies to help them succeed."

The conference program opens on Monday, October 27th, with a Power Breakfast featuring Craig B. Clayton, Sr., director and diversity strategist at the International Institute for Diversity and Cross-Cultural Management at the University of Houston's C.T. Bauer College of Business. He is also the founder of the Greater Houston Diversity Coalition and the Center for Diversity and Cultural Competency.

The one-day Business Opportunity Fair follows the Power Breakfast. After a short ribbon-cutting ceremony, the doors open to the exhibit hall featuring more than 860 booths -- the perfect venue for a day of deal making with Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native American businesses. The conference program resumes with Monica C. Lozano as the featured luncheon speaker. Ms. Lozano is the publisher and chief executive officer of La Opinion, the nation's largest Spanish-language daily newspaper.

On Tuesday, Peter Berezin, vice president and global economist at Goldman Sachs, is the speaker at the International Power Breakfast. He is an expert on global macroeconomic trends, emerging market prospects and equity market developments.

Constance Mitchell-Ford, real estate bureau chief at The Wall Street Journal, will moderate a plenary session titled "Real World Supply Chain Management." Session speakers John Campi, executive vice president of procurement at Chrysler LLC; Paul Novak, chief executive officer of the Institute for Supply Management; and Quentin L. Roach, senior vice president and chief procurement officer at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, will discuss how buying organizations work closely with their suppliers as they evolve into efficient supply webs of intricately-linked companies.

Linda Johnson Rice is the featured speaker at the Tuesday Luncheon. Ms. Johnson is the president and chief executive officer of Johnson Publishing Company, the world's No. 1 African-American publishing company.

Wednesday opens with a Power Breakfast featuring Shahid Khan, president of Flex-N-Gate Corporation, a leading global auto parts manufacturer with more than 48 manufacturing plants in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Spain and the U.S. Terry J. Lundgren, chairman of NMSDC and chairman, president and chief executive officer of Macy's, Inc., will moderate a plenary session titled "The View from the Top: The Future of Minority Business Development." The featured speakers are George C. Halvorson, chairman and chief executive officer of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, and Terrence Lanni, chairman and chief executive officer of MGM Mirage. They will discuss global business trends and how minority businesses add value for corporate America.

Sergio Sotolongo, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Student Funding Group, LLC, is the featured speaker at Wednesday's Business Consortium Fund Luncheon. The firm is a full-service student loan origination company and the first such minority business enterprise.

The Business Consortium Fund, Inc. (BCF) is a minority business development company created by NMSDC to provide contract financing to NMSDC-certified minority businesses through a network of local participating banks and NMSDC affiliates.

The conference also includes 28 workshops covering such topics as How Minority Supplier Development Fits into the Strategic Planning Process; International Growth and Competitiveness; More Value from Supply-Chain Planning; and Going Green: Factoring in the Corporate Goal. Panelists represent more than 55 corporations such as AT&T, BP, Bank of America, Boeing, Chevron, Chrysler LLC, Cisco Systems, Coca-Cola, ConocoPhillips, Dell, Exxon Mobil, Ford, General Motors, Home Depot, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft Foods, Kroger, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Raytheon, Shell, Sprint Nextel, Toyota, UPS, Verizon and Wal-Mart.

The conference is co-hosted by the Nevada Minority Business Council, one of NMSDC's 39 local affiliates around the country. For additional information on the conference or minority business development, call the National Minority Supplier Development Council at (212) 944-2430 or visit the Web site at www.nmsdc.org.

About NMSDC

Providing a direct link between corporate America and minority-owned businesses is the primary objective of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, one of the country's leading business membership organizations. It was chartered in 1972 to provide increased procurement and business opportunities for minority businesses of all sizes.

The NMSDC Network includes a national office in New York and 39 Regional Councils across the country. There are 3,500 corporate members throughout the network, including America's top publicly-owned, privately-owned and foreign-owned companies as well as universities, hospitals and other buying institutions. The Regional Councils certify and match more than 15,000 minority-owned businesses with member corporations that want to purchase their goods and services.