Days after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, John W. Murray Jr. was on the phone, cold-calling the head of facilities at devastated Cal State Northridge.
He identified reconstruction needs and outlined his minority-owned firm's capabilities, including relationships with larger players. The quick action and solid credentials earned the firm a $15-million contract to help reconstruct the school.
"I just worked my tail off," recalled the chief executive of the Southern California Minority Business Development Council Inc.
Today, Murray uses his experience in the trenches, both private and public, to teach minority-owned businesses how they can pull off their own winning contract bids. The council's 202 corporate members, ranging alphabetically from Aerospace Corp. of El Segundo to Yum Brands Inc. of Louisville, Ky., fund the work.
"Minority entrepreneurs, by their very nature, are very competitive," said Murray, 62. "What they want is an opportunity. Let us in the door and give us a chance."
Minority-owned companies are the fastest-growing segment of business, he said. The downtown L.A.-based nonprofit is a matchmaker of sorts, certifying businesses in which an African American, Latino, Asian American or Native American owns at least 51%.
It keeps a database of 1,100 certified firms to help its corporate members find suppliers.
One of 39 regional councils in the National Minority Supplier Development Council network, Murray's organization also offers business development classes and access to loans, health insurance and networking events. Murray joined the council in 2002.
How does minority certification help?
It's like the princess in the castle. Yeah, [big corporations] would like to do business with minority businesses, but minority businesses have to fight through the bramble and brush and get there. They have to do what businesses traditionally do, which is to know their market, know the value they can bring, build relationships. If they get to the point of a bid or proposal, they have to be competitively priced and they have to meet credit requirements and have sufficient capital or resources to allow them to perform the service.
Then, if they can jump over all those hurdles like any other business, toward the end of that process, you say, "By the way, we are a certified minority business." Maybe it gives the corporation a chance to say, "We think we can get equal value but this minority company also allows us to be a good corporate citizen and allows us to meet whatever our internal [diversity] goals might be."
