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Greetings!
So much has gone on in the past month since our last E-letter. To begin, our client numbers are climbing and so are their business growth and financing opportunities. In addition, top construction partners were honored, our President & CEO won an award as a role model and visionary and we are in the midst of preparation for our biggest event of the year: MEDA Gala - An Evening Among Stars, taking place November 17.
Read below for details and more updates on everything MEDA.
Be sure to let us know something that you'd like MEDA to share. Send your suggestions via e-mail to info@meda.net.
And, don't forget to RSVP for the MEDA GALA 2007 below! | |
| Medtronic, McGough and Target Commercial Interiors among CPP award honorees
 The hard work and innovation of McGough Construction (Best Majority Partner), Tarraf Construction Management (Best Minority Partner), Medtronic-Mounds View Campus (Best Project), and Target Commercial Interiors with DelPrado Commercial Flooring (Best CPP Relationship) were recognized at the third annual Construction Partnering Program (CPP) awards reception, Thursday, October 4.
Hosted at A La Salsa Restaurant in Midtown Global Market, more than 50 CPP partners and clients gathered to celebrate their efforts to increase construction opportunities for women and entrepreneurs of color. MEDA also acknowledged new CPP partnerships established this year, including M.C. Electric & Hunt Electric (AWC) and Flowsense & Doody Mechanical (MEDA).
The CPP is a City of Saint Paul initiative composed of established and developing firms in the Twin Cities area. MEDA facilitates CPP, along with the Association of Women's Contractors (AWC). The program's goal is to partner developing women and firms of color with larger, established firms that can provide guidance, expertise and industry connections.
"As every entrepreneur of color and woman-owned business gets a new, or on-going, opportunity to show what they are made of and how they can perform, we celebrate!," said Yvonne Cheung Ho, MEDA President & CEO.
"Every contract and subcontract won creates a better functioning and inclusive community for all of us and creates new quality jobs for Minnesotans," Cheung Ho continued. "With everything that is going on in the construction world today, from ballparks and stadiums to highway construction projects, there will be many opportunities for the Construction Partnering Program to assist in making these projects work for all of us."
For more information on the Construction Partnering Program, please CLICK HERE.
(Pictured above, l-r: Gretchen Ebert, Medtronic; Readus Fletcher, City of St. Paul; Michelle Miller, Medtronic) |
G&K Services CEO to lead next EDS luncheon
Richard Marcantoni, Chairman & CEO of G&K Services (pictured left) will lead the next 2007 Executive Development Series luncheon, Nov. 6.
Be sure to register EARLY for the upcoming monthly series as past luncheons have sold out!
The 2007 Executive Development Series has featured such speakers as Bradley Chapin (M&I Bank), Paul Douglas (WCCO), Stephen Sanger (General Mills, Inc.) and William McLaughlin (Select Comfort, Inc.).
Note: October's luncheon with James A. Dallas, Medtronic, Inc. Senior Vice President and CIO, has been postponed to January 2008. More information will be available next month.
CLICK HERE for upcoming sessions and registration information.
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Cheung Ho receives
Minnesota Vision Award
MEDA President & CEO, Yvonne Cheung Ho, recently received the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Developments (DEED) 2007 Minnesota Vision Award.
Awarded to only seven nominees each year, the Vision Award honors individuals who understand and embody the spirit of harnessing Minnesota's ingenuity around the main sectors represented at the 2007 annual conference - economic development, workforce development and education. The recipients' work illustrates how they have been a positive role model, champion and visionary.
Carla Carlson, University of Minnesota Assistant Vice President, said she was delighted to nominate Cheung Ho and help "shine a bright light on an individual who works very diligently on behind-the-scenes networking - and makes every effort to side-step the spot light. Her mantra is: The client first, the client first, the client first."
Cheung Ho, Carlson added, "brings her beliefs and passion for equity into all deliberations. Whether the topic is student admissions or business contracts, she brings substance and reason to the discussion - to open minds and open doors to better opportunities for women and minorities."
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MEDA's Board leadership continues to grow
The corporate leadership that MEDA has enjoyed over its 36-year history continues with the addition of the following executives, as well as our 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year, Andy Wells (Wells Technology, Inc.) to the MEDA Board:
· Jeanne Crain, EVP Business Banking, M&I Bank
· Maria Seiler, VP Diversity, Carlson Hotels Worldwide and Regent Luxury Group
· Richard Venegar, President & CEO, Milestone Growth Fund
· Jeff Williams, President, Ameriprise Bank FSB
· Al Nuness, VP Sports Sales, Jostens
For a complete list of MEDA Board members, please CLICK HERE.
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New Staff! 
Ellen Orndorf, MBA
Event Coordinator
Prior to joining MEDA, Ellen spent 16 years at Gillette Children's Hospital Foundation managing numerous events, including fundraisers and golf outings. She holds an MBA from the University of St. Thomas and an undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin - River Falls.
Ellen works at MEDA on a part-time basis and is responsible for coordinating MEDA's two biggest events, the annual Gala and Annual Recognition Luncheon, along with various programmatic events, such as the Construction Partnering Program's Awards Reception, the Pacesetter Holiday Reception and the Fredrikson & Byron Golf Invitational. | | |
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MEDA Updates
MEDA MBE's Step Up!
42 entrepreneurs of color have become sponsors of this year's MEDA Gala.
We are extremely proud of the support shown by the community that we serve.
The opportunity to sponsor is still open. If you are interested, check out www.medagala.net!
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As of September 30, 530 entrepreneurs have made it their business to succeed with MEDA! Urban Gear Clothing and Neigrum LLC are among our most recent clients.
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Tea Garden and Saigon Deli were among eight new MEDA starts in September.
Producing six new jobs, family-owned Tea Garden opened its third location at Stadium Village in Dinkytown. MEDA packaged and participated in the financing along with M&I Bank.
Saigon Deli also expanded. With its first location on 20th and Nicollet in Minneapolis, the second, much larger, Saigon Deli Express opened at Edinburgh Center in Brooklyn Park. The expansion created five new jobs!
Additional starts include
American Case, Trinh Trinh, La Loma-St. Paul, Haiti Freight and Freedom Lines.
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BCS African Wholesale Food Supply, Inc has become a Pacesetter! BCS is a wholesaler, distributor and retail outlet in Brooklyn Park, that imports perishable and nonperishable food items primarily from Africa, as well as Scandanavia, Canada, the Caribbean and Asia. Its partners are immigrants from Liberia and Nigeria. The Pacesetter Program is designed to accelerate the growth and capacity of high-potential businesses through management consulting and strategic development.
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Client Updates
Catallia Mexican Foods, Inc. was recently awarded a national contract from McDonald to produce tortillas.
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Through a referral from MEDA, Shaw Lundquist Associates was awared a contract to remodel Cub Foods in Midway.
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EVS, Inc. was selected to manage the surveying part of the 35W bridge rebuilding project.
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Upcoming Events
11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Executive Development Series
Speaker: Richard Marcantonio, Chairman & CEO, G&K Services
Nov. 6, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
PTAC Training: "Introduction to Government Contracting"
Speaker: Rodney McGee and Mark Cooper, PTAC Metro Area Managers
Nov. 15, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
PTAC Training: "Selling to the Government: Successful Strategies"
Speaker: John Kilian, PTAC Area Manager
Nov. 17, 6 p.m. - 12 a.m.
MEDA Gala 2007. Black-tie benefit dinner and auction. Featuring Grammy Award-winning Sounds of Blackness and Robyne Robinson, Fox9 Evening News Anchor, as emcee.
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2007 Recent
General Operating Contributors
· Wells Fargo Foundation
· Deluxe Foundation
· Associated Bank,
Minnesota
· Burdick Craddick Family
Foundation
· Emerson Process
Management -
Rosemount, Inc.
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