The New York & New Jersey Minority Supplier Development Council has initiated a program to salute its certified minority business owners that secured major corporate contracts and purchase orders during 2009-2010.

At The Council’s Business Opportunity Expo 2010 in June, Mission Accomplished honored 11 African American, Asian and Hispanic New York and New Jersey business owners in fields encompassing advertising, building maintenance, energy, manufacturing, IT staffing, technology, printing and packaging. In total, the Mission Accomplished businesses accrued over $45 million in contracts and purchase orders.

The Mission Accomplished honorees are: Mahendra Patel, Patel Consultants Corp; Howard Buford, Prime Access; Karen J. Martinez, Bravo Group Services, LLC; John Hardy, Del-Med, Inc.; Gene Waddy, Diversant; Cedric Glasper, Mechanical Rubber Products; Avis Yates, Technology Concepts Group International LLC; Lou Cortez, The Standard Group; Robert Sanchez, United Print Group; Firoz Lalji, Zones Inc. and David Hernandez, Liberty Power Corporation.

In addition to New York Life, Mission Accomplished corporate members include: Adecco USA, Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Bank of America, TIAA CREF, General Electric Company, Northrop Grumman, Pfizer, Freddie Mac, University of Medicine & Dentistry, MetLife Insurance, Capital One, Home Depot, Microsoft and PepsiCo.

The Council, an award-winning affiliate of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, has over 200 corporate members, including Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies and educational institutions.

Currently, there are approximately 1,300 New York and New Jersey minority-owned businesses with annual revenues from $100,000 to $3 billion that are certified by The Council.

For more information, visit: www.nynjmsdc.org.