Major League Baseball is offering business opportunities to minority businesses to become suppliers or work for the league. Taking a lead in increasing diversity within the pro-sports industry, the league is holding its its Annual 2014 MLB Diversity Business Summit, which will give attendees a chance to explore careers in the game of baseball, providing access to human resource representatives from all 30 MLB clubs, the MLB Network, the MLB Advance Media, and many more. Now in its third year, the Summit is also a supplier diversity trade fair, connecting entrepreneurs to decision-makers in procurement. The Summit will be held on Monday, April 14th and Tuesday, April 15th (Jackie Robinson Day) with a variety of events set to take place.
“We are very proud to have RGMA, Proftech, SupplierGATEWAY, Vernalis and MDG Builders participating at the sponsorship level with our Diversity Business Summit,†Wendy Lewis, Senior Vice President, Diversity & Strategic Alliances, Major League Baseball, said in a statement. “These diverse-owned businesses have been an integral part of our Diverse Business Partners program, and we are thankful for their support as we collectively look to help entrepreneurs and job seekers achieve success.â€
As a result of their ongoing business relationship with MLB and MLB Clubs, RGMA, Proftech, SupplierGATEWAY, Vernalis and MDG Builders, have all steadily increased their business growth since linking with MLB’s Diverse Business Partners Program. RGMA, a Chicago-based consulting firm, first partnered with MLB in 1998 and helped establish the Diverse Business Partners Program. Since its inception, the Diverse Business Partners program has led minority and women-owned companies to securing more than $1 billion in business with MLB and its Clubs.
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“MLB’s Diversity Business Summit is as impactful to diversity in sports off the field as Jackie Robinson was to sports on the field. So to be able to join MLB as a sponsor for an event that is advancing minority and women-owned businesses is a dream come true,†says Ralph Moore, President of RGMA.
For over ten years, MLB has turned to Vernalis to develop secure enterprise software solutions that address essential technology and business challenges.
“The return on our investment with the Diversity Business Summit has been tremendous. The more you are invested in MLB as a business, the more you will gain out of the business relationship, and it has been an incredible achievement for our company to be able to play in the ‘big leagues’ with a company as major as MLB,†says Nate Hanafy, Managing Director for Vernalis.
Additionally, SupplierGATEWAY, a web-based registration and vendor data portal system, manages diversity suppliers and vender processes for MLB and several other clubs. MDG Builders, real-estate developers and general contractors, was the premier, minority vendor throughout the construction process of the current Yankee Stadium. Proftech, one of the nation’s largest Hispanic-owned office product suppliers, has been a long-time supplier to MLB and a number of its Clubs.
Visit MLB.com/diversitysummit to register and learn more about the 2014 MLB Diversity Business Summit. For more information, follow on Twitter (@MLB_DBS) and Facebook (Facebook.com/DiversityBusinessSummit).