Michelle Gerald Gray |
Michelle Gerald
Gray, President and CEO, Gray Systems
By Meta J. Mereday
Michelle Gerald Gray
founded Gray Systems Inc. over 16 years ago
with the mission to provide “customerfocused
service and integrity.” Gray serves as
president and CEO of this information
technology solutions provider with a client
base that includes government agencies and
commercial clients across the United States
and Latin America. Gray Systems has been
highly recognized for being a top
information technology provider.
The firm has grown
from a three-person operation, with its
primary service area being computer repairs,
to a team of 50 IT professionals providing a
wide range of services. Working from its
Mission Valley, Calif. headquarters, Gray is
very active in the community and has been
recognized for giving back to others with
her time and financial support including
matching her employee’s contributions to
nonprofit organizations.
As MBEIC chair of
the San Diego Minority Business Development
Council, Gray believes that participation is
vital to a successful marketing strategy for
minority businesses. One of her primary
objectives is to encourage other minority
business owners to get involved with the
council and to understand the importance of
building relationships with the corporate
members. Gray stresses the value-added
benefits of involvement with the council on
a local and national level. She has made
many friends along the way and, as a
successful role model, has generated
productive business alliances for Gray
Systems.
For more information
about Gray Systems Inc., visit the Web site
at
www.graysys.com.
Ronald Harland
|
Ronald Harland Sr.,
President, Evolv Solutions, LLC & Evolv
Financial Services, LLC
By Meta J. Mereday
Ronald Harland Sr.
is president of Evolv Solutions, LLC and
Evolv Financial Services, LLC, both under
the Evolv Solutions umbrella. These
companies provide an extensive product line
including document management products and
services, office copying equipment and
equipment leasing services. Harland founded
Evolv six years ago with inspiration and
encouragement from his family. Harland, who
had over 25 years of experience in the
office document equipment sales industry,
put his stamp on building his own business
operations to better serve his customers.
The major clients
include: KeyBank, Lockheed Martin, Omnium
Worldwide, Johnson & Johnson,
GlaxoSmithKline, Truman Medical Centers,
Inc., IUPUI and HUNT Construction.
In addition to
expanding Evolv Solution’s business
operations, Harland’s primary objectives as
MBEIC chair of the Mid America Minority
Business Development Council is to be a
constant voice representing the issues and
concerns of the diverse certified suppliers
within his council. He works with his local
council and its corporate members to
generate better contracting opportunities
for the certified suppliers and to increase
awareness regarding the critical issues that
impact small businesses, especially
minority-owned companies.
Harland’s future
goals for Evolv Solutions, LLC and Evolv
Financial Services, LLC are to continue to
develop business alliances to maintain their
growth and profitability, in addition to
effectively representing the interests of
his council’s certified suppliers.
For more information
on Evolv Solutions, LLC and Evolv Financial
Services LLC, visit the Web site at
www.evolvsolutions.com.
Lionel Spearman II |
Lionel Spearman II,
owner, Spearman Enterprises
By Meta J. Mereday
Lionel Spearman II
is the owner of Spearman Enterprises, a
“mini think tank,” that provides solutions
for clients that are cost effective, forward
thinking and sustainable with duplication
components. The company offers project
management, design of communications and
security systems, process infrastructures,
client architecture and workshop
facilitation.
Spearman Enterprises
was founded in 1995, driven by Spearman’s
early exposure to entrepreneurship and
positive thinking by his family,
particularly his father who dedicated his
life to helping others. Spearman places his
father top on his list of mentors and
motivators. The senior Spearman’s “be true
to yourself” mantra inspired his son to
integrate his extensive corporate expertise
into a business venture that provided
problemsolving and business strategies to
help grow other businesses and
organizations.
The client base of
Spearman Enterprises includes a broad range
of businesses and organizations including:
PML, an international consulting firm;
Rawls, the nation’s first and oldest
automobile auction house; BB&T, an emerging
financial institution, and Titan, one of
South Carolina’s premiere agricultural
businesses.
In his role as the
Carolinas MBEIC chair and the southeast
regional vice chair, Spearman’s
responsibilities include providing mentoring
and leadership development for his
constituents. His initiatives include a
regional mentor/protégé program and helping
each council to become a National Minority
Supplier Development Council Center of
Excellence.
For more information
about Spearman Enterprises, visit the Web
site at
www.seonline.biz.
Ed Ryland
President ConcordisRyland
Bringing forward 24
years of real estate experience, Ed Ryland
is the president of ConcordisRyland and
cofounder of Concordis Real Estate Inc.,
which is one of the first and largest
national, commercial real estate services
company wholly owned and operated by a MWBE.
ConcordisRyland is a Commercial Real Estate
brokerage firm that provides consulting
services, project management, engineering
and design services, asset management,
property management and investment sales.
Ryland began
ConcordisRyland driven by the desire to
increase knowledge about real estate
investment and to address the lack of
minorities in commercial real estate.
Ryland’s goal is for ConcordisRyland to be
considered the premier commercial real
estate firm while at the same time to
venture into commercial real estate. Clients
include Shell Oil, Hewlett-Packard and
Wal-Mart. ConcordisRyland, which was
recently awarded a multi-year, multi-million
dollar contract as the preferred supplier of
furniture and cabling relocation management
services for Marathon Oil Corporation, won
the MBDA’s 2006 Regional Service Firm of the
Year award.
Ryland is the
Houston Minority Business Council’s MBEIC
chair. He said the MBEIC wants to be the
eyes, ears and voice of the MBE community.
Its goals involve demonstrating that MBEs
can provide value-added services and
breaking many of the stereotypes attributed
to MBEs including lacking capacity or
ability to service clients nationwide.
Ryland plans to lead by example with the
expansion of the ConcordisRyland business
model in the commercial real estate industry
as a national player. For more information
on ConcordisRyland, call (713) 952-5066, or
visit their Web site at
www.concordisrealestate.com.
Gwen Thomas
President & CEO, HR Now!
Gwen Thomas,
president and CEO, HR Now!, began the
business in 1996. Her first client was her
former employer who is still on her client
roster. HR Now! is a nationwide preferred
supplier of human resource products and
services. These products and services
include surveys and assessments, HR audits,
training and development, performance,
compensation and talent management systems.
The company’s mission is to “deliver
customer value through addressing the
challenges of a changing workplace” with an
emphasis on increasing productivity and
recruiting and retaining talent while
minimizing risks.
HR Now! is a
certified woman/minority-owned business
enterprise, a General Service Administration
Federal Schedule Holder and in the Small
Business Administration’s 8 (a) program.
Clients who have benefited from HR Now!’s
results include Home Depot, Atlanta Public
Schools, L’Oreal and Ikea. Thomas was
inspired to start HR Now! by her husband,
entrepreneur Ed Thomas, and from the
culmination of her own career experiences.
As the recipient of NMSDC’s National
Supplier of the Year Award in 2005, HR Now!
is a role model for other suppliers.
In her position as
MBEIC Chair for the Georgia Minority
Supplier Development Council and as NMBEIC
Industry Group Chair, Gwen’s passion is
realized in her theme “Building MBEs for the
Future: Sharing and Prospering through
Industry Groups.” Industry groups are MBE
constituents who share a common method of
generating profits, focused on economic
development and building business capacity.
For more information about HR Now!, call
(404) 442-7299 or visit their Web site
www.hrnow.biz. |
