An advertising specialties company headquartered in Felton, California has recently been afforded an opportunity through their Certified LGBT Business Enterprise® (Certified LGBTBE®) certification.
Premium Resource, offering a full-service wide range of promotional items, is dedicated to finding cost-effective ways to market and promote businesses. Nearly a year after obtaining their certification, Premium Resource was approached by Chevron and Shell, both NGLCC corporate partners, to create branded products for the 2014 NGLCC National Business and Leadership Conference in Las Vegas. Chevron and Shell co-sponsored the refueling stations to keep everyone hydrated.
With only one week to fulfill the request, Andrea Casella, founder of Premium Resource, was asked to create and deliver water bottles with the Chevron, Shell, and NGLCC logos.
Thinking deeply about all levels of supplier diversity and wanting to include fellow Certified LGBTBE® companies in her own supply chain, Casella marshaled NGLCC resources to find fellow Certified LGBTBE® companies to assist in delivering the water bottles under such a tight deadline. She reached out to three Certified LGBTBE®companies, ultimately partnering with Paul Butler from Macher Logistics.
Through her collective work, Casella and Premium Resource were able to produce and deliver the branded water bottles to the conference on time. Casella said, “the recent opportunity to work with Chevron and Shell was a direct result of LGBTBE Certification.”
Buying back from the LGBT business community is an important component of Casella’s business practice. NGLCC highly encourages Certified LGBTBE® companies to look for tiered contracting opportunities and strategic partnerships. Certified LGBTBE® business owners can search for other Certified LGBTBE® companies through MyNGLCC for potential business opportunities.
Casella found the NGLCC through her local chamber—the Rainbow Chamber of Commerce, Silicon Valley. She has also become an active member of the Golden Gate Business Association- GGBA. She has now attended two NGLCC conferences, has been trained as a site visitor, and has participated in many NGLCC teleconferences.
For Casella, collaboration with the NGLCC is about “creating win-win situations, working together, and sharing best practices to insure a worth-while outcome for corporate partners and Certified LGBTBE® companies.” Premium Resource is excited to continue working with the NGLCC and is hoping to take part in the mentorship program next year.
