News Briefs
JPMorgan Chase Virtual Matchmaking
Virtual matchmaking isn't just for people trying to make a love connection. JPMorgan Chase has taken it to the business level, using it as a marketing tool comparable to trade shows. The opportunity is offered to MWBEs and its prime suppliers to negotiate contract opportunities. Harvey Butler, vice president and supplier diversity procurement director, says this use of technology facilitates faster contact.
The Supplier Diversity Virtual Trade show is a method of overlaying the firm's in-house trade show's workflow onto a Web-based virtual trade show platform. A consultation is performed with the buyer to determine the minimum criteria they expect from a supplier in their commodity category. JPMorgan Chase searches the marketplace looking for potential firms. These firms are required to build their own virtual booth, an online multimedia production. The buyers, after viewing the booths, develop a customized interview schedule, setting up chat rooms or communicating via telephone to assess the subcontracting/partnering potential of the MWBEs.
JPMorgan Chase has featured over 100 MWBE booths in three events since December, 2001.
Predatory Lending Practices Defeated
The practice of issuing unscrupulous mortgages may be a thing of the past now that New York Gov. George Pataki has signed a bill that will curb what has been known as predatory lending practices. The governor has called the legislation an important consumer protection measure, but proponents believe it would negatively affect the subprime or secondary lending market available to low- and middle-income New Yorkers. Under the bill, the State Banking Department will issue regulations to bar practices identified with the predatory or high cost loan market. They include the issuing of loans that are unaffordable to the borrower; the charging of excessive broker fees and loan flipping, or the practice of repeatedly refinancing mortgages that benefits lenders and not borrowers. The prohibitions would apply only to high-cost loans issued on owner-occupied properties. The new restrictions begin in six months and apply to new loans.
Lucent Honored for It's MWDVBE Opportunities
Dialogue on Diversity, an international network for women entrepreneurs located in Washington, D.C., presented Lucent's Supply Chain Network President Jose Mejia with an award recognizing the company for corporate excellence in the utilization of companies owned and operated by minorities, women and disabled veterans. Lucent Technologies has a history of supporting Minority Women and Disabled Veteran-owned Business Enterprises (MWDBE). Lucent's Supply Chain Diversity Initiative is designed to support diversity companies that are able to provide Lucent with the best products and services at the best price. Christina Caballero, president and chief executive officer of Dialogue on Diversity, says the organization realized Lucent's commitment to diversity because of the firm's ability to maintain its management-level supplier diversity initiative.
