. >> josette wright lacy heads up the new york based national supplier council, the mmsdc. it's a national membership organization for introducing black, hispanic, native american and asian-owned businesses to fortune 500 companies. >> we provide a bridge between our corporate members and our certificate minority-owned businesses. >> when i look back today at the corporations that we do business with, i would say 90% of it has everything to do with the fact that we are certified minority-owned business. >> certification is an invitation to the party. it's not a guarantee that when you get there you're going to be asked to dance, okay? and there is not a guarantee that you're going to get a contract. there is no contract with your name on it. you will earn that contract through your own hard work. >> it opened up doors for us to be able to at least make a presentation about our capabilities and win business. >> once they got the contracts for these big events, how did they think they could deliver? >> there is no one company in our industry that can handle all of the needs o