Business Leaders Honored At Awards Gala

[Business News]

The Minority Business Hall of Fame and Museum Inc. will recognize four individuals at an awards dinner on May 10, 2011 at UCLA’s J.D. Morgan Center Hall of Fame in Los Angeles. The evening will be hosted by the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at UCLA Anderson School of Management.

“The Minority Business Hall of Fame and Museum is excited to have the opportunity to bring our Seventh Annual Induction Ceremony to UCLA again as the West Coast represents a strong sector of minority business enterprises in the United States,” said John F. Robinson, co-founder and president of the MBHF&M. “This affiliation represents the best of honorees who have been pioneers and trailblazers in the field of minority business development over the last 40 years plus.”

The seventh annual induction will honor Linda Alvarado, Al Dawson, George C. Fraser and Benjamin Gutierrez Jr.

J. Frederick Canady, chairman of MBHF&M, will host the awards program, which is sponsored by PepsiCo, Northrop Grumman, Toyota and Union Bank.

Linda Alvarado of Denver, Colo., is the founder and owner of Alvarado Construction, which has a national client base that includes Fortune 500 companies and specializes in commercial, industrial, telecommunications, and heavy engineering. She is the first Hispanic owner of a major league baseball franchise by becoming a partner in the Colorado Rockies. Alvarado is a recipient of the coveted Horatio Alger award.

Al Dawson is a founding member of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, where he served in every position of leadership until his retirement after 25 years in 1997. He later became the manager of small business for Ford Aerospace in Newport Beach, Calif., which later merged with Lockheed Martin Aerospace. He is a recipient of the SBA Corporate Leadership award. Dawson resides in Aliso Viejo, Calif.

George C. Fraser is chairman and CEO of FraserNet, Inc., a company he founded more than two decades ago with the vision to lead a global networking movement among African Americans. He is one of the foremost authorities on economic development, networking and building effective relationships. He is also a publisher and the founder of the PowerNetworking Conference. Fraser resides in Cleveland, Ohio.

Benjamin Gutierrez Jr. is a founding member and served on the original board of directors of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He became CEO of Global Trading Group, where he represented and mentored many minority small businesses companies. He is the CEO of Gutierrez-McMullen, which supplies cutting tools to U.S. and Mexican machining companies. Gutierrez resides in Au Gres, Mich.

For more information about the event, visit www.mbhf.org The Minority Business Hall of Fame & Museum was founded in April 2004 to spotlight the achievements of individuals and institutions deemed pioneers in enhancing equal access for business owners of color.