The National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) was chartered in 1972 to provide increased procurement and business opportunities for minority businesses of all sizes. It is one of the country's leading non profit business membership organizations and serves as a direct link between corporate America and minority-owned businesses. The NMSDC network includes a national office in New York City and 38 affiliated Regional Purchasing Councils across the country. There are 3,500 corporate members in the NMSDC network, including nearly 300 national members of America's top publicly owned, privately held and foreign-owned companies. The NMSDC provides assistance to minority owned companies in expanding their business opportunities. It encourages mutually beneficial economic links between minority suppliers and the public and private sectors and helps build a stronger society by supporting and promoting minority business development. The NMSDC Regional Purchasing Councils certify and match more than 15,000 minority-owned businesses with member corporations that want to purchase goods and services. Council members include major national and regional corporations, educational and financial institutions, government agencies and ethnic minority owned businesses.

How a minority-owned firm can obtain NMSDC certification: