LIPA, National Grid event draws businesses

About 250 companies owned by women or minorities turned out Thursday for a second annual "Power of Connections" event, sponsored by LIPA and National Grid, which aims at linking the mostly small businesses with contracts from the power providers.

Attendance by the women and minority businesses was much larger than last year, National Grid officials said. That could mean that last year's event was a bust, or this year's a booming success. LIPA and National Grid would, of course, choose the latter.

Whatever the case, the meeting room at the Chateau Briand catering complex in Carle Place for the event was jammed with business people hungry for contracts for engineering, information-technology or just marketing and communication services.

"We're here to do business," Gautam Tooley, vice president of government services for Unique Comp Inc., an information-technology service company with offices in Long Island City and Hauppauge, said heartily. "We're trying to hook up with National Grid."

His chances? National Grid has 110 certified minority and women business-owned suppliers in New York State, and a total of 530 in the United States, the company said. In all, National Grid has 11,000 U.S. suppliers. National Grid said that its goal is to have 20 percent of its U.S. contracts to be with minority- and women-owned businesses by 2015.

Ken Daly, president of National Grid's New York State operations, said the "Power of Connections" event attracted 70 percent more people this year than last. "We made a very proactive outreach," Daly said.

That brought in Bill Johnson of Manhasset, chief executive of the Green America Public Private Partnership, which promotes green jobs and companies. He was looking to find business connections for some of the companies that participate in his organization.

Leslie Herzka, owner of ColorPre Promotions in Jericho, hopes to supply the power companies with promotional materials.

The minority and women-owned businesses were advised to take heart.

"We want them to know we are giving out contracts and we are here for them," said Carla Hunter-Ramsey, National Grid's director of supplier diversity.