Hispanic Heritage Outreach Event at Hillsborough County’s Office of Supplier Diversity Honors Contributions of Hispanic Community

Sickles High School Culinary Students to Cater This Special Event

WHEN:  Thursday, Nov. 5, 11:45 AM – 12:45 PM

WHERE: Supplier Diversity Office at 4901 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd.

WHAT:  Hispanic Heritage Outreach Celebration features a lunch/networking event followed by comments by Henry Gonzalez Jr. whose father founded Henry Gonzalez Plumbing Co. in 1929.  The Tampa-based business has grown from one truck to a fleet of 14 trucks.  Mr. Gonzalez will discuss the history of the family-owned business, its relationship with the School District and what has helped Gonzalez Plumbing to grow.

Special guests attending this event include School Board members, district administrators and representatives of local certified small businesses.  Students enrolled in the Culinary Arts Program at Sickles High School will prepare and present a special lunch.

About the Office of Supplier Diversity

The Office of Supplier Diversity (OSD) is responsible for the Small Business Encouragement program that is dedicated to re-investing taxpayer dollars into the local community.~ By working with Tampa Bay-based (Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Hernando, Manatee or Sarasota counties) small businesses, the OSD creates and maintains a comprehensive data base of qualified, pre-registered vendors representing a variety of industries.~ Qualifications require participating businesses to employ fewer than 100 employees, generate a net income of less than $2 million and represent a net worth of less than $3 million.~ In addition, these businesses must have operated in the Tampa Bay area for more than a year and be properly certified as a small business.~ The program’s goal is to generate a minimum of 20 percent of the school district’s discretionary income within Tampa Bay’s small business community. For more information, go to http://www.sdhc.k12.fl.us/osd/index.asp.

For more information on the Office of Supplier Diversity please call Supplier Diversity Officer Henry Ballard at 813-635-1240 or Henry.Ballard@sdhc.k12.fl.us.