The Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Announces G-FORCE Professional Services Inc. as the First Gay Owned and Operated Business to be Presented with Canadian Certification

Toronto, ON – September 25, 2007 - The Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC) presented the first Canadian certification to gay owned and operated G-FORCE Professional Services Inc. in Miami at the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) Annual Conference.
The CGLCC offers certification to Canadian owned and operated businesses under their Supplier Diversity Procurement Program. The Supplier Diversity Procurement Program is a standardized procedure to assure consistency in the review and certification of LGBT owned businesses. In order to be certified by the CGLCC as a LGBT supplier, the applicant must satisfy the following criteria:

• The applicant must be a for-profit enterprise

• The applicant must operate in Canada and must be a Canadian citizen

• The applicant's business may be of any size

• The applicant must be able to operate as a supplier of products or services to other businesses

• The applicant's business must be substantially owned and controlled by LGBT individual(s). For the purpose of certification by the CGLCC, ownership would mean that the business is at least 51% owned by self-identified and verified LGBT individuals. In the case of publicly owned businesses, at least 51% of the company's shares would have to be owned by one or more such individuals meeting the same criteria. Furthermore, the management and daily operations of these businesses must be controlled by LGBT individual(s).

G-FORCE provides bilingual recruiting and HR consulting on Diversity issues (Women, Visible Minorities, People with disabilities, LGBT, Aboriginals and Active Workers 55+), specializing in Diversity management and organizing an annual Career & Diversity Forum in Montreal and Toronto. Their bilingual E-Magazine FORCE&diversity, through articles, reflections and special contributions from Diversity leaders throughout the country, offers its readers a comprehensive look at changes that are taking place in Canada’s workforce from coast to coast. Christian Martel, CEO of G-FORCE, accepted the certification. “We’re very pleased to accept this certification. We would like to thank CGLCC and IBM for engaging us in this process. The Supplier Diversity program has already shown its benefits, G-FORCE is currently doing business with companies that foster the Supplier Diversity Program and therefore give opportunities to minority owned businesses to grow and take an active part in the Canadian Economy.”

Bruce McDonald, Co-Founder of the CGLCC, presented G-FORCE with the first Canadian certificate. “This certification is important for estimated 80,000 lesbian and gay owned businesses in Canada. With the support of NGLCC and their leadership in this area and IBM for sponsoring the development of this program in Canada, Canadian Corporations will now be able to identify lesbian and gay owned businesses in their supplier diversity procurement process” said McDonald.

Irwin Drucker, Program Director of GLBT and International Programs at IBM - the corporate sponsor of the Supplier Diversity Procurement Program - stated “IBM is extremely pleased with the news that the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce has certified G-FORCE as the first LGBT-owned company in Canada. We congratulate the CGLCC on this important milestone, and hope this will be the first of many LGBT suppliers certified in Canada. As IBM continues to focus Global Supplier Diversity program on all of the countries in which we operate, actions like the certification of LGBT suppliers in Canada will be key to our success."

About Canadian Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
The Canadian Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC) is committed to forming a broad-based coalition, representative of the various interests of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans-persons, Two-spirited, and Intersex (GLBT) owned businesses, GLBT operated businesses, GLBT friendly businesses, professionals, and students of business for the purpose of promoting economic growth and prosperity, through public and private sector advocacy, to advance the common business interests and opportunities of its members.

The CGLCC is the sole certifying body in Canada. The CGLCC certifies LGBT owned businesses so they may compete for procurement opportunities with major corporations, such as IBM the Program Founder, through their supplier diversity programs. For information on the CGLCC Supplier Diversity Procurement Program, visit www.cglcc.ca or contact the office at 416-761-5151
 

About IBM
IBM has been doing business in the field of information-handling for over 100 years. Nearly all of the company's products were designed and developed to record, process, communicate, store and retrieve information -- from its first scales, tabulators and clocks to today's powerful computers and vast global networks. IBM helped pioneer information technology over the years and it stands today at the forefront of a worldwide industry that is revolutionizing the way in which enterprises, organizations and people operate and thrive.

About G-FORCE Professional Services Inc.
G-FORCE is Canada’s leading human resources agency specializing in Workforce Diversity Management with offices in Montreal and Toronto. G-FORCE offers comprehensive services connecting Diversity Management to Human Resources Strategies and business needs. G-FORCE supports companies in their efforts to grow and remain competitive by leveraging the Diversity of talents, fostering an inclusive working environment, and retaining a skilled workforce.

Email: info@cglcc.ca * Web: www.cglcc.ca