Supplier Spotlight: HRNow!

Gwen Thomas
From Left to Right: Debbie Stone, Manager of Supplier Diversity, BellSouth Corp.

Gwen Thomas accepting the 2003 Supplier of the Year Award.

George Lottier, Executive Director-Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council

HR Management Solutions, Inc—dba HR Now!—is a single-source supplier of human resource management consulting, recruiting and information services. The experienced team of HR and technical professionals at HR Now! possesses exceptional skills and knowledge that provide essential results necessary for building relationships and creating value for a myriad of industries. HR Now! was established in 1996 by Gwen Thomas. Thomas is a highly accomplished HR professional with more than 20 years in human resource management, working with companies like General Motors. HR Now! is active and gives back to the communities it serves. This takes many different forms, including educational, environmental and other community support activities.

HR Now! is a Georgia-based corporation and a certified woman/minority-owned business enterprise (W/MBE) with certifications from the Georgia Women’s Business Council (GWBC); the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council (GMSDC); the National Women Business Owners Corporation (NWBOC); the State of Georgia, city and county governments and the Small Business Administration (SBA) 8 (a) program.

HR Now! is a winner of the 2003 Supplier of the Year – Class I for the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council (GMSDC). This award recognizes a GMSDC-certified minority supplier who has demonstrated outstanding quality and service. The winner of this award is also exemplified through its strong potential of expansion and development, regardless of the prevailing economic environment. Over 400 corporations and 700+ Minority Business Owners nominated and voted for the winner of this prestigious award.

In November, 2004, Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems sponsored Gwen Thomas as a participant to the Dartmouth Advanced Minority Business Executive Program in the Tuck Executive Education Program. This program focused on assessing current business strategies, preparing the business for intermediate-term growth and designing strategy implementation plans.

Gwen Thomas described her experience at Tuck as “priceless”. She learned about analysis and formulas to help measure the financial profitability and risk of the business. Negotiations and working with and through others to succeed were other key areas of learning. In working in a team exercise, Thomas experienced the variables of developing successful strategic alliances. In fact, her team had the most positive, successful results of all the groups in a half-day negotiations exercise!

Exposure and relationships are two words that describe Ms. Thomas’s overall experience in this program. She was “exposed” to people and systems to help her develop and grow HR Now! During this week-long program, she developed “relationships” with the faculty, staff and participants that she’ll treasure for a lifetime! Thomas returned to HR Now! equipped to handle the business challenges that lie ahead in a more objective, educated manner. She extends a heart-filled thanks to Lockheed Martin for making her Tuck experience possible and strengthening her business acumen. Ken Hilderbrand, LM Aero Supplier Diversity Site Lead, is Ms. Thomas’s mentor on the GMSDC Board of Directors.