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enzy Petty believes every solution starts with a conversation. For his business, a solution to the challenge of business growth began with conversations and mentoring provided by DTEs supplier diversity team. Petty is a DTE minority supplier. He owns Northville, MI-based Data Analytics Technology Advantage, LLC (DATA). We're a certified Microsoft partner that helps customers integrate, analyze and visualize information so they can make better informed decisions more quickly, he said. When DTEs Supply Chain team needed help migrating dashboards to Microsoft Power BI, Pettys commitment to customer service stood out in crowded ield of competitors. We issued a bid and interviewed several major contracting companies, but DATA was the only one willing to work side-by- side with us and agreed to complete the project by the end of the year, said DTE Business Analytics Supervisor Brenda Ervin. Lenzy was flexible and he exceeded our expectations. He made sure that my team was self-reliant and well- trained. He also contacted us after project completion to make sure that our needs were being met. Pettys opportunities multiplied when DTE invited him to speak at a meeting of local supplier diversity corporate professionals. The successful presentation lead to additional speaking engagements and DTE- sponsored tickets to attend two national business conferences. He quickly parlayed these invitations into additional presentations, and eventually into growth opportunities. He estimates his relationship with DTE generated over $250,000 in opportunities with Fortune 500 companies. Data Analytics wins business because of our speed, price, flexibility, expertise and our 'yes' attitude, Petty said. But the mentoring and networking from DTE was an important part of making the initial contacts that lead to these opportunities. Today, Data Analytics continues to grow. They were one of only 26 firms accepted into an international consultancys mentoring program and recently created a web-based solution to help others find veteran- owned businesses more quickly. The company also maintains its commitment to delivering outstanding service. One recent corporate customer brought Petty in after spending nine months trying to build a Procurement Contract Analysis System internally. DATA completed the project in three weeks. The DTE presentations from a few years ago continue to pay dividends. The relationship with DTE has been invaluable in terms of growth for my business, he said. DATA is a is a National Mi- nority Supplier Development Council-certified, minority- owned business. Visit their website at dataanalyticstech- nologyadvantage.com. To ind out more about DTE's supplier diversity commit- ment, visit our website at dteenergy.com/supplychain.
Mentoring & Networking Lead to Growth for Tech Entrepreneur
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