Leanne Duong-Ma, owner of Direct Source Procurement,, is interviewed at the Las Vegas Sun newsroom, Thursday, March 4, 2021.
Wednesday, March 10, 2021 | 2 a.m.
In 2017, Leanne Duong-Ma quit her corporate day job to focus full time on the business she had started four years earlier.
Her company, Direct Source Procurement, was growing every year. It provides branded restaurant and hotel utensils and kitchenware, along with eco-friendly food packaging and other items.
Things were looking rosy until the coronavirus pandemic broke out last year. “It was like getting hit by a bus,” Duong-Ma said.
“All of the hospitality business just stopped one day,” Duong-Ma said. “For a while, nobody knew what was going to happen. Nobody had any answers.”
She had no choice but to pivot from her normal operations and press on. Her participation in an MGM Resorts International supplier diversity program played a large role in helping her business escape disaster, she said.
The six-month mentorship program helps women- and minority-owned small businesses who do business with MGM move their firms forward.
Kenyatta Lewis, a longtime MGM employee, helped start the program in 2016.
Lewis said MGM has long been interested in strengthening diversity within its supply chain. She’s been working on diversity measures at MGM for more than two decades.
“Here in Las Vegas, or wherever we operate, we’ve put our flag in the sand to say that we’re committing to efforts like this, whether it’s required of us or not,” Lewis said.
“I’ve been working to connect minority-owned businesses to opportunities for a long time. The mentorship program was a way of going deeper to support some of these businesses, which include the disabled, LGBTQ, veterans and other communities,” Lewis said.
Eighteen suppliers have completed the program since it was launched.
MGM isn’t the only Las Vegas gaming company focused on diversity.
Caesars Entertainment’s Economic Equity Tour provides workshops and other business-related growth opportunities.
In November Las Vegas Sands announced a $400,000 investment in Las Vegas community organizations that work to empower minority and ethnically diverse groups.
Duong-Ma said she thinks it’s important for big corporations to invest in diversity programs. She worked for MGM, mostly as a product sourcing manager, for several years before leaving the company in 2012.
She later worked as a director of procurement for another company, but she realized going into business for herself would let her spend more time with her two young sons.
Duong-Ma said she’s been a part of a number of business leadership and networking programs, but she got more out of the MGM program, including some guidance and ideas for how to expand her e-commerce business.
“It’s so good because it combines knowledge and mentorship,” Duong-Ma said. “You learn through workshops and through feedback, and everyone in the program has a mentor. They call you on a regular basis, sometimes just to ask how you’re doing.”
Another local business owner and member of the program’s last class, Lelia Friedlander also praised program.
Along with her husband, Friedlander owns TuffSkin, a company that provides protective coatings for marble and other stone surfaces.
TuffSkin normally does a lot of business with hotels, but during the pandemic, that worked dried up.
Lately, the company has been doing more residential work, though hospitality clients are starting to come back, Friedlander said.
“It was phenomenal for us,” Friedlander said. “Through the program, we were really able to take a deep dive into our operations to see where we needed to tighten things up. We were able to take the time to work on our business, instead of just working in our business.”
Friedlander said she especially enjoyed the program’s financial workshops. Another focus was on pivoting business models during the pandemic.
In a social media post last month, MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle said he was proud of the diversity program and that “every company has an obligation to use its influence for global and community stewardship — to actively promote and pursue activities for the greater good.”
Lewis said MGM’s focus on diversity doesn’t mean excluding any groups but making sure everyone has a chance to be included.
“As the demographics of our society shift, it’s important that our business practices, and who we have seated around the table, mirrors that,” Lewis said. “That’s what we’re seeking to do. We want to present equal access to opportunity. MGM is committed to that. If we fail to include any of the demographics, then we cease to be able to provide the best for our customers and our stakeholders.”
As Las Vegas crawls out of the pandemic-induced economic doldrums, small business owners like Duong-Ma and Friedlander hope to see the hospitality business return to prepandemic levels.
“I think bright days are ahead for Las Vegas. Last year was maybe the most challenging year in a generation,” Duong-Ma said. “I truly believe that we came out positive and strong because of our partnership with MGM.”
