High Power Charging in the power-limited grid

Betty Manetta, CEO of Argent Associates, was recently awarded the 2019 Ford Mujer Legendria Award in Leadership. The award was part of a ceremony hosted by Ford Motor Company, the Greater Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Regional Hispanic Contractors Association and the University of Texas at Arlington’s Crossroads.

Each year, Ford Motor Company selects outstanding Latinas in the United States who are contributing to their communities. Awards are presented to Latinas in Dallas, Houston, Miami, New York and Los Angeles, highlighting their accomplishments in four major categories — Leadership/SMART, Innovation/Green, Community/Safe, and Quality/STEM. These are the same pillars upon which Ford designs and manufactures its vehicles.

Rick Ortiz and the GDHCC nominated Manetta for the Leadership/SMART Award. Manetta, who immigrated from Argentina as a child, founded Argent Associates in 1998. The successful multi-million-dollar business focuses on creating and deploying technology to build smarter mobility and connectivity solutions across a multitude of industries, including driverless vehicles. Manetta is a passionate advocate for the business community and has championed organizations that seek to enhance opportunities for women and minority-owned businesses. Manetta serves on the board of directors for GDHCC, the Dallas/Fort Worth Minority Supplier Development Council, Women’s Business Council – Southwest and Visit Dallas. In addition, she is on the board of Seton Hall University and is an active member of the DFW Hispanic 100. She is active in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) initiatives for underserved communities and young women.

“It is truly humbling to be named a legendary woman,” said Manetta. “As we all know, most Latinas are legendary; it’s in our DNA. We’re resourceful and strong and we do amazing things.  We’re mothers, wives, teachers, workers, community activists and we’re God loving women. I take my role as a leader in my community very serious. It’s not easy to be a leader because we need to ensure that our words and actions are communicated in such a way that will set the path for other Latinas that follow us.”

The other Latinas recognized alongside Manetta were: Rosemary Hinojosa for Community, Elizabeth Couch for Innovation and Dr. Maria Boccalandro for-Sustainability

This is the sixth year of celebrating Mujeres Legendarias. The honorees from Dallas represent the 22 million outstanding Latinas in the United States who are making a difference in the workplace, their homes, the environment and the community.

Argent Associates was awarded the “Breaking the Mold” Award by the National MBE Manufacturers at their recent summit held in Atlanta, GA. The award honors those Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) manufacturers who have been trailblazers in communications and technology.

Argent has researched, developed and manufactured an integrated interactive digital solution that combines the power of their proprietary Smart Edges^TM platform and ECW communications gateway. The solution provides an exciting customer experience along with back-office Artificial Intelligence (AI) data gathering and analytics.

“We have a number of engineers and highly skilled technologists who enjoy tinkering to create better solutions,” said Ray Moya, Chief Technology Officer for Argent. “We improved a communications connectivity gateway and readied it for today’s digital demands, as well as 5G connectivity. In addition, our Smart Edges^TM software platform delivers crisp, real-time interactivity for customers, security and data analytics.”

Argent decided to not only develop the solution, but to manufacture it. The new manufactured offering delivers an all-in-one real-time digital interactive customer experience targeted to a several environments, i.e. retail, education and corporate campuses, event venues, smart city locations and more.

“We are honored to receive this award,” said Betty Manetta. “We are even more excited about the development of this new product solution and the possibilities for it in the marketplace. We already have several installations scheduled for this summer and fall.”

The “Breaking the Mold” Award was presented at the National MBE Manufacturer Summit hosted by the Atlanta MBDA (Minority Business Development Agency) Advance Manufacturing Center at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute on August 12^th. This is the fourth year for the Summit designed to align MBE manufacturers with major corporations, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and prime and second-tier suppliers for the purpose of building relationships, learning about new trends and technologies in manufacturing and securing business opportunities.

Uribe recently spoke at the NAF Next 2019 summit where he was named the 2019 NAF Alumni Award Winner. NAF (formerly the National Academy Foundation) advocates for improving education and development of the next generation of future ready employees in the United States through leadership, guidance and support programs, including paid internships.

Daniel Uribe, a graduate of Justin F. Kimball High School Academy of Engineering in Dallas, TX, participated in the NAF High School Intern Program powered by Capital One Bank.

The program worked with 20 high schoolers and divided them into four five-person teams charged to develop a stand-alone technology event for technology week. Students were required to design the event including workshops, agenda, floorplans, press releases, presentations, budget and more. Each team was mentored by Capital One associates as part of the “Future Ready Lab” program. Uribe’s team with its “What’s in Your Garage?” presentation was the winning team. The team highlighted the hi-tech world of driverless assisted cars being developed by Telsa, BMW, Mercedes and General Motors.

“The internship at Capital One’s Future Ready Lab not only taught me how to build out a major event for their tech week, said Uribe, “it also reinforced something that I learned at home and school: It’s really valuable to listen to others, especially people who are really different from you. No one has all the answers. Complex problems and important issues are solved by teams made up of very different players.”

Uribe’s advisors in high school encouraged him to participate in the internship program. It has paid off for him in a big way. He has a full-time job as lead field technician with Argent Associates, a wireless technology firm designing, engineering, installing and testing technologies that are transforming network connectivity, public safety and supply chains. He is currently attending El Centro Community College . Once he completes his Associate Science degree, he looks forward to attending the University of Texas in Arlington to obtain his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering.

“I think it’s critical for businesses to get involved in building out skills for the 21st century, said Monica Shortino, Senior Manager, Social Innovation at Capital One and moderator for the presentations. “Here at Capital One, we are incredibly committed to diversity in our workplace. We are looking for people who can work on a team and deliver first-class products, and that’s what we are asking of the interns.”

Partners in the overall push for meaningful paid internship experiences included NAF, Capital One Bank, United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation (USHCCF) and the University of Texas Arlington.

“USHCCF and its University Partnerships initiative focuses on building a College-to-Career pipeline between Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) and corporate/industry leaders through education, access, and viable internships leading to future employment,” said Michele Bobadilla, Michele Bobadilla, UT Arlington University Crossroads P-16 and USHCCF University Partnerships.

USHCCF was instrumental in working with Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to inspire the 60x30TX Strategic Higher Education Plan with a portion targeted to building existing and new internship programs to create marketable skills for the workforce of the future. The UT Arlington University Crossroads P16 Council collaborates with more than 90 community partners working to prepare students in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties for college and career success.

“UT Arlington and Capital One are doing great work for our young talent,” said Betty Manetta, CEO of Argent Associates, where Uribe is employed. “I am so proud of Daniel. He’s a great technician and we are honored to have him as part of our team.”

Uribe, a young husband and father, has taken his learning experience to new heights as he transverses school and his full-time job. He is at the forefront of new and expanding technology connectivity, installation and testing. He is pleased to have mentors, teachers and an employer who value his worth and encourage his dreams. And, he values the support and inspiration from his family.

For further information on working to develop a meaningful internship program reach out to NAF, USHCCF or Capital One Bank.

Manetta was selected by Women’s Business Council – Southwest (WBCS), one of 14 WBENC regional affiliate Councils, for her business acumen, inspiration to other women and successful active role at the helm of two multi-million dollar companies. Manetta represents the more than 1200 WBEs with WBC. She was honored along with 13 other Stars during the 2019 WBENC Summit & Salute gathering of more than 1,800 entrepreneurs and business leaders in Houston, Texas.

“This is a prestigious  award and I am honored to be recognized by WBENC,” said Manetta. “This is reflective of the continuous work and community commitment of the Argent Associates and Asociar teams. We are thrilled to be a part of world-class organizations like WBENC and WBCS that understand women are an important economic driver in this country and worldwide.”

Manetta owns and operates two award-winning certified women-owned companies – Argent Associates and Asociar. Argent Associates, in its 21st year of existence, has evolved into a leading edge technology developer and manufacturer using the latest platforms to enhance customer experiences and business performance. Sister company, Asociar is utilizing its team of engineers and technologists to deploy emerging technologies nation-wide in a variety of industries. Asociar continues transforming asset management, supply chain visibility and network connectivity through innovative, faster, cost-effective solutions.

“We could not be more proud of the 2019 WBE Stars,” says Pamela Prince-Eason, President and CEO of WBENC. “Each one of the Stars exemplify the vital role women-owned businesses play in our economy. They are outstanding leaders, mentors and innovators.”

The 14 Stars will be jointly displaying  their products and services during the WBENC National Conference scheduled for June 2019. Each of their unique woman-owned business products and services will be featured in a Stars booth on the Expo floor.

“I am honored to have achieved  this award for both my team and myself,” said Manetta. “To be recognized as an E Awards Class IV Supplier of the Year in such a competitive field of suppliers demonstrates the hard work, innovative thinking and excellent results that can occur when an ethnically diverse team of individuals seek to create and deliver services that help others build a competitive advantage.”

Argent started out as a Logistics and Value Added Reseller (VAR) company and is celebrating its 20^th year anniversary. Along the journey, Manetta realized that the Argent workforce of trained engineers and software developers could create new products in fields outside of logistics and supply chain. This outlook is helping Argent transform into a vibrant company creating innovative solutions in the Smart/Resilient/Safe City environment. Argent has been working with municipalities and enterprise customers to introduce tech-driven solutions to boost operational performance. The blended direction allows Argent to continue to utilize its supply chain skills to produce improved GPS tracking for chain of custody reporting, ecommerce portals for MRO equipment and redesigned trouble ticket handling. But, it also allows the company to advance new ideas and products related to drones, Artificial Intelligence and Edge Computing that enrich the overall customer experience. The expanded view is creating more training, development and skilled job opportunities in engineering, testing and new products development.

In addition to being named Supplier of the Year, Argent received a MEGA DEAL award in conjunction with AT&T. MEGA DEAL awards are presented to companies that do more than $25 million annually on a contract with one of the Council’s corporate members. Argent was one of nine minority-owned companies performing work with AT&T on contracts worth more than a $25 million annually.