Mr. Earnie Ellison: I have been here since February of 1997, prior to that my brother and I owned a software firm. My background also includes time with Unisys and IBM.

Mr. Earnie Ellison: Well, in the business area we are always looking for vendors and suppliers. To support our tournament programs, and for anyone looking to sell products to the golf industry, we conduct two major trade shows each year.

Mr. Earnie Ellison: All sorts, such as Event Support Services, we are in the entertainment industry so hospitality services are a big part of what we do. Of course we also sell loads of merchandise and we need qualified suppliers to provide that merchandise. In addition, we are looking to get minority owned business to purchase hospitality at a PGA of America Championship and the Ryder Cup matches. They can use this opportunity to market their business  while providing high class entertainment for their business clients.

Mr. Earnie Ellison: We work closely with the National Minority Supplier Development Council and we actually are working on events up to two years prior to that event. We work closely with the local business community and development councils by participating in workshops. As a matter of fact we will be in Miami, Florida next. We must ensure that the people we are doing business with are capable of delivering, so we really help the business understand our requirements.

Mr. Earnie Ellison: We do provide workshops and we are available to work with local groups to help business understand the process. As a matter of fact we also have a 2^nd Tier program in place which helps minority vendors and suppliers get involved by working with a majority company. With the understanding that that minority company can grow and develop to actually compete with the majority company in the future, it’s a stepping stone to success.

Mr. Earnie Ellison: We believe that we have done a good a job, and know we can always do better. We constantly evaluated all of our programs and are aggressively looking for ways to grow our business and the game of golf.

Mr. Earnie Ellison: We actually have a Professional Training and Development department that is looking to expand its outreach to women and minorities. The PGA has a Minority Scholarship Program which provides scholarships and as just important exposure to careers in the golf industry. The program works very closely with Ferris State, Mississippi State, New Mexico State and Penn State on a PGA endorsed Professional Golf Management (PGM) curriculum.

Mr. Earnie Ellison: We have a three-year partnership that actually started in this year with the National Minority College Golf Championship. We look to expand and grow that relationship. We actually have number of youth programs which include Renee Powell’s Youth Golf Program of Cleveland, Kids on Course in association with 41 Police Athletic Leagues, the new Louisville-Jefferson County Youth Program which is an urban based recreation program and the NCAA National Youth Sports Program at 50 universities for minority kids.

Mr. Earnie Ellison: We at the PGA want to maintain a leadership role in the growth and development of golf and we understand that inclusion is good business.