Local business receives statewide award for Minority Enterprise Business Week

The 43rd annual Minority Enterprise Development Week was observed Sept. 22 – 26 in Arkansas and one local business owner capped off the 2025 event with a statewide award.

Government Supply Services, a facilities’ supply company, was named Minority Business of the Year during the 2025 MEDW Awards Luncheon.

The luncheon was hosted Sept. 25 in Little Rock by the Little Rock Regional Chamber of commerce.

GSS was founded by Greg Modica in 2009.

As a disabled U.S. Army veteran, Modica was caring for a terminally ill parent when he started GSS with a goal of creating independent employment opportunities for people with disabilities and a means to work from home.

The company offers a line of more than one million products that spans multiple categories of equipment and supplies — including office, breakroom, technology, first aid/health, safety, industrial-grade maintenance, janitorial/sanitation, and maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO).

GSS serves federal, state and private sectors across the country, with a home base in El Dorado and a warehouse in Little Rock.

The MEDW award and luncheon came days ahead of the observance of National Minority Enterprise Development Week.

In the U.S., NMEDW is recognized in October to highlight and celebrate the achievements and contributions of the minority business enterprise community.

President Ronald Reagan first recognized NMEDW nationwide in 1983.

The event is formally celebrated by the Minority Business Development Agency, a U.S. government agency that falls under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Local communities also plan MEDW celebrations throughout the month.

Modica, president and CEO of GSS, said that launching the company has taught him how critical small businesses are to local and nationwide economies.

GSS has developed a reputation for stellar customer service, quality products and as an affable business partner, according to information provided by the Little Rock Regional Chamber.

Modica has said that winning the MEDW Minority Business of the Year award has helped to reinforce the GSS’s brand values.

Starting his own company has helped him gain other valuable lessons as a business owner, he said.

Modica explained said that his company’s initials have a dual meaning — Government Supply Services and “God Services Self.”

Pointing to the latter meaning, Modica said the company was founded on the principle that giving back and mentoring are not only vital to GSS’s financial growth and health, but also to the community at large.

“I have learned the importance of extending a helping hand to other entrepreneurs,” he said, adding, “It is a humbling experience to know that our peers think so highly of us.”

Modica’s win earned him a featured spot alongside other MEDW award winners in the Sept. 1 – 7 edition of Arkansas Business magazine.