DiversityInc - July/August 2008

foreign-market expansion plans, explains WBENC President and CEO Linda Denny. One WBENC-certified supplier, for instance, was recently awarded a contract from a technology company that was expanding to Beijing and needed to set up a staffing and logistics office there. Both WBENC and NMSDC have launched programs to certify MWBEs in other countries. “Our WBEs have grasped very quickly that opportunities, especially with global customers, lie outside the boundaries of the United States,” explains Denny.

Helping suppliers build capacity. Access to capital to compete in a corporate supply chain is one of the most-pressing challenges facing diverse suppliers today. “Diverse suppliers still don’t have the resources that their majority-owned counterparts have as a result of having been locked out of business and financing in the past,” says Rogers.

For this reason, one financial-services company invested $2 million to create a capacity-building program for its certified diverse suppliers. By collaborating with local economic-development agencies, the program delivers coaching services and workshops

on topics from raising capital to building a technology infrastructure to MBEs with annual revenue of more than $1 million and five employees. Likewise, the Business Consortium Fund in New York City uses corporate-partner donations to provide financing to MBEs that are having difficulty raising capital from traditional sources. Similarly, the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce (a Sacramento-based affiliate of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that represents the interst of more than 425,000 Latino-owned businesses in the state) created the Access to Business Capital (ABC) program for suppliers with annual revenue of more than $1.5 million. ABC provides financial advice and networking opportunities with corporations and venture capitalists willing to invest in these businesses. The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce plans to roll out the program nationwide this year.

“Too often, we’ve told diverse suppliers that they have to get contracts to grow their businesses without training them on how to get capital to fulfill those contracts,” says Martha Montoya, board member of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

and woman-owned businesses that are cur-

With more than 2, 2 rent or prospective suppliers. One such proStates, The Home De^S⁰⁰potⁱ^s_® dtore ass^e^s_ociBscat ates^a^terre^r^edfle ^t_ctThro theⁱ^u_ctgh _halou _net gin^th_g He U custo^e^nite_mad er ^degra^rm ^-is^GFastⁱT^lra^lc, s^Spo^ansoⁿred^sin ¹con⁸jun^pctio^tn^swith base of the nation. Just as importa_Sn_idt,_eT_Bh_ae_r _BH_oo_dm_ye_CD_oe_pp_y-o_Gt _ih_lla_Ss_ac_nr_se₈at_pe_td_s The Kaufmann Foundation and Small Business several recognized initiatives to ensure its suppliers mirror the di- Development Centers. The nine-week initiative is d e- verse customers that shop in its stores. signed to help entrepreneurs sharpen the skills needed to create, “In just five years, we’ve developed a robust supplier-diversity manage and grow successful companies through practical, hands-program, which includes systems and outreach programs to in- on business-development workshops. crease opportunities and form partnerships with diverse and small The Home Depot also works with the National Minority Sup-business owners,” says Director of Supplier Diversity Michelle plier Development Council, the Women’s Business Enterprise Na- Johnson. “These efforts provide healthy competition within our tional Council and the U.S. Small Business Administration to help supplier base and, ultimately, increase opportunities for diverse its diverse vendors build greater capacity. In addition, The Home businesses.” Depot is the title sponsor of The Resource Institute, an Atlanta-For instance, The Home Depot’s supplier-diversity registra- based nonprofit that provides small- and diverse-business owners tion web site—designed in partnership with Supplier Gateway, a access to opportunities, venture capital and training programs. minority-owned IT firm—provides vendors with quick access to “As The Home Depot continues to grow,” says Johnson, “we corporate buyers within 72 hours of registration (and a response will actively seek additional opportunities to bring in suppliers that from company buyers within 60 days). will better meet our customers’ needs.” What’s more, The Home Depot George A. Lottier Scholarship For more information on The Home Depot’s supplier-diversity Fund subsidizes business-development training for small-, minority-, program, visit www.homedepot.com/supplierdiversity