with their finished goods, we are
the bridge to go to Asia.”
Businesses owned by
people with disabilities. The
U.S. Business Leadership Network
(USBLN), a Washington-based organization that promotes employing, marketing to and purchasing
supplies from businesses owned
by people with disabilities, recently
launched a supplier-certification
program. USBLN’s goal is to certify
10 to 15 disability-owned businesses by January 2010. If the pilot
is a success, USBLN will launch
a formal program in 2010. “Our
network of corporations and
employers recognize the value of
including people with disabilities in
their workplace and marketplace,”
says Disability Supplier Diversity
Program Director Jill Houghton.
“But they also realize that they
don’t include them in their supply
chains. This is an unrecognized
group of suppliers, and now is the
time to change that.”
HCSC: PROVIDING VALUABLE TRAINING TO MWBES
Increasing business development with minority- and women-owned business enterprises
(MWBEs) has been a hallmark
of Chicago-based Health Care
Service Corp. (HCSC), says
Manager of Corporate Supplier
Diversity Monica Billinger.
HCSC is No. 22 in The 2009
DiversityInc Top 50 Companies
for Diversity®, No. 6 in The
DiversityInc Top 10 Companies
for Supplier Diversity and
No. 10 in The Diversity Inc
Top 10 Companies for African
Americans.
“Although we have had
a supplier-diversity initiative
for 25 years, we are working
harder to expand the program
across our enterprise,” says
Billinger. “As a result, we have
incrementally increased our
spend with MWBEs.”
Last year, HCSC spent 10. 2
percent of its annual procurement budget with 87 Tier 1
MWBEs, a 3 percent increase
from 2007. In addition, HCSC is
stepping up the number of free
training programs it offers to
current and potential MWBEs,
beginning with suppliers in
Illinois. “We recognize that we
have an important role to play
in building the business skills
of all MWBEs, even those that
aren’t currently our suppliers,”
says Billinger. The reason: thriving MWBEs contribute to the
economic vitality of the communities where HCSC does
business. For instance:
•HCSC offered a free
workshop to 30
Chicago-area MWBEs last year on
how to obtain ISO quality
management certification, a
designation that demonstrates
a company has gone the extra
mile to have its processes
verified by an international
standards organization.
•HCSC held a free workshop attended by 50 cur-
rent and potential MWBEs
earlier this year on how to respond to bids through HCSC’s
online procurement system.
•HCSC is co-sponsoring
with the Women’s
Business Development
Center a free seminar this
fall on ways WBEs can sell and
market their products and
services in a down economy.
The program will be open to
75 Chicago-area women-owned
businesses.
“We recognize that we have
a responsibility to give back
to the diverse businesses that
are in our communities,” says
Billinger. “These training opportunities are in keeping with
our core values of being a good
corporate citizen and neighbor.”
