DiversityInc - Winter 2012

“From a macro perspective,

working with diverse businesses provides increased accessibility & familiarity to the local community and stronger products and services, along with increased innovation and flexibility.” MICHAEL A. BYRON, SUPERVALU

Owners to offer one-on-one mentorship, employee training, marketing contacts, shared tickets to industry events, and more. Similarly, Cargill provides tuition assistance to select suppliers through the Wisconsin Iowa and Central Illinois Minority Supplier Development Council’s business program.

In an effort to strengthen the regional economy, health insurer HCSC has joined Chicago United’s Five Forward initiative to mentor five area vendors from underrepresented groups over five years. To date, the company has reached platinum status in its efforts to build businesses of scale that reflect Chicago’s diverse demographics.

HCSC requests that its prime vendors have a minority program and report Tier II spend on a quarterly basis. Today, at least 35 of the company’s top vendors report Tier II spend, says Burden.

SUPERVALU’s company mission hinges on what the company calls being “hyper local.” Through supplier diversity, the company is seeing firsthand how supporting businesses owned by traditionally underrepresented groups has a tangible effect on the local community. Of the company’s 2,800 registered MBE and WBE suppliers, 60 percent have a formal community-outreach program and nearly 20 percent have their own supplier-diversity programs.

Cargill aims to add Tier II requirements to new sourcing contracts in North America. If a supplier from a traditionally underrepresented group isn’t ready to contract with them directly, the company will try to partner them with a select supplier, says Taylor. The goal is that with

LONG-TERM INVESTMENT/GROWTH, CONTINUED

mentoring and support, today’s Tier II vendors will become tomorrow’s Tier I suppliers.

This kind of long-term, goal-oriented
support makes a huge impact on small-
businesses growth. A Wells Fargo–
sponsored training session on capacity
building was a great opportunity for
Alpa Patel, CEO of We Print, a minority-
and woman-owned printing company in
Orange County, Calif. “It taught me to
work on my business, create strategic
partnerships to build capacity to scale
and grow,” says Patel. “The overall
experience has been tremendous for me
personally and for my business. It was
the lifeline I needed to take my business
to the next level.”
Yet financial and educational support
won’t expand the reach of these suppli-
ers unless they have access to company
decision makers. Keeping this in mind,
PSEG hosts annual supplier-diversity
fairs at no charge, giving minority- and
women-owned enterprises the access
they need to begin a relationship with
the company. As a direct result of these
procurement events, PSEG has award-
ed more than 37 contracts to new MBEs
and WBEs, says Blake.

In the fall, Cargill hosted the Twin Cities’ largest-ever supplier-diversity symposium. Nearly 250 MWBEs attended, free of charge. “It’s their opportunity to talk directly with our sourcing departments,” says Taylor.

In addition to face time with Cargill staff, attendees were offered a number of business resources, which included a seminar on how to bid on government contracts and guidance about securing fi nancing.