In the second quarter of 2015, MLGW’s supplier diversity spending accounted for
41 percent of all outside contracts for goods and services, the highest
percentage in any quarter since the program began in
1996.
In its latest
supplier diversity report, MLGW says it spent $31 million on contracts for
goods, supplies, and professional and other services from April 1 to June 30.
$12.7 million of that spending went to businesses owned by minorities, women and
local residents.
Construction
spending has performed especially well in this regard, with 80 percent of
contract funds going to companies included in the diversity spending
program—more than double the annual goal of 42 percent. “There is no [large]
company in the city of Memphis,” said Jozelle Luster Booker, Manager of
Procurement and Contracts, “and probably in the entire United States of America
that can say that, of its construction projects, over 80 percent of the spend is
with minority-, women- and locally owned small businesses.” Likewise, MLGW
boasts an unusually high 37 percent of goods and supplies coming from such
firms.
This report shows a
continuing positive trend in the utility’s efforts to increase the diversity of
vendors awarded outside contracts. In 2012, spending with included businesses
was 18 percent. That number increased to 23 percent in 2014, when MLGW revised
its supplier diversity policy and began seeking qualifying businesses more
aggressively.
In addition to
increasing business with minority- and women-owned suppliers, MLGW also
implemented its Sheltered Market Program in 2014, providing opportunities for
locally owned businesses to exclusively compete for purchases under $100,000. So
far in 2015, about $5 million—eight percent of total spending—has been awarded
to local businesses.
For more information
about MLGW’s Supplier Diversity and Sheltered Market Programs, including goals
for individual business categories, visit
http://www.mlgw.com/commercial/supplierdiversity or call
901-528-4635.
No comments:
Post a Comment