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“SUPPLIER DIVERSITY…An Absolute Necessity”
In today’s ever-changing
economy, as markets tighten and innovation becomes a key
ingredient in securing new market share, businesses are
continually focusing on new ways to improve performance. And
increasingly, that focus has moved toward company supply channels,
where a new wave of minority business owners is being called upon
to change the way companies do business. |
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According to the National Minority Business Development
Council, major corporations are expected to spend about $80
billion this year with the 3.25 million minority-owned
businesses in the U.S., businesses that generate about $495
million in revenues annually and employ about 4 million
workers. Today minorities head the world’s information
technology and software development firms, lead
multi-million dollar automotive dealerships and food service
providers, and build the skyscrapers within which Fortune
500 companies build their fortunes. New niche magazines tout
the latest trends in diversifying business dealings while
“traditional” organizational departments such as human
resources, marketing and finance are joined by a class of
diversity managers eager to insure that firms and the
suppliers they do business with are reflective of today’s
society. |
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EXECUTIVE CORNER |
| The Escendent
Executive Management team would like to welcome you to
our inaugural Quarterly E-News Brief. Escendent, LLC is
a professional services firm focused on full life-cycle
technology consulting services through human capital
deployment, and holds both Minority Business Enterprise
and Small Disadvantaged Business certifications,
respectively. We consider it an honor to have the
privilege of sharing our company’s milestone with you.
Our objective is to utilize E-News to inform while
creating a platform for our clients, partners and
affiliates to discuss current trending issues related to
enterprise corporations and agencies, with regard to
Women, Minority and Disadvantaged owned businesses. We
appreciate your participation and ask that all
correspondence be sent to the following e-mail address:
info@escendent.com |
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Escendent recently talked with three leaders in the supplier diversity
industry about the current state of relations between buyers and
minority suppliers; George Peters, Supplier Diversity Manager for
Exelon Corp., Trayce Smith, Executive Director for the Chicago
Minority Business Development Council and David DeHaven, manager of
the project management office for Accenture D.C. All said that while
there are still a number of across-the-board issues that make the
process of diversifying supply channels difficult, supplier diversity
is an absolute necessity in today’s marketplace for buying companies
who want to compete.
“When
supplier diversity first started, there were a number of stereotypes
that we had to deal with regarding minority owned businesses, Smith
said. “During that time, the low hanging fruits (for buyers) were in
areas such as corporate gifts and janitorial services.
“That is no longer the case; the face
of minority business has changed.”
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PRINTABLE VERSION OF
NEWSLETTER |
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