Supplier diversity

Supplier Diversity is a business program that encourages the use of: minority-owned, women owned,^[1] veteran owned, LGBT-owned , service disabled veteran owned, historically underutilized business, and SBA defined small business vendors as suppliers. It is not directly correlated with supply chain diversification, although utilizing more vendors may enhance supply chain diversification.

Diverse- and women-owned business enterprises are among the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. economy. diverse-owned businesses generate an (1997) estimated $495 billion in annual revenue and employ nearly 4 million workers, while women-owned firms employ about 19 million people and generate $2.5 trillion in annual sales.

Veteran-Owned (VOB) and Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses (SDVOB) are some of the most prominent group on the American entrepreneurial landscape and being sought after by corporate supplier diversity directors. There are over 25 million veterans in the country, or roughly 1 in 5 adult males. 1 in 7 small businesses are owned by a veteran.

See also

• Procurement outsourcing
• Procurement
• DiversityBusiness.com
• Strategic sourcing
• Supplier relationship management
• National Minority Supplier Development Council
• U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce
• Women's Business Enterprise National Council
• National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
• National Veteran-Owned Business Association (NaVOBA)

Supplier diversity is the proactive business process of sourcing products and services from previously under-used suppliers. This process helps to sustain and progressively transform a corporation's supply chain thus quantitatively reflecting the demographics of the community in which it operates by recording transactions with diverse suppliers.

Fortune 500 Diversity Procurement

References