Overcoming Stereotypes

Overcoming the new MWBE stereotypes in the business community is hard work. Practice transparent diversity yourself – in your work force and supplier base and publicize your commitment to diversity.

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Making Supplier Diversity Work

While the number of small and diverse business enterprises is growing dramatically, companies are consolidating their supply chains as they seek to reduce cost and increase revenue. Healthy economies require strong small and MWBE businesses to create jobs, products or deliver services, so it is necessary to encourage the use of these small and MWBE to build reliable, viable supplier relationships .

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Can’t Get No Information

Bidding government work can be a long, and admittedly sometimes frustrating, process; however, it can also be rewarding. Our willingness to put effort into finding out what our targeted clients wanted from us, using the tips shared here, helped us foster and cement long-term involvement with our government clients.

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Two Little Words

Small diverse businesses can be particularly vulnerable to requests for MWBE procurement participation when lack of transparency is at issue. You can use these guidelines to help protect your business.

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Keeping Track of Diversity

There’s been a significant increase on developing sustainable and effective supplier diversity programs in commercial and government procurement communities. There’s is a concommitant desire to measure how effective these programs are against the organization’s strategics objectives.

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State DBE Procurement

Fascinating to us, as a DMWBE supplier contracting with state governments, was the Insight Center for Community Economic Development’s Survey of State Inclusive Business Programs. … “The purpose of the Insight Center’s state policy scan of inclusive business programs is to promote policies and programs that enhance minority and women business development.” Given that our last two posts talked about the benefits of diversity in procurement and defining diversity, their premise that … “M/WBE development builds intergenerational family assets, aids community reinvestment, creates jobs, adds to the tax base, and links communities of color to the regional economy.” … was music to our ears!

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Diversity Value Add

Supplier Diversity as a circle of life construct brings value to government and private clients, business communities, job markets and future entrpreneurs.

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What Is Diverse?

Supplier Diversity isn’t just about engaging suppliers based on minority of skin color, ethnicity, origin, gender, sexual orientation, veteran experience or physical disability. It really is about making opportunities available – NOT GUARANTEED – to the broadest base of potentially diverse suppliers.

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I am the Customer!

Maybe all of us need to re-learn this lesson periodically so we entrepreneurs can be more proactive about our “customer-ness”. Often times we’re so busy running our businesses, providing services for our own customers that we neglect the fact we are another company’s client and a part of their revenue stream.

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