Southwest Airlines among TOP 50 Companies For Supplier Diversity

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TOP 50 Companies For Supplier Diversity
By by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber Of Commerce and PODER staff

Marcelo Peres Dalannays.It’s no secret that some of the nation’s leading corporations owe part of their success to minority owned contractors that help them run cost-effectively. But despite the benefit to corporations, support for these minority-owned businesses has a ways to go. “On average, for every dollar that a White-own[ed] firm makes, Hispanic-owned businesses made 56 cents,” says Ying Lowry from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy. A partnership between the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and PODER, this list reviews corporations that continue to improve and grow their supplier diversity programs by implementing innovative ideas and demonstrating commitment to inclusion—despite times of duress.

Abercrombie & Fitch
[Company Headquarters] New Albany, Ohio [2008 Revenues in millions] $3,540.3 [Why they’re on the list] As a design and fashion company that understands it must incorporate diversity into every aspect of its business, Abercrombie and Fitch looks to recruit young Latino designers and fashion entrepreneurs. [Company Website] www.abercrombie.com/anf/careers/diversity.html

Alcatel-Lucent
[HQ] Plano, Texas (subsidiary) [R] $26,205.8 [Why] The company’s approach to supplier diversity encourages the creation of small- to mid-size Latino technology companies. In the process, Alcatel-Lucent follows up with each supplier on a step-by-step basis to provide training and counsel. [W] www.alcatel-lucent.com/us

AT&T
[HQ] Dallas, Texas [R] $124,028 [Why] AT&T has one of the most ambitious supplier diversity programs. One of its most interesting initiatives is the capacity building funding AT&T gives to organizations to heavily recruit and train Latinas to become company suppliers. [W] http://www.wireless.att.com/about/doing-business/suppliers.jsp

Avis Budget Group
[HQ] Parsippany, New Jersey [R] $5,984 [Why] As part of their supplier diversity program, Avis’ local rental agencies seek out local car dealers as suppliers. Avis Budget also features minority and women suppliers in various national ads. [W] www.avisbudgetgroup.com

Bank of America
[HQ] Charlotte, North Carolina [R] $113,106 [Why] Since its inception in 1990, the supplier diversity program at Bank of America has had industry segmented diversity departments. This comprehensive approach allows BoA to walk applicants through the entire supplier diversity process. [W] http://careers.bankofamerica.com/learnmore/diversity.asp

CBS Corp.
[HQ] New York, New York [R] $13,950.4 [Why] As part of its outreach, CBS has hired Hispanic consulting firms and agents to go into their local communities to recruit small- and mid-size business suppliers. [W] http://www.cbscorporation.com/diversity/index.php

Chevron Corp.
[HQ] San Ramon, California [R] $263.159 [Why] Before the hype over green business, Chevron was already pioneering the field. For some time now Chevron has been working to convert its existing supplier diversity base into green supplier service producers as well as acquiring Hispanic eco-friendly suppliers. [W] http://www.chevron.com/productsservices/supplierdiversity

Coca-Cola
[HQ] Atlanta, Georgia [R] $31,944 [Why] One of the Coca-Cola’s corporate citizenship goals is to create more sustainable communities. In order to grow Hispanic businesses, Coca-Cola heavily exhorts its primary suppliers to go out into the community and find local minority second-tier and third-tier suppliers. [W] http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/diversity.html

Deloitte & Touche LLP
[HQ] New York, New York [R] $27,400 (Private partnership) [Why] If one looks at supplier diversity by industry, accounting services account for less than one percent of services despite the number of Hispanic-led accounting firms in the country. For this reason, Deloitte has pioneered in the field by appointing Hispanic accounting suppliers. [W] www.deloitte.com

FedEx
[HQ] Memphis, Tennessee [R] $37,953 [Why] When it comes to supplier diversity, FedEx deploys local representatives to inform possible suppliers about the program and about how they might be suited to supply to FedEx. [W] www.fedex.com/us/officeprint/buspart/supplier/diversity.html

Hilton Hotels Corp.
[HQ] Beverly Hills, California [R] $3,535.6 [Why] Hilton Hotels has an extensive first-tier and second-tier supplier diversity program. In addition, Hilton releases information about projected buying cycles in order to inform suppliers about the company’s demands. [W] https://cvmas02.cvmsolutions.com/hilton554

The Home Depot
[HQ] Atlanta, Georgia [R] $71,288 [Why] Home Depot invite suppliers to their headquarters in order to train them to improve their company operations so they become better suppliers. [W]http://corporate.homedepot.com/wps/portal/SupplierDiversity

IBM Corp.
[HQ] Armonk, New York [R] $103,630 [Why] IBM has participated in the U.S. Department of Defense’s Mentor-Protégé Program since 1997. The program seeks to increase the number of small businesses involved in the defense industry. IBM has mentored 12 firms during this time in areas such as marketing, ecommerce, technology training and certification, subcontracts, business partner development and teaming opportunities. [W] www.ibm.com

JCPenney
[HQ] Plano, Texas [R] $19,860 [Why] JCPenney is a 30-year veteran of supplier diversity. The company looks closely at consumer trends and relies on Hispanic suppliers to help stores offer compelling merchandise and services that will increase this demographic’s customer loyalty. [W] www.jcpenney.net/inclusion_diversity/supplier_div/default.aspx

JP Morgan Chase
[HQ] New York, New York [R] $101,491 [Why] JP Morgan Chase’s goal is to make supplier diversity synonymous with access to capital. JP hosted the first Capital Summit 2008 in New York City. The aim of the conference was to ensure procurement by matching equity funding to suppliers. Through the process of pairing huge equities with smaller businesses, JP mentored and sponsored the growth of minority suppliers’ companies. [W] www.jpmorganchase.com

Kaiser Permanente
[HQ] Oakland, California [R] $37,800 (Private Not-for-Profit) [Why] As an efficient medical not-for-profit concern, Kaiser heavily believes in educating the community about its supplier base. It also has many seminars on how businesses could provide products and services in the health industry. [W] http://xnet.kp.org/supplierdiversity/index.html

Eastman Kodak Co.
[HQ] Rochester, New York [R] $9,416 [Why] Since its creation in 1989, the supplier diversity program at Kodak has increased business relationships with minorities across the board. However if there was an award to be given to CEOs for direct involvement with supplier diversity it would go to Eastman Kodak’s Antonio M. Perez. The heads of supplier diversity within the company report directly to the CEO about procurement efforts. Perez also makes a priority of doing personal outreach and appearing at supplier diversity-related events. [W] www.kodak.com

Kraft Foods Inc.
[HQ] Northfield, Illinois [R] $42,867 [Why] With many subsidiaries across the country, Kraft heavily depends on them to buy locally in their communities. The subsidiaries employ first-tier and multiple-tier suppliers in products, raw materials, and services. [W] www.kraftfoodscompany.com

Lockheed Martin
[HQ] Bethesda, Maryland [R] $42,731 [Why] Lockheed Martin looks at supplier diversity as a comprehensive effort. A long-time promoter of diverse suppliers, Lockheed Martin hires consultants to meet and examine companies and provide training and assistance to small- and mid-size businesses that want to become suppliers. [W] www.lockheedmartin.com/suppliers/supplier-diversity/index.html

L’Oreal
[HQ] New York, New York (subsidiary) [R] $24,726.6 [Why] L’Oreal has a goal of drawing more Latinas into the science industry. For this reason, L’Oreal joins efforts with organizations across the country to either fund or create training programs that encourage Latinas to become science and pharmaceutical suppliers. [W] www.lorealusa.com

Macy’s
[HQ] Cincinnati, Ohio [R] $24,892 [Why] Macy’s encourages Hispanic suppliers to participate in placing merchandise within stores. [W] www.macysinc.com/diversitymanagement

Mattel
[HQ] El Segundo, California [R] $5,918 [Why] Mattel is one of the few companies that recruits non-traditional suppliers for services such as insurance or accounting. An interesting aspect of the company is its global supplier program by which local suppliers can become global suppliers for Mattel subsidiaries around the world. [W] www.mattel.com/about_us/Diversity/supplier_diversity.asp

Merrill Lynch
[HQ] New York, New York [R] $16,784 [Why] Despite how difficult it can be for minority companies to break into Wall Street, Merrill Lynch’s program brings in financial companies to become sameindustry services suppliers. [W] www.ml.com

MetLife
[HQ] New York, New York [R] $55,085 [Why] MetLife encourages local agencies and organizations to heavily recruit in order to bring in more minority suppliers, for both goods and services. [W] www.metlife.com

MGM Mirage
[HQ] Las Vegas, Nevada [R] $7,208.8 [Why] With an expanding $150 million supplier diversity portfolio, what could be the strength of their program? MGM mirage participates in numerous trade shows to identify potential suppliers. MGM also joined with the American Gaming Association in announcing a Tier II

Reporting program.
[W] www.mgmmiragediversity.com Microsoft Corp. [HQ] Redmond, Washington [R] $60,420 [Why] Microsoft heavily recruits suppliers in the Latino tech world. Instead of buying-out new technology or services, Microsoft establishes and fosters business relationships with technology entrepreneurs. [W] www.microsoft.com

Motorola
[HQ] Schaumburg, Illinois [R] $30,146 [Why] Motorola is heavily investing in recruiting minority technology companies to turn them into research and development suppliers. [W] www.motorola.com

Nordstrom
[HQ] Seattle, Washington [R] $8,573 [Why] Nordstrom recruits minority vendors for merchandise, supplies, services and construction. All departments work in unison in to give the supplier immediate feedback. Nordstrom also highly recruits

Latina suppliers.
[W] about.nordstrom.com/aboutus/diversity/supplier.asp NY Life Insurance Co. [HQ] New York, New York [R] $21,123 [Why] Initiatives involve minority inclusion in non–traditional areas such as management consultants and investment firms. [W] www.newyorklife.com/supplierdiversity

Offi ce Depot
[HQ] Boca Raton, Florida [R] $14,495.5 [Why] Office Depot heavily engages organizations to host events in order to scout first-tier suppliers. [W] www.officedepot.com

Pepsi Bottling Group
[HQ] Sommers, New York [R] $13,796 [Why] Pepsi Bottling established national and local diversity advisory boards in order to ensure procurements efforts. Pepsi is also a leader in maximizing suppliers in non-traditional segments. [W] www.pbg.com/about/diversity.html

PG&E Co.
[HQ] San Francisco, California [R] $14,628 [Why] PG&E has engaged Latino entrepreneurs to train the next generation of Latino suppliers in alternative energy resources. [W] www.pge.com/b2b/purchasing/supplierdiversity

Principal Financial Group
[HQ] Des Moines, Iowa [R] $9,935.9 [Why] Regional managers engage local community leaders in order to create events and reach out to potential suppliers. [W] www.principal.com/about/diversity/index.htm

Shell Oil Co.
[HQ] Houston, Texas (subsidiary) [R] $2,147.5 [Why] As company business grows and new segments are created, suppliers are recruited from project inception in order to guarantee procurement in every sector of the company.[W] www.shell.us

Sodexho N.A.
[HQ] Gaithersburg, Maryland (subsidiary) [R] $19,966 [Why] Besides providing a range of regional-to-national supplier opportunities, the company appointed a Hispanic member to its board who engages with the community as it relates to supplier diversity issues. [W] www.sodexousa.com

Southwest Airlines
[HQ] Dallas, Texas [R] $11,023 [Why] Southwest Airlines is the airline sponsor for all supplier diversity events of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, both regional and national. Southwest also heavily recruits minority aerospace service industry suppliers. [W] www.southwest.com

Sprint Nextel Corp.
[HQ] Overland Park, Kansas [R] $35,635 [Why] The Sprint campus project—one of the largest single and continuous office development projects ever to be built in the country—provided business opportunities for minority owned businesses, resulting in over $82 million contract committed dollars. [W] www.sprint.com/supplierdiversity

Starwood Hotels
[HQ] White Plains, New York [R] $5,907 [Why] Starwood created a Minority Hotel Owner and Developer Program. The program allows for different hotels under the Starwood name to seek out different suppliers based on the brand needs of each particular hotel. [W] www.starwoodhotels.com

StateFarm Insurance
[HQ] Bloomington, Illinois [R] $61,343.4 [Why] What sets StateFarm apart from other companies is the amount of media procurement it offers to Hispanic and minority-owned firms. By outsourcing public relations work, StateFarm is leading in the effort to procure vital segments of the company to minorities. [W] b2b.statefarm.com/b2b/supplier/supdiv.asp

SUPERVALU Inc.
[HQ] Eden Prairie, Minnesota [R] $44,048 [Why] SUPERVALU has one of the most extensive supplier diversity outreach programs. Through SUPERVALU’s nationwide supply chain network, the company provides distribution and related logistics support services to more than 5,000 grocery endpoints across the country. [W] www.supervalu.com

Target
[HQ] Minneapolis, Minnesota [R] $64,948 [Why] Target supports a diverse business climate by participating in supplier trade fairs across the country and by its involvement in national and local consortiums. Most recently, through its innovative supplier diversity program, Target introduced Hispanic suppliers to the Food Marketing Institute, connecting suppliers with an important industry leader. [W] www.target.com

Time Warner Cable
[HQ] New York, New York [R] $17,200 [Why] Time Warner empowers regional offices to look for minority suppliers in the community through local representation. [W] www.twsupplierdiversity.com

Toyota Motor Manufacturing
[HQ] Georgetown, Kentucky [R] $698.8 [Why] Toyota Motor Manufacturing’s training program teaches existing as well as future suppliers to be competitive by making sure that they will meet company standards. [W] www.toyotasupplier.com

Tyson Foods
[HQ] Springdale, Arkansas [R] $ 28,130 [Why] Tyson is effective in conveying product information and working with sales forces. Tyson also distributes advertising and promotional information and sales training materials to suppliers in the food service industry. [W] www.tyson.com/Corporate/B2B/SupplierDiversity

Verizon Communications
[HQ] New York, New York [R] $97,354 [Why] Verizon has engaged every sector of the company to have supplier diversity components. In 2008 alone they purchased $3.8 billion in goods and services from minority companies. Verizon has also created a Supplier Excellence Program, which recognizes those suppliers of products and services that exhibit performance excellence during the year. [W] www.verizon.com

Wachovia/Wells Fargo
[HQ] Chicago, Illinois [R] $51,652 [Why] Wells Fargo creates industryspecific events to promote supplier diversity. Since merging with Wachovia, Wells Fargo now has expanded its staff to train its suppliers. [W] www.wellsfargo.com/about/diversity

Wal-mart Stores Inc.
[HQ] Bentonville, Arkansas [R] $405,607 [Why] Wal-mart was one of the first companies to make supplier diversity a part of its sustainability and corporate citizenship program. Wal-mart has one of the most extensive programs, comprised of more than 2,500 diverse suppliers. In 2008, Wal-mart’s supplier diversity program was valued at $6 billion, a 25 percent increase since 2007. [W] walmartstores.com/Diversity/253.aspx

Weyerhaeuser
[HQ] Federal Way, Washington [R] $11,401 [Why] Weyerhaeuser engages suppliers in every single sector of its operation, one of the world’s largest forest products companies. With one of the most engaging supplier diversity programs, Weyerhaeser seeks out Hispanics in the agricultural world across sectors to become suppliers and build a varied base. [W] www.weyerhaeuser.com/Company/

Suppliers/Diversity
Wyndham Worldwide [HQ] Parsippany, New Jersey [R] $4,281 [Why] Wyndham Worldwide’s accepts small businesses with working capital of $500,000 as first-tier suppliers. [W] www.wyndhamworldwide.com

Xerox
[HQ] Norwalk, Connecticut [R] $17,608 [Why] Xerox has received numerous recognitions for its supplier diversity program. Xerox’s engagement of minorities translates into supplier diversity opportunities outside of the company. Xerox employees become advocates who are allowed to propose suppliers to the company. [W] www.xerox.com

For more information on Southwest Airlines in the community, visit:

http://www.southwest.com/about_swa/southwest_cares/