One should never rest on one’s laurels, regardless of the endeavor. And so it goes for the Supplier Diversity Initiative (SDI) at the University. Despite posting impressive numbers once again — numbers that have surpassed all previous year’s totals — the SDI is refocusing and has changed its mission statement.
The new emphasis is to maximize the use of minority-owned businesses within the University’s supply chains and to foster the creation of sustainable jobs for minorities within the St. Louis metropolitan area.
“As a consultant to the University’s strategic business units, I focus on the underrepresented groups when looking at our supplier base and meaningful supplier relationships,” said Sandra Marks, SDI director.
“Our spending with businesses owned by ethnic minorities, in particular African-American-owned businesses in this region, has been stagnant for the past few years for various reasons,” Marks added. “By fine-tuning our mission, we shed light on the need to foster the creation and development of these businesses to help build the communities around us.”
This refocusing comes after the fiscal year 2006 numbers were crunched, numbers that show the University spending more than $25 million with Women business enterprises, an all-time high since the SDI started in 1999.
Those same numbers show that approximately $11 million went to minority business enterprises.
Overall, in FY ’06 the University spent $136.9 million on construction, of which 21.1 percent went to minority and women business enterprises (MWBE) firms. Non-construction expenditures totaled $405.9 million, for a total of $541.7 million spent.
Of that, 6.7 percent went directly to MWBEs, the highest percentage since the start of the diversity initiative and nearly a full percentage point higher than in FY ’05.
“The higher percentage over last year is an indication of the continued and increased utilization of minority and woman owned contractors as well as substantial preferred supplier relationships in key non-construction areas.
“Although we see improvement, we continue to challenge ourselves to tap into our heavy spending categories for more opportunities to do business with local minority-owned firms.”
In addition to rewording the mission statement, the SDI has other plans to help improve its standing among MWBE programs in St. Louis.
One is continued use of minority general and specialty contractors as first-tier suppliers and joint-venture partners (such as Interface Construction Corp., Clayco/Legacy JV and BRK Electrical Contractors).
Another is greater second-tier use of firms in the pre-qualified pool of minority sub-contractors, in fields including electrical, mechanical, painting, plumbing, masonry, millwork, carpentry, excavation, hauling and concrete.
“It’s important to keep quantitative data in perspective and not lose sight of the bigger picture and our overall mission,” Marks said. “Our numbers are impressive, but we know this region needs to continue to improve the economic base of minority businesses and create sustainable jobs for minorities.
“As just one of several consumers and employers in this region, we are committed to staying on course and challenging our own internal policies and procedures to ensure our program remains effective and produces positive outcomes,” Marks said.
Other strategies call for greater use of minority workers throughout a project’s duration by prime and specialty contractors; implementation of an ongoing Apprenticeship Utilization Plan with increased recruiting, hiring and retention of new minority entrants into the corresponding unions; and greater opportunities for existing and future minority suppliers to participate in supplying the University’s non-construction core products and services, including lab/medical supplies, printing and binding, computer supplies, office products and industrial supplies.