There are a lot of supplier diversity certifications your business can apply for, but which ones are the best certifications for your business? In this article, we’ll break down supplier diversity certifications, including the application process, what documents you’ll need, turnaround time to receive your certification, and how often you’ll need to renew your certification.
So, What Is a Diverse Supplier, Anyway?
In brief, a diverse supplier is a business of any size that is owned and operated by an individual or group of people that is part of a traditionally underrepresented or underserved group. In the US, there are seventeen categories used to identify diverse businesses. Note that ownership is specific to the legal ownership of the organization, while operations relates to the day to day running of the organization. Internationally, there are five classifications, but there may be more depending on the country in question.
Could My Business Be Classified as a Diverse Supplier?
If you meet the criteria for any of the classifications listed below, chances are your business could be classified as a diverse supplier:
U.S. Classifications:
Disabled Owned – A business that is a least 51% owned by one or more disabled persons who control and operate the business. Control in this context means exercising the power to make policy decisions and operate means being actively involved in the day-to-day management of the business.
Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) – This term is used by the State of California, public utilities, and many private corporations to designate a company that is owned (at least 51%) and controlled by a Veteran with a Service-Connected Disability rating of at least 10% from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Additionally, the Veteran must reside in the state of California.
Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) – A business that is usually certified by a federal, state or local government agency as having met all of the government standards that award eligibility, but may include women, minority, disabled and other disadvantaged as a result of economic disadvantages with respect to education, employment, residence or business location or social disadvantage and lack of business training.
Disadvantaged Veteran Enterprise (DVE) – A business that is a small business concern owned and controlled by veterans, where not less than 51% is owned, controlled, and managed by veterans.
Historically Black Colleges / Universities & Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI) – Historically Black and minority colleges and universities that are recognized by the government as legitimate set-aside business opportunities.
HUBZone Certified – A business that is operating in a certified historically underutilized business zone. There are 7,000 qualified census tracts (HUD) and 900 qualified non-metropolitan counties.
LGTB Owned (LGBT) – A business that is at least 51% owned and operated by an LGTB person(s).
Minority-Owned – A business that is at least 51% owned by, and whose management and daily business operations are controlled by, one or more members of a socially and economically disadvantaged minority group, namely U.S. citizens who are African Americans (Black), Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Asian-Pacific Americans, Alaskan Native Americans and Indian Sub-Continent Americans.
Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) – A Minority Business Enterprise usually certified by a federal, state or local governmental agency as having met all of the government standards that award eligibility.
Service-Disabled Veteran (SDV) – A business that is owned by one or more veterans with a disability that is service-connected. The term “service connected” means, with respect to disability, that such disability was incurred or aggravated, in the line of duty in the active military, naval or air service. (38 U.S.C. ‘101(16).
Small Business – A business considered eligible for assistance from SBA as a small business is one that is organized for profit, with a place of business located in the United States. It must operate primarily within the United States or make a significant contribution to the U.S. economy through payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor. Together with its affiliates, it must meet the numerical size standards as defined in the Small Business Size Regulations, 13 CFR 121
Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) – Small Disadvantaged Business: New certification eligibility criteria established by the SBA effective 7/1/99. All firms must be certified by one of the SDB Certification Agencies designated by the SBA. To qualify must be a small business, not exceed standards for Primary SIC, meet Contracting Officers’ assigned SIC code, be a U.S. Citizen and be 51% owned and controlled by one or more Socially & Economically Disadvantaged Individuals. The SBA classification is based on a Preponderance of the Evidence Clause” this SDB Certification is good for 3 years.
Veteran Business Enterprise (VBE) – Under SBA Guidelines Small Business Act (PL 85-536) as amended states: Small Business Concerns owned and controlled by veterans not less than 51% owned by one or more veterans and in the case of a publicly owned business not less than 51% of the stock is owned by one or more veterans.
Veteran Owned – A business that is a least 51% owned by one or more veterans, who control and operate the business. Control in this context means exercising the power to make policy decisions and operate means to be actively involved in the day-to-day management of the business. The term “veteran” (38 U.S.C.’101(2)) means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released there from under conditions other than dishonorable.
Vietnam Veteran – A business that is a least 51% owned by one or more Vietnam Veterans who served between 1/1/59 and 5/7/75 and have control and operate the business. Control in this context means exercising the power to make policy decisions and operate means to be actively involved in the day-to-day management of the business.
Women-Owned – A business that is at least 51% owned by, and whose management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more women who are U.S. citizens.
Woman Business Enterprise (WBE) – A Women Business Enterprise usually certified by a federal, state or local Government agency as having met all of the government standards that award eligibility.
8(A) Designation – The 8A designation is given to small companies owned by socially and economically disadvantaged persons, so that they may bid and obtain federal government contracts and other assistance to develop their business. The business owner must be eligible under the same rules and guidelines set down by the federal government.
International Classifications:
Disabled Owned – A business that is a least 51% owned by one or more disabled persons who control and operate the business. Control in this context means exercising the power to make policy decisions and operate means to be actively involved in the day-to-day management of the business.
LGTB-Owned – A business that is at least 51% owned and operated by one or more LGTB person(s)
Minority-Owned – A business that is at least 51% owned by, and whose management and daily business operations are controlled by, one or more members of a socially and economically disadvantaged minority group. Minority (ethnicity) is defined by country as the socio-economic under-represented. Intel does not require disclosure of ethnicity per privacy policy. Disclosure of ethnicity is voluntary, not a requirement.
Veteran Owned – A business that is a least 51% owned by one or more veterans, who control and operate the business. Country exceptions: Israel, Taiwan
Women-Owned – A business that is at least 51% owned and operated by one or more women.
Which Supplier Diversity Certification is Right for My Business?
Now that you’ve figured out what classification your business falls into, it’s time to think about getting certified for those classifications. Keep in mind that just because you think your business qualifies as diverse doesn’t mean that your business actually qualifies asdiverse. Most organizations with supplier diversity programs and initiatives won’t enter into a contract with a diverse business unless that business has a third-party certification to prove diversity status.
There are several types of supplier diversity certifications you can obtain for your business. You can self-certify, but most businesses require a third-party certification in order to enter into a contract with your diverse business. Federal certifications, state-level certifications, local certifications and certifications issued by non-governmental organizations (NGO) are all considered third-party certifications, and those are the certifications we’ll be going over.
Below is a list of currently available non-governmental third-party supplier diversity certifications, and who these certifications apply to:
It’s important to note that a single business can hold multiple certifications. Say, if you’re a lesbian Native American woman who owns a business, you’d be eligible for four separate certifications—one from National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), one from Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), one from Native American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), and one from SupplierGATEWAY.
The Supplier Diversity Certification Process
Most diversely-owned businesses obtain their certifications via a third-party certification agency. This is an organization that promotes the business development of a particular group of minority and/or underrepresented people. The process or getting certified varies based on organization, but most require the following in order to certify your business:
Documentation. All of the certifying organizations listed above require documentations to attest to the truth of your diversity statements.
Screenings and interviews. You, your staff, and other members of your organization may be interviewed and screened.
On-site visit. Some organizations require site visits to visually and physically confirm the diversity of your business.
Waiting. Most applications take several weeks to be approved.
SupplierGATEWAY’s Enhanced Digital Certification® does not require a site visit and is done entirely online via supported documentation and identity verification. The approval process is also expedited—applications are generally approved within 3-5 days, if not sooner. The Enhanced Digital Certification® is also all-in-one and certifies many different classifications with one certificate.
Why is Supplier Diversity Certification Important?
Supplier diversity certification is important for several different reasons. Firstly, most buyers with supplier diversity programs won’t do business with your diverse business unless you have third-party certification to back up your diversity claims. Businesses with supplier diversity programs oftentimes struggle to find diverse suppliers to give contracts to. Being certified means that your business can be identified as diverse, which will help you gain contracts from those companies looking for diverse suppliers. Certification also opens the door for government contracts as well. In the US, the federal government requires that federal projects use a certain percentage of diverse suppliers.
Certification also opens the door to the networks associated with your certifications. For example, once your business is certified, your business will be entered into a database full of other diverse suppliers. Large corporations and other organizations with supplier diversity initiatives rely on these databases to find diverse suppliers to do business with. Aside from exposure to buyers looking for diverse suppliers, your certifications often come with access to specific events, educational opportunities, and business development tools that your business wouldn’t have access to otherwise.
Outside of financial benefit to your business, certification also offers social benefits for supply chain management and corporate responsibility initiatives. Through certification, diverse businesses can work together to advocate for diversity and effect change within current supply chain management culture. The more businesses that become diversity certified, the more robust corporate supply chain diversity programs can become, causing a positive feedback loop for ever-increasing supply chain diversity.
How to Find the Right Supplier
Identifying the right supplier may be difficult, and a sizable proportion of procurement teams consider this the most challenging component of their job. Knowing how to find and choose a supplier ensures that the products and services are supplied on time, at a suitable price, and according to your standards if you work with a reliable and trustworthy provider. Your client’s happiness and your company’s image might be damaged if you make a mistake in selecting a supplier.
The capability of your business to supply high-quality products and services at competitive prices may be hampered if your supplier cannot be relied upon or does not produce high-quality items.
A well-designed procurement process will guarantee that the business firm connects with the appropriate supplier. According to a recent study, the procurement outsourcing industry is predicted to reach USD $5.03 billion by 2025. This is a clear indication that the procuring process of identifying suitable suppliers has led to economic growth. Get a piece of that growth by understanding how to choose suppliers.
No. Really…How Do You Choose a Supplier?
This article will walk you through the eight most important actions to take to identify the best potential suppliers for your goods, components, or raw materials.
1. Price
Price is one of the critical factors to consider from a supplier. However, you shouldn’t merely pick a supplier based on their price alone, especially if the purchase is non-commodity items. When it comes to general costs, low-quality products and services may not be the best choice in all cases. Be satisfied that your supplier needs to earn a sufficient profit at the specified price for the company to remain in business.
2. Conduct Market Research
In the digital world, it’s becoming easier to conduct due diligence online and discover information via searches and by reviewing the websites or blogs of the potential suppliers of your products or services.
While not all suppliers have company websites, most have developed a digital presence via networks, virtual stores, and establishing a presence in supplier platforms. You may have to do some exploration in the markets to get the important information you need to help decide about organizations you are thinking about engaging, but this discovery process is vital when choosing a supplier.
3. Ask for Samples/Trials
These are free. However, you may be liable for delivery costs. This will assist you in deciding on the appropriate service provider or manufacturer for your good quality. Your intuition plays a significant role in finding quality items and in choosing a supplier.
However, hands-on analysis of a supplier’s service or product is necessary to ensure that the service or product will fulfill your needs. You may test your goods in the market after finding a dependable supplier to determine whether your clients/buyers are interested. It’s also good to ask for tangible evidence like images, video clips, or detailed information of the facility, products, or services offered.
4. Ascertain Supplier Authorization
When you hire a firm or company for your products or services, be sure the provider has a solid reputation, has been in business for a while, and has no documented problems. They may also include a manufacturing certification stamp from the location, which is an additional plus. For suppliers with unique products but newly in the market, it’s advisable to test their samples/products by observing their products for a while and getting reviews from their first clients; this will increase the chances of getting quality products. Also, for the manufacturers of products, one can agree with the supplier to provide a warranty of their products that are new in the market.
5. Examine the reviews
The best way to make a final judgment on the list of suppliers you’ve engaged with is to get recommendations from previous customers. If you use one of the leading marketplaces, such as Amazon, you can check the reviews directly from their sales page. Still, if you find the supplier elsewhere, such as the internet, you’ll have to communicate with other people who’ve used them or do some due diligence on your own.
6. Understand supplier’s scaling
The supplier’s ability to accommodate small and large orders is an essential factor to keep in mind. If you’re seeking smaller numbers of samples, you’ll likely discover providers that specialize in that amount. If you demand massive shipments of the goods over time, you may soon exceed your initial supplier choices. To ensure that you’re working with a supplier that can easily expand to meet your changing requirements, you need to know the product’s growth trend and have some sense of the supplier’s ability to fulfill your expected demand.
7. Recognize The Distribution Networks In Your Business
Products may go from the producer to the merchant in a variety of ways. All suppliers aren’t aimed at the same customer base. To identify the best supplier for your business, you need to know your company’s distribution networks and supply chain in detail. Suppliers come in various forms, including service providers, subcontractors, manufacturers/producers, distributors, and importers.
8. Get To Know The People That Provide Your Goods And Services
Until now, while it has been commonplace to visit your suppliers and tour their factory (even if you can’t afford it initially), the circumstances of today’s global commerce footprint coupled with the impact of the pandemic have made that difficult.
The good news is, technology has made it possible to reduce some of the logistical challenges and costs while preserving the significant due diligence needed. The motivation, however, is still the same – gaining better knowledge may provide you with a wealth of new insights. It also cements your connection with the supplier, and you are no longer a nameless client in another nation.
What Will You Gain From Increased Tier-1 & Tier-2 Diversity Spend Visibility
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There’s no doubt that building a successful supplier diversity program benefits an organization in many ways, such as driving innovation, improving the bottom line and enhancing a positive brand image.
A supplier diversity program has been considered one of the best business practices in maintaining high moral and ethical standards. To maximize the effectiveness of the program,. procurement professionals are expected to not only build but also grow aggressively and expand a supplier diversity program to maximize the diverse spend.
One of the most powerful ways to scale your supplier diversity program is to analyze, track and manage multi-tier diverse spend and turn it into insights. Yet, it’s easier said than done. According to the Deloitte annual Global Chief Procurement Offer (CPO) survey, supply chain transparency is poor, with 65% of procurement leaders having limited or no visibility beyond their tier-one suppliers.
This article will dive deeper into this topic and why you should take it seriously.
What is Multi-Tier Diverse Spend Reporting?
Diverse Spend, also known as diverse supplier spend, is the dollar amount spent solely with diverse-owned suppliers. It can be measured by a dollar amount or percentage of total procurement spend.
Multi-tier goes beyond your first tier of suppliers and allows you to gain the complete picture of diverse spend in the supplier network within your supply chain. In other words, it collects data on both direct and indirect spend at Tier 2, Tier 3 and beyond.
Tier-1 Tier-2 Supplier Diversity Spend
When it comes to diverse spend, there are typically two main supplier categories: tier-1 and tier-2. Both of them are critical for supply chain success. Tier-1 suppliers, also known as prime suppliers, are those businesses that directly sell products and services to a buyer, while tier-2 provide tier-1 suppliers with the products and/or services that are sold to that buyer.
The Importance of Increased Tier-1 Tier-2 Diversity Spend Reporting Visibility
Implementing multi-tier diverse spend into your procurement practices is one of the best practices to recognize and advocate for underrepresented minority groups as well as diversify the supplier’s workforce. The following points are your competitive advantages if you have transparent multi-tier diverse spend data.
Scale Your Supplier Diversity Program
If you’re looking for ways to increase your diverse spend towards meeting the organization’s procurement goals, tracking beyond your tier 1 diverse spend is the ultimate solution. With full visibility and control, procurement teams not only save a lot of time and money to expand their program but also be able to look at their impacts in a broader view.
It’s fairly common that many small and diverse businesses in the supply chain may not be working directly with major organizations. Instead, they are likely to work with your Tier-1 suppliers. With full visibility and control, you can look at your whole supplier network beyond Tier-1, track and measure how much you indirectly spend and contribute to the community.
More Opportunities For Small and Diverse Businesses
“Without big data analytics, companies are blind and deaf, wandering out onto the web like deer on a freeway.” – Geoffrey Moore.
When having a clear view of your all-tier diverse spend, you take full control of how your tier-1 suppliers are doing and their spend activities. From there, you make a more strategic decision to partner with those Tier-1 suppliers that have subcontractors with diverse-owned businesses. In short, you indirectly support growth and job creation for the community.
Branding
As you expand your diverse spend reporting to Tier-2 and beyond, your program can demonstrate a more significant impact on the community. A strong supplier diversity program will demonstrate your commitment to making the world a better place, more so than just focusing on making money. It is a good branding practice as well as a key selling point when hiring.
Streamline Your Tier-1 Tier-2 Diversity Spend Reporting
The challenges of measuring and tracking multi-tier suppliers are not easy at all. As you don’t directly purchase products or services from Tier-2 suppliers, there is some complexity to tracking this data. The only solution is to engage and coordinate with Tier-1 suppliers to collect and organize this data for every project.
As an organization may have thousands of Tier-1 suppliers and hundreds of ongoing projects, automating the process is a must. SupplierGATEWAY provides one-stop-shop solutions to streamline your multi-tier diverse spend management, then create a simple, intuitive and straightforward report demonstrating your impact.
About SupplierGATEWAY Economic Impact Reporting
Using our on-demand Economic Impact Reporting capability in the SupplierGATEWAY, you can comprehend a big picture of your diverse suppliers’ data, including what business category creates the most impact and what geographic regions are being impacted the most and how many jobs your inclusive behavior is supporting.
Our system leverages the BEA RIMS II model to analyze and summarize the economic impact of your spend in a comprehensive and user-friendly dashboard. To learn more, please visit our site.
Introduction to Supplier Diversity Certifications
Updated 2/28/2022
The initial goal of Supplier Diversity programs was to combat social injustices in the United States by supporting growth and jobs at underrepresented small businesses. Over the last few years, buyers have also realized that effective inclusive procurement also delivers significant benefits to the bottom line and can drive innovation.
Following the old axiom “What gets measured gets done,” many corporations with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs measure the effectiveness of their supplier diversity efforts by “counting” every dollar spent with diverse suppliers in all categories. To be sure they are measuring correctly, most companies tend to utilize third-party processes to validate the diversity data.
Diversity Certification for Suppliers is Important
All of these are important to you as a supplier. Why? A “certified” version of you is more attractive to a corporate buyer with a CSR program than a “not certified” version of you (all other things being equal – quality, performance, customer service and price are all still very important.)
Hence, if spending with certified suppliers is deemed more reliable and thus better to count, the smart move is to become certified and make it easier for your prospective customer to pick you.
Now that we know how important inclusion is to your customers, it’s time to do all you can to leverage your position as a diverse-owned business. If you’re curious about how to identify if you’re a diverse-owned business specifically, check out this article for a more in-depth breakdown of different classifications.
Traditional Supplier Diversity Certifications
Below is a list of traditional supplier diversity certification entities. This list is not exhaustive, and there are many more certifying bodies both at the local and state levels depending on where your business is headquartered.
Supplier Diversity Certification in the Digital Age
SupplierGATEWAY uses advanced technology to enable sole proprietorships and small businesses who have limited resources (time and budget) to become certified and ultimately expand the opportunity to do business with major companies.
The Enhanced Digital Certification™ (EDC) is a fast and inexpensive way for a small business to get certified as a diverse-owned organization while at the same time exposing to new opportunities afforded by being in the SupplierGATEWAY network. EDC certifies all of the following categories and you can have more than one diversity category in your certification:
However, many corporations still face the challenge of scaling their diverse supplier engagement in a meaningful way. In other words, expanding the supply base to be more inclusive of companies that are owned by minorities, women, veterans, LGBT and other demographic groups can seem easier said than done.
After more than 20 years of offering supplier diversity solutions to thousands of organizations of all sizes, we have found that technology can be your best friend, empowering you with almost limitless capabilities. The “magic” of digital tools enables you to quickly scale your program quickly and efficiently, even while you’re building and maintaining strong supplier relationships.
The Benefits of Scaling Your Supplier Diversity Program
If you’re wondering why scale matters, consider the following benefits that are available to you when you have a robust supplier diversity program:
Drive innovation and improve the bottom line
Stay competitive by attracting more consumers to shop and work at the organization
Gain widespread recognition for your inclusive supplier diversity practices
Uplift communities and effect economic impact
That said, to achieve your goal of scaling your supplier diversity program for maximum impact, installing new software is not enough. Best practices strongly suggest creating a detailed and concrete plan, and being realistic and disciplined about your implementation goals and timeline – some would say this is the hardest part. The following five methods are great starting points to make full use of technology to achieve your objectives.
How to Scale Supplier Diversity
1) Leverage Your Existing Supplier Relationships
Before looking for more diverse suppliers in the open market, take the time to review your existing supplier population first. You might be surprised by how many diverse suppliers are in your existing supplier base that already meets your requirements, but you didn’t know they were diverse. Expanding opportunities for those suppliers minimizes risk, expands your impact and gets things rolling quickly.
Data Enrichment is a quick and painless way to figure out the demographics of the companies that you are doing business with. It also gives you a chance to establish some baselines for measuring improvement and inclusion growth later.
2) Utilize Supplier Databases To Find New Suppliers
Suppliers of all sizes try their best to maximize their visibility by registering on platforms that allow them to find new opportunities with potential buyers. This is no different for diverse suppliers. It doesn’t hurt to leverage software to find new potential sources, and you may find exceptional value within easy reach.
SupplierGATEWAY’s database is the world’s largest active diverse supplier community with hundreds of thousands of suppliers from different demographics making this your one-stop shop for finding diverse suppliers. Beyond access to important supplier capabilities information, we also make it easy for you to find and engage suppliers of all types and with all certifications, including the new Enhanced Digital Certification.
In addition to searching for suppliers using advanced tools, you can make the process easier by taking advantage of other tools such as the opportunity posting system to find the specific supplier you need.
Our QuickConnect Matchmaker is a unique solution to take things one step further by enabling you to quickly and conveniently organize and schedule one-on-one web meetings, conference calls, or even in-person with potential suppliers at your convenience, with automated scheduling and screening.
3) Promote Your Supplier Diversity Efforts
Another best way to expand your network is to publicize your supplier diversity efforts. There are many channels you can use, such as social media, press releases, podcasts, etc. Depending on your goal, budget and scale size, you set a specific plan for each channel to deliver the messages and potentially reach out to new diverse suppliers.
Innovative programs are not shy about letting prospective suppliers know about the ins and outs of doing business with their company. One popular method is via webinars and briefings through platforms like the SupplierGATEWAY event calendar or other technology tools.
Once your efforts gain traction, you not only attract more potential diverse suppliers but also lead to a positive brand reputation in the public. According to a study in The Hackett Group, top supplier diversity programs have relied on social media to increase market share and promote supplier diversity initiatives.
4) Encourage Suppliers to Become Certified
When talking about doing more business with diverse suppliers, the topic of certification is usually front and centre. The good news is that SupplierGATEWAY’s recently launched Enhanced Digital Certification (EDC), a new fast and low-cost option for suppliers to get certified.
Certification as a diverse supplier opens up access to new networks and new opportunities. Certification also helps buyers meet compliance requirements for small business reporting – so it’s good for both buyers and suppliers.
With this in mind, SupplierGATEWAY Enhanced Digital Certification (EDC) provides a digital platform for diverse suppliers to get certified in less than a day at a low cost of $25.
With more than 11 million diverse businesses in the US and countless more around the world that are currently not certified, SupplierGATEWAY’s Enhanced Digital Certification is proving to be an affordable and attractive fast track way to certify a wide range of suppliers such as sole proprietorships and independent contractors.
5) Sponsor Diverse Suppliers
Depending on the corporate diversity programs, buyers can sponsor certification programs for diversity suppliers at a very low cost. Many of our corporate buyers have found this to be an attractive solution.
For example, for the low sum of $2500, a corporate buyer can sponsor 100 diverse certifications while at the same time having access to SupplierGATEWAY’s multi-million record database of suppliers. Furthermore, as SupplierGATEWAY’s EDC is a one-stop diversity certification for all categories of diverse suppliers such as minorities, women and veterans, buyers do not have to pay separately for access to the different categories of diversity suppliers.
About SupplierGATEWAY:
SupplierGATEWAY is a leading cloud-based, instant-on, low-priced digital supplier management platform, which automates and simplifies supplier and vendor management. SupplierGATEWAY’s tools and solutions can be deployed individually or in any combination, and easily integrated with existing AP/ERP infrastructure.
The tools and solutions capabilities encompass Supplier Registration and Enablement, P2P Sourcing & Procurement, Supplier Management, Financial Risk Monitoring, Supplier Compliance Management, Corporate Responsibility/Diversity and Vendor Credentialing.
SupplierGATEWAY Partners With Hello Alice to Promote Small Business Success
SANTA ANA, Calif., June 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — SupplierGATEWAY and Hello Alice are pleased to announce a partnership to continue promoting the growth of small businesses by leveraging SupplierGATEWAY’s Enhanced Digital Certification™ (EDC) to facilitate the certification of small and diverse-owned businesses, which include women, people of color, U.S. veterans, entrepreneurs with disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ owners.
Hello Alice’s community of nearly 500,000 business owners will have an opportunity to acquire a valid certification of diverse ownership, which provides new business opportunities that may otherwise not be available to them.
“We look forward to bringing this offering to our New Majority owners,” said Carolyn Rodz, co-founder and CEO of Hello Alice. “Too often, these owners are excluded from access to opportunities and resources that can positively impact their business. This certification can open doors to many opportunities that these owners have traditionally been denied access to.”
The mission of SupplierGATEWAY and Hello Alice align as they look to support the success of small and diverse businesses.
“We have a singular goal of enabling millions of diverse businesses to get certified quickly and inexpensively,” said Ade Solaru, CEO of SupplierGATEWAY. “We believe EDC can help jump-start aspirational small businesses in the Hello Alice’s community to create the economic impact we all want.”
SupplierGATEWAY is a leading cloud-based, instant-on, low-priced digital supplier management platform, which automates and simplifies supplier and vendor management. SupplierGATEWAY’s tools and solutions can be deployed individually or in any combination, and easily integrated with existing AP/ERP infrastructure.
The tools and solutions capabilities encompass Supplier Registration and Enablement, P2P Sourcing & Procurement, Supplier Management, Financial Risk Monitoring, Supplier Compliance Management, Corporate Responsibility/Diversity and Vendor Credentialing.
Hello Alice is a free, multichannel platform that helps businesses launch and grow. With a community of nearly 500,000 business owners in all 50 states and across the globe, Hello Alice is building the largest network of owners in the country while tracking data and trends to increase the success rate for entrepreneurs. Our partners include enterprise business services, government agencies, and institutions looking to serve small- and medium-business owners to ensure increased revenues and promote scale. A Latina-owned company, founded by Carolyn Rodz and Elizabeth Gore, we believe in business for all by providing access to all owners, including women, people of color, veterans, and everyone with an entrepreneurial spirit.
SupplierGATEWAY Partners With Certify My Company To Expand Business Opportunities Through Diversity Certification
SANTA ANA, Calif., June 24, 2021 – SupplierGATEWAY and Certify My Company are pleased to announce that they have entered into a partnership to offer organizations a more accessible way to connect with small, diverse businesses by leveraging SupplierGATEWAY’s Enhanced Digital Certification™ (EDC), an all-digital certification platform.
This partnership enables Certify My Company to work with SupplierGATEWAY to expand its capacity to help corporate clients connect with small diverse businesses, including sole proprietors, that are currently not certified.
“Many of our clients have been asking for this for some time,” said Heather Cox, Co-founder and President of Certify My Company. “EDC represents the solution we have been looking for. It is a fantastic product, especially for small businesses.”
The rapidly changing digital landscape has revolutionized every aspect of business. EDC represents an innovative digital certification process for the e-commerce age.
“EDC provides an opportunity for 4 million minority and 11 million diverse businesses that are currently not certified to get certified online quickly and inexpensively,” said Ade Solaru, CEO of SupplierGATEWAY. “We are excited to work with Certify My Company to create an expanded opportunity for small businesses to grow and prosper.”
For more information about EDC, please visit our website.
About SupplierGATEWAY:
SupplierGATEWAY is a leading cloud-based, instant-on, low-priced digital supplier management platform, which automates and simplifies supplier and vendor management. SupplierGATEWAY’s tools and solutions can be deployed individually or in any combination, and easily integrated with existing AP/ERP infrastructure.
The tools and solutions capabilities encompass Supplier Registration and Enablement, P2P Sourcing & Procurement, Supplier Management, Financial Risk Monitoring, Supplier Compliance Management, Corporate Responsibility / Diversity and Vendor Credentialing.
Certify My Company is the premier supplier diversity consultancy specializing in diversity certifications. We support entrepreneurs through their certification journeys as well as the corporations they serve. By strategically leveraging supply chains, corporations can meet and exceed their diversity goals; Certify My Company is the trusted partner for Fortune 1000 supplier diversity initiatives.
Media Contact: Leanne Strickler 949-525-9205 Contact Us.
Enhanced Digital Certification— A New Digital Era for Engaging Diverse Businesses
In today’s complex sourcing landscape, a diverse and inclusive supplier base is now widely accepted as a procurement best practice; from creating bottom-line savings and creating future demand, to projecting a better more socially oriented image. Hence, supplier diversity initiatives are highly recommended if you’re looking for a sustainable way to promote innovation and economic impact while creating competitive advantages that can differentiate your organization.
A study released by the Hackett Group found companies with diverse supplier lists drive an additional $3.6 million to a company’s bottom line for every $1 million spent on operations costs in procurement. This is literally “doing well by doing good.”
It would seem that establishing and implementing a supplier diversity program shouldn’t be difficult, but it is. One common refrain by buyers is that it can be difficult to find diverse suppliers, especially in niche industry spaces.
Current Challenges
To find one of the reasons behind this challenge, let’s look at the supplier’s side. To be a qualified diverse supplier, they must:
Be well-qualified, including creating a business, surviving, being innovative, and being as good or better than their competition for cost, quality, and service.
Spend time and money to go through a lengthy process to be certified as diverse-owned. It’s no surprise that many small business owners view this as an added “tax” on their business.
Hence, many suppliers decide to be self-identified as diverse instead of getting certified, which unfortunately does not meet many buyer’s inclusion program requirements, especially in big corporations.
As a result, it negatively affects procurement professionals’ opportunity to expand their diversity program, and diverse suppliers get left out. This is the paradox we sought to break.
With a mission of Making it Easier to Do Business™, SupplierGATEWAY is thrilled to launch Enhanced Digital Certification (EDC), a new innovative and robust digital certification program – a powerful tool to address all the challenges we mentioned.
What is Enhanced Digital Certification?
Enhanced Digital Certification™ (EDC) is a new, innovative and powerful digital certification program designed to enable all types of diverse businesses to reduce the hassle of acquiring a valid certification of diverse ownership.
EDC is gaining widespread acceptance by some of the most prominent advocates of inclusive purchasing – all of whom also seek to create new economic impact at scale. By digitizing and streamlining the diversity certification process, we have made it easier, faster and much less costly for suppliers to achieve diversity certification.
Verify Your Suppliers Electronically 24/7 At No Cost
Everything you need to know about a business’s diverse ownership is in this digital certification. You can look up the business information by scanning the ECC QR code, entering the certification ID in your SupplierGATEWAY portal or accessing the SupplierGATEWAY EDC Validation API connected to your ERP and purchasing systems.
Unique QR Code can be used to validate certification status 24/7! EDC QR Codes can also be placed on websites, literature and emails.
Only One Click to Get All Information You Need
You can easily find potential and current suppliers’ diverse information by using their certification ID in your portal’s search tools or even simply scanning the QR Code in the certificate to receive all information you need.
Detailed business information after scanning QR Code
Using the “Verify Enhancement Digital Certification” box to verify suppliers’ certifications
While You Read This Blog, EDC is Already Configured In Your Portal And Ready-To-Use
If you’re a buyer and currently using SupplierGATEWAY’s software, everything is FREE – there are no hidden costs. We hand you this power to freely and quickly source qualified diverse suppliers. Once a new supplier registers in your portal, they have an option to start the application.
EDC Process
Sponsorship Opportunities – Maximize Sourcing Power and Make A Significant Economic Impact on The Community
To make a mark on accelerating inclusion and diversity, we offer unique opportunities to sponsor diverse suppliers’ costs to get certified in a targeted area or market, or for specific diverse business groups that you are trying to engage. By doing so, your business speeds up a certification path for eligible suppliers. You get the satisfaction of directly contributing to the economic impact of every business you sponsor.
Our program has already gained traction, and we’re thrilled that Amazon Business and LA Clippers already took the initiative to grow their supplier bases speedily.
This is an excellent opportunity to show your commitment to the community and align with the corporation supplier diversity goals while aggressively sourcing the mass number of small and diverse suppliers your corporation is seeking.
Some additional benefits include:
Create business opportunities for small and diverse businesses to grow and scale
A Path To Business Success – Grow Together, Win Together
By encouraging your current and potential suppliers to get the EDC, your business increases the volume of opportunities to multiple suppliers – from minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, LGBT-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, historically underutilized businesses.
In the past few years, the massive shifts underway in the business and social landscape towards inclusive procurement have proved that integrating supplier diversity into business operations is not just the right thing to do but also benefits everyone. EDC is here to help build your supplier diversity program successfully.
SupplierGATEWAY Introduces Enhanced Digital Diversity Certification
SANTA ANA, Calif., June 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — SupplierGATEWAY announces the launch of its diversity certification program Enhanced Digital Certification™ (EDC). EDC is an innovative, fast and inexpensive way for small and diverse businesses to get certified while at the same time exposing them to new opportunities afforded by being on the rapidly growing SupplierGATEWAY network.
As more companies in the private and public sector seek to engage certified diverse suppliers, EDC represents an optimal certification solution for diverse businesses that may have previously opted out of certification due to the cost, complexity or length of existing traditional certification processes.
SupplierGATEWAY’s EDC leverages digital technology to provide a fast, reliable and cost-effective process that establishes and certifies majority ownership of a minority or diverse business.
EDC certifies all diverse classifications that apply to suppliers and vendors, including minority-owned, women-owned, LGBT-owned, veteran-owned and disability-owned businesses. The EDC certification can be easily verified by scanning the QR Code on the certificate via a login to the SupplierGATEWAY platform or electronically through an API connection.
The launch of EDC has attracted interest from organizations, including global brands keen to implement initiatives to grow their diverse and inclusive supplier base.
SupplierGATEWAY is a leading cloud-based, instant-on, low-priced digital supplier management platform, which automates and simplifies supplier and vendor management. SupplierGATEWAY’s tools and solutions can be deployed individually or in any combination, and easily integrated with existing AP/ERP infrastructure.
The tools and solutions capabilities encompass Supplier Registration and Enablement, P2P Sourcing & Procurement, Supplier Management, Financial Risk Monitoring, Supplier Compliance Management, Corporate Responsibility / Diversity and Vendor Credentialing.
AB 962 – Impacting Total Healthcare With Supplier Diversity
Watch our AB 962 Webinar, updated for new 2022 reporting requirements:
With AB 962, hospitals are expected to increase engagement and partnerships with diverse businesses to leverage the rapid growth of the health sector to benefit marginalized communities in California.
What Is AB 962?
The California State Assembly passed Assembly Bill 962 (AB 962) in 2019. Authored by Assemblymember Autumn Burke (D-Inglewood), AB 962 supports and promotes diversity by requiring a licensed hospital with operating expenses of $50,000,000 or more, and a licensed hospital with operating expenses of $25,000,000 or more that is part of a hospital system, to annually submit a report on its certified minority, women, LGBT, and disabled veteran enterprises procurement efforts.
How AB 962 Immediately Impacts Hospitals
The original report was due on July 1, 2021 and then updated annually. Failure to file a report within 30 days after the deadline shall subject the licensed hospital to a civil penalty of $100 per day. The report requires collecting qualitative and quantitative data as evidence of inclusive procurement practices, and all the information must be readily accessible. Starting in 2022, AB 962 requirements changed and now include Tier 2 engagement reporting. This fundamentally changes how your hospital or health care system engages with tier 1 suppliers.
How SupplierGATEWAY Can Help You with AB 962 Supplier Diversity and Data Reporting Requirements
As a leading cloud-based supplier management platform, we are thrilled to give you a complete, easy-to-use, turnkey solution to support your organization’s supplier diversity and AB 962 data reporting requirements.
With the new Tier 2 requirements, your organization now has to put rubber to pavement, and our Supplier Diversity Platform helps your organization quickly and accurately organize, track and report all of your supplier diversity engagement metrics.
Our low-cost, instant-on solutions help accelerate your program efforts while making supplier management easier. We can also handle your supplier onboarding and offboarding, which makes your supplier management more robust/
Outreach Compliance Report Console
As part of your Supplier Diversity Platform, you’ll also have access to the AB962 Data Reporting and Outreach Compliance Report Console. This tool centralizes the key evaluation criteria of your program in one place. You can easily manage reports for an individual hospital or the entire system, all from one convenient location.
Save Time and Money
Organizing the data for your program can be an incredibly time-consuming task for an IT department that has more work than it does hands. Hiring an additional team member to handle your supplier diversity is an additional expense that might not be in the budget. Our Supplier Diversity Platform costs $12,500 per year, comes with built-in training, and support from a client success manager. Should you decide you want us to manage supplier enablement, credentialing, procurement, risk management and more, our Enterprise platform costs $37,500 for the year.
Remember: each day after 30 days that your report is late, your organization is fined $100 per day. This can easily accumulate to over $36,000 for the year.
Building solid relationships with local and diverse businesses and efficiently managing suppliers are the cornerstone of your company’s success in many ways. Having a responsive, flexible and reliable supplier management system is a critical component of any strategy aiming to positively impact both your company’s bottom-line and the community.
About SupplierGATEWAY:
SupplierGATEWAY is a leading cloud-based supplier management platform, which automates and simplifies vendor management. SupplierGATEWAY apps can be deployed individually or in any combination and easily integrated with existing AP/ERP infrastructure. The app capabilities encompass Supplier Registration and Enablement, P2P Sourcing and Procurement, Supplier Management, Financial Risk Monitoring, Supplier Compliance Management, Corporate Responsibility / Diversity, Vendor Credentialing.
SupplierGATEWAY has powered global supply management environments across multiple industries since 1997. We support billions of dollars in purchase transactions and hundreds of thousands of active suppliers in various industries, including Healthcare, Aerospace and Defense, Retail, Staffing, Manufacturing, Food and Beverage, Sports and Entertainment, and Health Sciences.
SANTA ANA, Calif.
