Business | Supplier Diversity

Hispanic Lifestyle spoke with Joseph F. Alderete Director, Supplier Diversity & Development Southern California Edison about the topic of Supplier Diversity. In this exclusive interview, Mr. Alderete shares his thoughts on how corporations should embrace the act of reaching out and contract with small, minority owned businesses.

What is Supplier Diversity?
Supplier Diversity is a business program that encourages the use of: minority-owned, women owned, 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.

Other articles of interest
Alma McMaster Program Manager Supplier Diversity & Development with Southern California Edison
Yolanda Padilla Southern California Gas Company
Eric Fisher, Southern California Edison

Exclusive photos taken at the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 2014 Convention’s Business Match Making Session.

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