Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Supplier Diversity Programs

  • 09/01/13

Supplier diversity is a proactive business process that seeks to provide suppliers equal access to purchasing opportunities. It promotes supplier participation reflective of an institution’s diverse population and the diverse business community.

In 2005, Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, took steps to enhance their supplier diversity activities. Since then Purdue has become recognized as one of the premier supplier diversity programs in higher education in the country.

The focus of the program at Purdue has been outreach (www.purdue.edu/supplierdiversity).

On a national scale, the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC, www.nmsdc.org) works to advance business opportunities for certified Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native American business enterprises and connects them to corporate members.

The NMSDC Network includes a national office in New York and 36 regional councils across the country. There are 3,500 corporate members throughout the network, including most of America’s largest publicly owned, privately owned and foreign-owned companies, as well as universities, hospitals and other buying institutions.

NMSDC corporate members have developed eight goals that corporations implement to create a world-class minority supplier development process.

  • GOAL 1: Establish corporate policy and top corporate management support
  • GOAL 2: Develop a corporate minority supplier development plan
  • GOAL 3: Establish comprehensive internal and external communications
  • GOAL 4: Identify opportunities for minority business enterprises in strategic sourcing and supply chain management
  • GOAL 5: Establish a comprehensive minority supplier development process
  • GOAL 6: Establish tracking, report and goal-setting mechanisms
  • GOAL 7: Establish a continuous improvement plan
  • GOAL 8: Establish a second-tier program

For more information on acting on these eight goals or on supplier diversity programs and development in general, visit the National Minority Supplier Development Council online at www.nmsdc.org.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management September 2013 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Photo courtesy of Kraus-Anderson

    Minnesota District Completes $49.7M Addition, Renovation Project

    St. Paul Public Schools in St. Paul, Minn., recently announced the completion of a $49.7-million addition and remodeling project at two district schools, according to a news release.

  • Philadelphia Middle School Facility Earns LEED Gold Certification

    The Alternative Middle Years (AMY) at James Martin Middle School in Philadelphia, Penn., recently received a LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, according to a news release. The School District of Pennsylvania partnered with KSS Architects on the project.

  • 144-Year-Old High-School Campus Debuts New Academic Facility

    San Diego High School (SDHS) in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new student services and classroom building; the project is part of a larger SDHS Whole Site Modernization project that began in 2022.

  • Cal Poly Humboldt Starts Construction on Healthcare Education Hub

    California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, Calif., recently announced that work has begun on a renovation project that will turn the Stewart Building into a new Healthcare Education Hub, according to a news release. The university is partnering with Sundt Construction Inc. for construction services.