Corporate Supplier Diversity

Objective:

SoCalGas, a Sempra Energy utility, is an award-winning, state and national leader in supplier diversity with a long-standing commitment to cultivating successful partnerships with women-, minority-, and veteran-owned businesses. The company wanted to highlight successful strategies to encourage replication internally, by business units throughout the organization, and externally, by industry partners and across the utilities sector. The company engaged GGSV to quantify the economic impact of the dollars SoCalGas spent with diverse firms within their supply chain, in an effort to elevate their 30-plus year program.

Solution:

GGSV established and conducted a survey of 382 diverse firms within SoCalGas’ supply chain with revenues of $500,000 or more. The survey measured the direct investment and indirect influence of dollars spent by these vendors in the areas of federal and state taxes, job creation, local hiring, supplier diversity programs, charitable and nonprofit contributions, membership dues and fees.

Result:

SoCalGas unveiled the inaugural Economic Benefits of Supplier Diversity Survey in spring 2015. The first ever report reinforces anecdotal evidence of the far-reaching financial impacts of supplier diversity.

Objective:

Create a General Order (GO) compliant program for Comcast in California.

In 2009, the CPUC, at its annual Diversity EnBanc addressed General Order (GO) 156, a program that encourages utilities with annual revenues of $25 million or more to report the goods and services they procure from women, minority and disabled veteran firms. The Commission was discouraged by California cable firms’ lack of compliance with GO 156.

GGSV was retained by Comcast to create a California-specific supplier diversity program.

Solution:

GGSV assessed Comcast’s current efforts and worked with top executives to develop goals, policies and an accelerated timeline for implementation to, not only meet, but exceed the guidelines of GO 156. GGSV’s tailored program, included a reporting process for Comcast to share its Supplier Diversity results annually.

Result:

Comcast was able to report spending of over $328 million with diverse firms in California. The report set goals for a 9% increase in spending with diverse firms over a 4-year period and created a tool for data-based decision making and accountability to those goals.