Press Release
St. Louis Minority Supplier Development Council (SL MSDC) announces success of programs, including the inaugural year of the Billion Dollar Impact program. Created in 2011, The Billion Dollar Impact program has a goal to increase spending with local minority businesses in which corporations collectively commit to do an additional $1 billion of business with Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) annually by 2014. Since it has started, MBEs have been awarded more than $275 million in new contracts.
“Along with other supporters, the SL MSDC is working to grow the spend with minority vendors in the St. Louis region $1 billion at a time, and that is our focus,” said James Webb, president and CEO of the St. Louis Minority Supplier Development Council. “We are already making great progress towards our goal and continue to work on enhancing the current programs we have in place, along with our minority consultancy initiative.”
SL MSDC is dedicated to creating a climate in the business community that will make purchasing from Minority Business Entrepreneurs a normal corporate practice. The organization has a mission to create a user-friendly business climate to increase business opportunities for minority firms as well as enhance economic development in the bi-state region.
Recently, SL MSDC started an impactful area minority consultancy and monitoring of minority workforce. This new program helps member companies quantify, from a net-profit perspective, the value of their diversity procurement efforts. The mentoring opportunities coach companies as they leverage their size, competencies, buying power, and financial resources, helping MBEs expand their capacity and capabilities. SL MSDC also provides tools and resources that support supplier-diversity program objectives.
Programs provided through the SL MSDC include educational and informational resources that enhance the capabilities of minority-owned businesses to fulfill corporate purchasing requirements. The SL MSDC assists minority businesses, advocates for minority business enterprises and helps corporate partners with supplier diversity programs. The organization offers corporate, government, and institutional members’ workshops and services that help strengthen their ties with minority-owned businesses. Training programs may include developing and refining minority vendor programs, or working with corporations to design and implement Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) programs, plan mentorship programs, or procurement programs.
Additionally, SL MSDC provides educational workshops; offers directories of certified minority vendors listed by industry; provides networking forums such as an annual Business Opportunity Fair (BOF) to cultivate business relationships with MBEs and for sharing best practices, trends, and innovative approaches that help increase the number of business partnerships with MBEs.
St. Louis Minority Supplier Development Council
During St. Louis Minority Supplier Development Council’s 39-year existence, the organization has remained at the heart of the St. Louis region’s economic growth. What started as a focus on partnering minority-owned businesses with area corporations has evolved into a long-term, strategic approach – one in which SL MSDC provides ongoing growth opportunities, financial support, and training and education for its corporate members and for Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs). Through these and other efforts, SL MSDC’s partnerships with corporations and MBEs have become an integral part of the region’s economic stability and growth. Please visit http://www.slmbc.org/ and for a full schedule of events please visit www.stlouismsdc.com.
