Diversity & Inclusion
Diversifying Your Supply Chain is Good for Your Business BY SHAVONNE WHITE
TO REMAIN RELEVANT in an increasingly competitive global business market, customers and clients will require diverse and robust supply chain options. Shipping delays combined with inconsistent product availability frustrate customers while stifling profit margins for businesses representing every sector. Now is the time to make a commitment to investing in diverse suppliers—business enterprises owned and controlled by minorities, women, veterans, and individuals with a disability. Supplier diversity is a best practice that is rapidly becoming a business necessity. Effective supplier diversity promotes healthy competition while increasing your network and attracting new customers. Supporting diverse businesses also fuels a diverse workforce. 54
Diverse suppliers offer different perspectives, drive innovation, and stimulate creative approaches that are likely to influence customer expansion and loyalty. Suppliers are also consumers, and like customers and employees, appreciate inclusion. Many have an expectation that they be representative of the companies where they choose to do business. Diversifying your supply chain will likely infuse capital into your bottom line and is a clear demonstration to your customers and employees that you support people and the broader community. Minority-owned businesses generate more than $400 billion to the economy and help to retain or create 2.2 million jobs each year. They also contribute $4.9 billion in annual revenue to local, state, and federal tax authorities, Jan uar y / Fe b r uar y 2022 | DELAWARE BUSINESS
