Supplier Development Initiative

The Black Economic Council (BEC) Supplier Development Initiative concentrates on building the capacity of minority and women-owned businesses to enable greater success in competing for supplier diversity contracts with corporate and government entities. The BEC Supplier Development Initiative is a 4 tier program. Depending on the business they may go through all 4 tiers or jump to higher level tiers of development.

Tier 4	Qualification Enhancement & Assessment	Mentor Protégé Program
Tier 3	Capacity Expansion & Qualification Assessments	Resource Database Capability Assessments Joint Ventures/Partnerships
Tier 2	Certifications	MBE WBE 8A IS0 9000
Tier 1	Core Operating	Business Management Skills Quality Management

Tier 1 Core Operating

This represents the first level of development and focuses on ensuring businesses have the core environment to effectively manage and expand their business infrastructure. Training will cover the following two areas:

1. Business Management Skills

This two day workshop designed to help businesses succeed covers the following topics:

• Business vision & mission
• Key components of a business plan
• Leading vs. Managing
• Inspiring your team and others around you to drive performance
• Financial Management (for the non-financial manager)
• Budgeting concepts & powerful financial keys you will use throughout your career
• Financial tools and resources to help you crunch the numbers
• Presenting your ideas & plans in financial terms
• Tax advantages to ask your accountant about
• People management strategies & the key things you need as a small business
• Effectively managing vendors & contractors
• Managing your time & projects
• Marketing principles & strategies beyond the business plan

2. Quality Management Workshop

Providing quality services and products are critical to the success of all businesses.  This one day training workshop focuses on building a quality infrastructure by increasing the overall knowledge of minority businesses by providing awareness and education. Areas addressed in this training include:

Module 1: Quality Basics

• Quality of products and services aligned with customer specifications
  • Quality or amount of returns to satisfy stakeholder needs
  • Quality of working conditions internal to the organization
  • Measuring Quality

Module 2: Total Quality Management (TQM)

• TQM Framework
• TQM Principles
• Statistical Process Control

Module 3: ISO 9000 Quality Management Principles

• ISO 9000 Standards & Benefits
• ISO 9000 Principles

Module 4: Building a Quality Framework

• The Quality Infrastructure
• Quality Processes, Procedures & Tools
• Quality Culture

Module 5: ISO 9000 Certification

• • Quality Management System
• • ISO Certification Requirements

Module 6: Next Steps

• Site Visits & Evaluations

Tier 2: Business Certification Services

Tier 2 focuses on helping minority businesses get the certifications needed to increase access to corporate and government procurement opportunities. The BEC will work with small businesses to develop and submit needed financial and organizational documentation. Major resources to be utilized include the National and Northern California Minority Supplier Development Council (NCMSDC), MWBE Enterprises Inc, a firm which has aided women and minority owned businesses in obtaining MBE and WBE certifications for more than 10 years; the CHARO Contract Procurement Center (CPC), which provides information and resources on contract procurement and certification, as well as the Small Business Administration (SBA). Other entities will be called upon as needed.

The BEC will also work with quality consultants to aid appropriate businesses in achieving ISO 9000 certification.   Although building a quality infrastructure is a key focus of the Tier 1 training initiative, certain business categories also require ISO 9000 certification to compete successfully.   ISO 9000 implementation and certifications are now being applied to a wide range of operations, industries and services. In many cases, compliance to ISO 9001, 9002 or 9003 is required by customers or government bodies in their purchasing specifications.

Regardless of which certification is sought, the BEC will work with businesses to facilitate a smooth certification process by linking them to the right resources and working with them in the development and submittal of needed organizational, legal and financial documents

Tier 3:  Capacity Expansion & Qualification Assessment

The services provided in this tier focuses on connecting capable, qualified minority and women-owned businesses to major procurement opportunities. Businesses in this category potentially miss key contracts because they are not aware of a procurement opportunity or don’t have the size to qualify.  Overall, strategic alliances and partnerships will enable minority businesses to gain competitive advantage by combining resources, technologies, capital and people.  The BEC Supplier Development Initiative minimizes these obstacles by focusing on the following areas:

• Maintaining an internal database of minority and women–owned businesses as well as utilizing information from other resources such as minority chambers and business associations
• Assessing the capability of selected businesses in the following areas:

1. Ability to meet specifications and standards
2. Product and service quality
3. Reliable delivery
4. Technical abilities and leadership
5. Financial stability
6. Warranty, insurance and bonding provisions
7. Proven performance and experience
8. Availability
9. Whether they are truly a minority or women-owned business

Based on assessment results businesses will be moved to the category of contractual ready, moved to a lower tier of development or rejected due to an inability to meet typical contractual requirements.

• Keeping abreast of contractual opportunities by working with corporate and government entities to get forecasts of future and current procurement requirements and identifying businesses that provide services or products which match procurement opportunities.
• If needed, matching businesses that can work effectively together in partnership to bid for contracts
• Working with these business partnerships in determining strategies such as governance, accountability, decision-making processes, and conflict- and issue-resolution procedures.
• Facilitating the development of needed partnership, operating and other legal agreements.

Tier 4 Mentor-Protégé Program

The goal of Tier 4 services is to enhance the capability of minority-and women-owned businesses to compete more successfully for contracts. This program encourages private-sector relationships which helps small businesses benefit from the expertise of larger, more established corporations. The BEC Mentor-Protégé Program will be modeled after the SBA Mentor-Protégé Program whose goal is to specifically serve disadvantaged firms in the 8(a) Program.

The program is designed to motivate and encourage corporations and prime contractors to provide mutually beneficial developmental assistance to small businesses. Participation in the BEC Mentor-Protégé Program will be available to all qualified businesses.  Similar to the goal of the SBA Program, the BEC Mentor-Protégé Program provides an opportunity for disadvantaged businesses to achieve entrepreneurial success and contribute to the strength of our overall economy.

Overall program goals include to:

1. Foster the establishment of long-term business relationships between large prime contractors and small business subcontractors
2. Strengthen subcontracting opportunities and accomplishments for minority businesses
3. Improve overall contractual performance

Participant Qualifications

• Mentor -A Tier 1 supplier or other large business that demonstrates the commitment and capability to assist in the development of small business protégés. Mentor businesses must have favorable financial health including profitability for at least the last two years and be in good standing with its corporate and /or government clients.
• Protégé - All small businesses that meet the definition of small business concern based on their primary NAICS code, are eligible to be protégé firms. Although the focus of the BEC  Program is minority and women-owned businesses, all small businesses including , veteran-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses and HUB Zone small businesses can also participate.

Both Mentor and Protégé firms must make a 1 year participation commitment.  Similar to other Mentor-Protégé Programs, the BEC encourages Mentors to provide technical and management assistance, financial assistance in the form of equity investments and/or loans, subcontract support, and assistance in performing prime contracts through joint venture arrangements.

Recommended Benefits

• Mentor –Mentors should be eligible to receive credit in corporate and governmental source selection/evaluation criteria process for mentor-protégé participation.
• Protégé –Overall mentor-protégé arrangements should provide greater assurance that a protégé subcontractor will be better able to perform under a contract than a similarly situated non-protégé subcontractor. Furthermore, protégé firms gain opportunities to seek and perform government and commercial contracts through the guidance and support of mentor firms that may not have been available to them without the mentor-protégé program.  Protégés may receive technical, managerial, financial, or any other mutually agreed upon benefit from mentors including work that flows from a government or commercial contract through subcontracting or teaming arrangements. This assistance could result in significant small business development.