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Creating opportunities for diverse suppliers is central to the way we do business. Our Supplier Diversity Program is designed to bring the added value of diversity to our procurement process by proactively seeking small, minority-, women- and service disabled veteran-owned enterprises.
What’s especially exciting about the transition to clean energy is the broad range of opportunities and benefits it creates for all families, businesses, and communities throughout northern Illinois. We embrace this historic moment with the clear understanding that a cleaner energy future must include everyone. If it doesn’t build equity for all, it is not for us. Our longstanding commitment to local businesses owned by people of color, women, military veterans, and others is one example of how we make a difference in our communities. We are proud to report on our progress to our regulators, to all ComEd suppliers, and to everyone we are privileged to serve.
In 2021, our diverse suppliers contributed in countless ways, including continued support of our response to the challenges of the pandemic. Our spend with diverse suppliers reached $893 million. This represents 42 percent of our total supply chain spend of $2.1 billion in 2021 – matching the record percentage that we achieved in 2020. Since 2012, ComEd has spent more than $6.4 billion with diversity-certified suppliers, and we are constantly looking for opportunities to increase diverse supplier partnerships. Last year, we added 153 new diversity-certified partners, bringing the total to 662. And our senior leadership team is helping to create new development opportunities for new diversity-certified suppliers.
Diverse suppliers are becoming more involved in key spend categories, including the expansion of our advanced communication network, which is critical to grid security, reliability, and resilience, and the addition of renewable energy and technologies that drive our digital world. Opportunities for diverse suppliers are also growing in energy efficiency as a result of Illinois’ new energy law, which will support new programs to help customers reduce energy usage and costs with a focus on assisting customers in need. More opportunities are emerging for diverse suppliers as a result of new businesses moving into or expanding in the region and in professional services, construction, and engineering, as well.
I want to thank all of our diverse supplier partners for their commitment to helping us deliver superior performance and value to ComEd customers. Together, we are demonstrating the power of our clean energy transition to build equity in meaningful ways.
Sincerely,Gil Quiniones, CEO
In 2021, ComEd Energy Efficiency continued its focus on growing diversity-certified suppliers and achieved $50.46 million of total expenditure, a year-over-year increase of $7.61 million or 18%. Of the $50.46 million achieved, $32.20 million or 63% were women-owned enterprises, $16.87 million or 33% were minority-owned enterprises, and $2.04 million or 4% were veteran-owned enterprises. ComEd Energy Efficiency annual expenditures with diversity-certified suppliers have increased by 91% since 2018.
ComEd Energy Efficiency continued to prioritize workforce development initiatives in 2021 to expand business and employment opportunities for diverse and local small businesses in the communities we serve. ComEd Energy Efficiency launched the second full year of the Energy Efficiency Service Provider (EESP) Incubator Program and partnered with a Minority Women-Owned business to deliver the program and share firsthand the learnings of growing a small business within the Energy Efficiency industry. This program is designed to educate and train contractors and distributors on ComEd’s Energy Efficiency Portfolio offerings so they can participate in EE offerings and grow their businesses as they help their customers save energy and lower their utility bill. Participating organizations are educated on how to best represent the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program to customers and complete energy efficiency projects by leveraging existing workforce development frameworks, community-based agency partnerships, and mentorships offered by other vendors within the Energy Efficiency portfolio. Since program inception, 65 diverse businesses have graduated from the program with 41 of them, or 63%, being accepted into the EESP network, resulting in 125 projects completed.
Lastly in 2021, ComEd Energy Efficiency launched the Plan 6 Energy Efficiency program RFP covering the 2022-2025 program years, which resulted in key areas of expansion, in addition to specific community impact commitments.
Do you see supplier diversity making a greater impact in Illinois?
Ozzie Godinez - CEO, Paco Collective
We see support for supplier diversity making a huge impact in Illinois. Diverse supply chain spend enables small and capable firms to get our “foot in the door.” Then it’s up to us to demonstrate the value that diverse thinking and experience can bring and deliver on promises, as it should be!
Yes. We have worked with more than 53 second-tier companies because of ComEd’s commitment in Illinois. Seventytwo cents of every subcontractor dollar that Intren spent in 2019 has gone to Tier 2 subcontractors and suppliers; $40 million second-tier spend in 2019. ComEd’s focus is making a difference in Illinois.
Overall, yes. ComEd is making a good effort in supporting diverse suppliers, but we’d like to see more opportunities for veterans. We’re making progress.
Yes, supplier diversity is making an impact in Illinois. Efforts to grow the dollar spend must be applauded, but there should also be a measurement to determine how those dollars drive a company to thrive and grow.
Yes, the diversity requirements in Illinois help small businesses get started or even grow bigger, creating jobs and opportunities for many.
What is key to the relationship between a non-diverse prime contractor and their tier 2 suppliers?
Lynn Sutton - President/CEO, Kairos Worldwide
Trust and a common commitment to partner are key. Both the prime and the sub have to be confident that they can trust each other to deliver and that they will deal with each other fairly and with integrity. There must also be a commitment to building a relationship, ideally with a plan for growing that partnership over time.
The key to the relationship between a non-diverse prime contractor and their Tier 2 suppliers is the non-diverse prime contractor’s recognition of the value that diverse Tier 2 suppliers bring to the table. It is also important that diverse Tier 2 suppliers recognize that they are selected first and foremost on the quality of their work. Diversity status is not the single factor toward success. Quality workmanship works hand in hand with our diversity status.
We have sat on both sides, as a prime and as a sub, and we see a couple of things that are key to creating good working relationships. As a Tier 2 supplier, prove your value with smaller projects. Learn and grow. Be aggressive but pragmatic. As a prime contractor, be transparent and be open to trying a variety of Tier 2 suppliers. There are a lot of hungry, smaller companies that can show real value and complement your team.
Fundamentally, the prime contractor must put itself in the shoes of the ultimate client. They must adopt the same level of commitment to delivering quality and diverse work. Diversity programs succeed if there is buy-in from all levels.
How does your company impact your community?
Kimberly Moore - CEO/President, KDM Engineering
I’m a strong supporter of women and minorities in STEM. We created Calculated Genius, Inc. in 2015, a nonprofit dedicated to helping underrepresented youth explore and connect to engineering. It’s making a positive impact on participants and it’s a great opportunity for our people to give back and share their expertise.
We hire locally and support numerous charities and events throughout the Chicagoland area. Supporting the community is a cornerstone of our company’s culture; it’s who we are.
Working hand in hand with our communities is a high priority and we do this in numerous and creative ways. We offer an offender re-entry program that provides a second chance to deserving candidates and it continues to produce very positive outcomes. Our employees volunteer in a monthly community service project called WILL: Wisdom, Inspiration, Leadership, & Love. We also empower youth through our Tuskegee Next Program and the William & Mary Davis Foundation.
We help feed, house, and find careers for homeless veterans and their families.
Sonoma participates in many charitable programs and we enjoy supporting local community events in many ways, including bringing construction equipment to schools in Joliet so the kids can play on it and learn about the world of heavy equipment.
We recruit diverse attorneys and interns, and we employ diverse attorneys who after several years of training can transfer those skills to majority firms or to serving important roles in government. We utilize diverse vendors to service our needs in financial services, healthcare, insurance, marketing, and technology. And we support organizations that serve minority communities, such as Christopher House, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, Latinos Progresando, and Chicago Sinfonietta.
Where do you see your business in 10 years?
Stephen Davis - Chairman, The Will Group
We see our business continuing to grow and diversify so that we can provide good jobs and build upon our reputation as a solutions-oriented and a customer-focused company.
Over the past 32 years, we have grown by understanding the needs of our customers and responding with new services and solutions. We believe in the next 10 years utilities will have a greater need for turnkey, 5G, and a more highly trained workforce focused on the maintenance of the smart grid and technological advances.
Our 10-year vision is a firm of 100 team members working across the country, with a strong reputation and client base in the energy sector and other industries. We expect to be in high demand with projected workloads that span across multiple years.
KDM will boast continued employee and revenue growth as we become more involved in the renewable energy sector in the U.S. and internationally.
We don’t want to get so big that we forget and lose our identity. We started as a small, scrappy agency with a thriving entrepreneurial spirit. In 10 years, I want to be the same scrappy agency.
