In a move to increase exposure for minority business enterprises (MBEs), the Greater Houston Partnership’s One Houston Together launched the Houston MBE Accelerator, a new 16-week pilot program designed to harness the collective purchasing power of our region’s business community to grow spending with MBEs. The accelerator has seen initial success by facilitating 32 matches for participating MBEs with seven major corporations, resulting in the awarding of four contracts valued at $3.5 million and seven Request for Information (RFI). “These are remarkable results from the pilot offering of the MBE Accelerator. The Partnership is focused on creating opportunity, both for companies and Houstonians alike. The new business relationships spurred by this initial program are a great start, and we look forward to expanding the initiative to more corporates and MBEs in the future.” -- Steve Kean, President and CEO, Greater Houston Partnership The Houston MBE Accelerator focuses on facilitating introductions to MBEs that are business-ready, have a proven track record of delivering goods and services for corporate and institutional purchasers, and are currently doing business with a Partnership member company. These three factors differentiate the program from other accelerators. Seven Partnership members participated in the program:    Baker Hughes CenterPoint Chevron Harris Health System JPMorgan Chase Oxy* Shell The following nine MBEs participated in the program:   Cole Chemical Collaborate Competitive Choice MCA Communications Prime Elevator Corp. Sterling Staffing Solutions Twice Media Productions Vecor Pipeline Integrity Vizion Crane & Industrial Support “We are pleased to partner with organizations that share our commitment and values.  The Greater Houston Partnership’s minority business accelerator program aligns with our own aspirations to increase our spend with minority-owned businesses in the greater Houston region which we believe helps us grow and prosper along with the businesses and surrounding communities.”   -- Steve Freeman, Chevron, Chief Procurement Officer The MBE selection process began with 28 MBEs representing 15 different categories and all with prior experience providing goods and services to Partnership member companies. The nine MBEs selected for the Accelerator pilot were chosen based on their product and service offerings being aligned with potential upcoming purchasing opportunities of the seven Partnership members. Determining a match between goods and services and potential spend opportunities paved the way for meaningful engagements between corporate decision makers and the nine MBEs. As of June, the program has initially resulted in new spend of $3.5 million across four contracts with the MBEs.  Outcomes from introductions made during the pilot will continue to be tracked over the next year including the in-process RFIs. The accelerator’s focused approach has allowed the participating corporations to identify potential opportunities with MBEs that likely would not have been possible without the program. “The Partnership’s minority business accelerator program has served as a catalyst in our own efforts to improve outcomes in supplier diversity. We’ve made several meaningful connections facilitated by this program.  I’m very grateful for the opportunity to participate in this groundbreaking effort.”  -- Terence Baptiste, Chevron, Supply Chain Advisor, Supplier Diversity If you are interested in learning more about the MBEs or are a Partnership member purchaser and want to participate in the next accelerator, check out our MBE directory or contact LaTanya Flix, Senior Vice President, Inclusive Leadership & Opportunity.

A leading supplier diversity assessment consulting firm, RGMA, shared its vision for transforming supplier diversity into a core business strategy during the Greater Houston Partnership's One Houston Together Chief Purchasing Officers (CPO) Summit on April 4. Ralph G. Moore, President and Founder of RGMA, and Reginald Layton, Chief Technology Officer of RGMA, presented during the event. RGMA strives to redefine supplier diversity by working with companies to improve programs that lead to not only growth and operational excellence but also healthy, stable and inclusive communities.   “If there’s any city in the world that can do this and illustrate this is Houston,” Moore said. One of their strategic tools is a digital suite. It provides clients a digital roadmap for improving supplier diversity programs by creating process-based goals. Not only does it provide a baseline assessment, but as the company improves, many use the roadmap to identify “pockets of opportunities.” Key Takeaways Supplier diversity is a business strategy, not a social strategy. RGMA believes supplier diversity should be linked to the company’s strategy and should be complimentary to DEI.  Asking “How to spend more money?” is the wrong question  Cost, quality and delivery equals operational excellence  Complete an opportunity assessment for your company Understand and communicate the value proposition. The why or the value proposition of supplier diversity should be communicated to all stakeholders. RGMA helps companies communicate and educate the importance of supplier diversity programs to employees with live and recorded sessions, in addition to e-learning modules. When the value proposition is communicated it leads to: Operational excellence Corporate brand strengthening Strategic responses to customer requirements Support of ESG strategy with a focus on racial equity RGMA Five Levels of Supplier Diversity Maturity Model The maturity model is considered the gold standard for benchmarking supplier diversity initiatives. “It’s about implementing best practices, not increasing your spend,” Layton said. The goal is for clients to improve their RGMA scores as they implement best practices. Reviewing lagging and leading indicators will help you identify areas to improve; leading indicators are best practice.  Partnership Member Examples Tom Sims, VP of Global Supply Chain and CPO of Hess Corp., and Tammy Martin, Director of Business Diversity Program at Burns & McDonnell, joined a panel discussion to share insights on how RGMA has helped their company’s supplier diversity programs.  Hess and Burns & McDonnell are at different stages of their supplier diversity programs. For Hess, collecting the data to determine a strategy was a challenge. Without that data, Hess could not determine the best roadmap for their program, according to Sims. When Burns & McDonnell took RGMA’s initial assessment, it determined the company had a traditional, compliant-driven program. RGMA helped Burns & McDonnell set up a strategic and educational program that launched in June 2022. In addition to that, Burns & McDonnell rolled out a communications plan across the organization, communicating the value proposition. In 2023, the company retook the assessment and found it had moved to a level four from a level three in the Five Levels of Supplier Diversity Maturity Model. Martin said creating visibility and giving their diverse partners “a seat at the table” has made their program successful.