Peggy Keane - VP, Construction and Business Services - PSEG Long IslandWhat is supplier diversity and why do we care? Supplier diversity is an organization’s effort to source goods and services from vendors that reflect a company’s diverse customer base and business community. It helps to provide diverse suppliers with equal access to purchasing opportunities.
At PSEG Long Island, we are dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Business initiatives like supplier diversity are directly connected with these values and allow us to successfully manage our business for the long term.
We work hard to make things better for our customers while also meeting important obligations to New York State and our various stakeholders.
For our Procurement organization, that means following all proper procedures to source goods and services required to operate the energy grid for our 1.1 million customers on Long Island and in the Rockaways.
Among our obligations are Executive Law 15A requiring that at least 30% of our eligible Procurement spend be made with minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) and Executive Law 17B requiring that at least 6% of our spend go to service-disabled veteran-owned businesses (SVDOBs).
Our contracts with diverse suppliers range from multimillion-dollar agreements for vegetation management services, to small contracts for handheld equipment like power tools.
Needless to say, these are not frivolous purchases. They are essential to our operations. Other items supplied by our diverse vendors include wire and cable, relay and control panels, and electrical trench services.
I’m proud to say that we have exceeded our MWBE requirements for the past five years, and our SDVOB requirements for the last two years. It’s a demonstration of our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in all aspects of PSEG Long Island, and our commitment continues to grow.
Since PSEG Long Island began in 2014, we have spent $338 million with MWBEs. More than 50% of that was achieved in the last 3 fiscal years. In that time, we also spent $22 million with SDVOBs, with 75% of that spend achieved in the last 2 fiscal years.
The diverse vendors we work with are also classified as small businesses, which are the backbone of Long Island’s economy and many other places across New York State.
We are proud to support small businesses, and understand the challenges they face. To continue increasing our spend with diverse suppliers, we work hard to find new opportunities for them.
To start with, we ask our prime contractors to unbundle the scope of work on every project and seek qualified MWBEs and SDVOBs to perform commercially useful functions within the contract.
And to further increase the viability of partnerships with PSEG Long Island, we also look to reduce payment terms with our diverse vendors, from 30 days down to as few as 10 days to help eliminate cash flow obstacles.
At PSEG Long Island, we have long recognized that diversity is a tremendous business asset—whether in our own workforce or in the companies with which we do business. Our supplier diversity program utilizes a number of processes and initiatives to grow business relationships and expenditures with certified minority-, women-, and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses. PSEG Long Island is excited to do more. The sustainable future we are building will not be possible without empowering diverse voices at every level.
To find out more about our commitment to diverse suppliers, as well as how to do business with us, please visit https://www.psegliny.com/aboutpseglongisland/suppliers.
