Spending with diverse suppliers continues to grow

Cultivating business relationships with diverse suppliers is smart business. It brings innovation, competition and value to our company, and it helps strengthen the communities we serve.

Diverse suppliers include businesses owned by minorities, women or veterans, including service-disabled veterans, or in HUBZones (Historically Underutilized Business Zones).

In 2012, Duke Energy increased its spending with diverse suppliers to $937 million, from $698 million in 2011.

These numbers reflect spending with diverse suppliers in two tiers:

  • Tier I represents direct purchases from diverse suppliers. Tier I spending increased by 49 percent over 2011, primarily because of major construction projects.
  • Tier II consists of subcontractors working with Tier I suppliers. Spending with diverse Tier II suppliers reflects our shared commitment with Tier I suppliers to increase diversity in our supply chain.

Duke Energy’s supplier diversity efforts have not gone unnoticed. In 2012, the company was:

  • Honored with the 2012 Supplier Diversity Innovation Award at the Edison Electric Institute’s Annual Supplier Diversity Conference.
  • Named the 2012 Regional Corporation of the Year for supplier diversity at the Carolinas Minority Supplier Development Council’s (MSDC) Annual Business Opportunity Conference. Supply chain employee Bryan Umstead was named Coordinator of the Year.
  • Honored as 2012 Corporation of the Year by the South Central Ohio MSDC.
  • Recognized by the Indiana and South Central Ohio MSDCs for sponsoring Kellogg Advanced Management Education Program scholarships for minority business executives.
  • Honored as Supplier Diversity Advocate of the Year (employee April Harley) at the Central North Florida MSDC’s Annual Conference.

Duke Energy is a founding member and sponsor of the Charlotte Minority Economic Development Initiative (CMEDI), which is a joint venture between the Carolinas MSDC and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. Since it began in 2011, CMEDI has created nearly 300 new jobs and more than $12 million in new contracts between corporate partners and minority business enterprises.