Earlier this month, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) held its fifth annual supplier diversity policy session, with an emphasis on exploring the structural impediments – or challenges – facing minority/women/veteran-owned suppliers (“diverse suppliers”) in doing business with the utilities, and a discussion of potential solutions to help them better compete for utility contracts. State Senator Martin Sandoval, Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Supplier Diversity, and State Rep. André Thapedi, Chairman of the House Public Utilities Committee, kicked off the policy session by stressing the importance of the state’s diversity initiatives. The leaders of Illinois’ five largest regulated public utilities each gave an overview of their company’s procurement goals and actual spend with diverse suppliers in 2017, with information about outreach and training efforts, overall economic impact, challenges faced and plans for improvement.  Closing out the session, the IUBDC – a forum for best practice sharing and information exchange among Illinois utilities – spoke about efforts to increase spending with diverse suppliers and presented a new online mapping tool that the IUBDC developed to better connect suppliers with contract opportunities. 

Photo Credit: Illinois Commerce Commission