New York, April 08, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wells Fargo and the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) have announced the creation of three Minority Business Leadership Academies, to enable minority suppliers to expand their business capabilities.
Beginning in 2019, the three Minority Business Leadership Academies will be held in Washington, DC, hosted by the Capitol Region MSDC; in Los Angeles, hosted by the Southern California MSDC; and in Houston, hosted by the Houston MSDC.
The Minority Business Leadership Academy program has four basic goals:
- Build the value proposition for each minority business owner;
- Enhance best practices in business development, organizational capabilities and scalability;
- Foster greater readiness to meet industry needs;
- Increase competitiveness when seeking contracts and opportunities in the global marketplace.
"Wells Fargo is committed to supplier diversity and developing diverse suppliers across the country," said Regina Heyward, head of Supplier Diversity for Wells Fargo. “In 2017, Wells Fargo spent $1.27 billion with diverse suppliers. We've invested in nine capacity building programs across the country, which will help more than 500 diverse suppliers in the upcoming year.”
NMSDC President and CEO Adrienne Trimble cited the value to minority supplier development of NMSDC’s ability to forge innovative partnerships with its corporate members.
“Minority-owned businesses nationwide employ 6.3 million people and generate annual revenue of more than $1.6 trillion,” Trimble said. “Wells Fargo consistently demonstrates its strong commitment to our supplier diversity programs that serve NMSDC-certified minority-owned businesses.”
In 2016, Wells Fargo collaborated with NMSDC and its national affiliate network to devise the Minority Business Leadership Academy concept, to help grow certified MBEs. In 2017, more than 80 minority business CEOs graduated from five Minority Business Leadership Academies.
Each of the Minority Business Leadership Academies represents a one-year commitment for a group of 15-20 qualifying applicants.
Participants must be MBEs representing businesses with at least $3 million in annual revenues. They must have a track record of high performance, offering quality products and services at market-competitive pricing. Each applicant’s business plan will be considered, to confirm financial solvency and positioning for growth. Preference will be given to current Wells Fargo suppliers and NMSDC-certified MBEs.
About NMSDC
The NMSDC advances business opportunities for certified minority business enterprises (MBEs) and connects them to corporate members. One of the country’s leading corporate membership organizations, NMSDC was chartered in 1972 to provide increased procurement and business opportunities for minority businesses of all sizes. The NMSDC network includes a National Office in New York and 23 affiliate regional councils across the country. The network also includes five international partner organizations located in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, China and South Africa.
To meet the growing need for supplier diversity, NMSDC matches its more than 12,000 certified minority-owned businesses to our network of more than 1,750 corporate members who wish to purchase their products, services and solutions. NMSDC, a unique and specialized player in the field of minority business enterprise, is proud of its unwavering commitment to advance Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native American suppliers in a globalized corporate supply chain. For more information, visit www.NMSDC.org.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through 7,800 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 37 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 262,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 26 on Fortune’s 2018 rankings of America’s largest corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.
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