Supplier Diversity Summit Encourages Minority Business Owners, Celebrates Success
September 07 2017 - 2:57PM
Business Wire
Fifth Third Bank’s Spend with Diverse Companies
Increased 141 percent from 2014-2016
Fifth Third Bank recently announced that through the first half
of 2017, it had already exceeded its 2016 full-year spend with
certified minority and women-owned businesses. The spend is part of
Fifth Third’s overall commitment to inclusion and diversity which
is an increasing focus of the Bank. This focus on inclusion and
diversity was highlighted at the Bank’s third annual Supplier
Diversity Summit, which was held in August.
The summit is designed to help women-, minority- and
veteran-owned companies do more business with Fifth Third. Nearly
170 people attended the event, with 42 diverse companies
represented from the Bank’s 10-state footprint.
“At Fifth Third Bank, we believe it’s our responsibility and
obligation to always put the customer at the center of all we do
and to take care of the communities in which we serve,” said
president and CEO Greg D. Carmichael. “We approach diversity as a
strategic imperative. We believe that diverse perspectives, ideas
and thinking make us a stronger Bank,” he said.
“We take pride in our relationships with minority-, women- and
veteran-owned businesses,” Carmichael continued. “We recognize that
diverse suppliers are a critical part of the health and vitality of
our communities, our customers and the overall economy.”
Fifth Third spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually in
goods and services, ranging from facility management services to
information technology and office supplies. Awarding more of these
contracts to diverse businesses has been a major focus of the
Bank’s Strategic Sourcing department, led by Chief Sourcing Officer
Juan Muńoz, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative
Officer Teresa Tanner, Chief Diversity and Corporate Social
Responsibility Officer Jule Kucera and Director of Supplier
Diversity and Inclusion Stephanie Smith.
Part of Fifth Third’s community commitment focuses on increasing
diversity and inclusion efforts at the Bank and the companies that
the Bank does business with. “The Summit is the signature event of
our supplier diversity program,” Smith said. “The goal of the
program is to increase Fifth Third’s spending with diverse
suppliers, increase our number of diverse suppliers and increase
diverse supplier penetration in challenging spending categories.
Supplier diversity is an integral part of our bottom-line success
and very much in line with our purpose to improve the lives of our
customers and the well-being of our communities.”
Summit attendees listened to success stories from diverse
suppliers who were previously awarded contracts from Fifth Third
and learned about the supplier diversity program from a variety of
executives. They also participated in interactive breakout sessions
and table discussions.
One of the diverse suppliers who presented at the Summit was
Tillie Hidalgo Lima, president and CEO of Best Upon Request
Corporate, Inc (BEST). In January 2017, Fifth Third launched a
maternity concierge service with BEST for female employees who are
pregnant or who have a baby up to 1 year old. The goal of the
service is to help moms with everything from planning baby showers
to researching child care options.
“The maternity concierge program is incredible,” said Hidalgo
Lima. “It’s the first of its kind, in terms of a maternity-focused
concierge service to be offered at a corporation, and Fifth Third
is leading the way in this innovative employer paid benefit. The
leadership that was required to implement this service was bold,
and the program ultimately helps women succeed at home and at work.
Its purpose is to create a pipeline for women to grow their careers
at Fifth Third Bank. We’re honored to be a part of that
strategy.”
Fifth Third understands the importance of supporting women in
the workforce. Over the past decade, Fifth Third has implemented
initiatives to recruit, develop and advance female talent at all
levels in their career. The maternity concierge program is a result
of Tanner seeing an immediate need to support a specific group of
employees: working mothers, who represent more than one-third of
the female workforce.
Fifth Third has worked with BEST since 2013 to provide
traditional corporate concierge services to employees at two of its
Cincinnati campuses and it recently expanded its services to Bank
employees in Grand Rapids and Chicago.
Through the years, Fifth Third has developed many partnerships
with organizations that focus on enhancing supplier diversity
efforts at businesses including the National Minority Supplier
Development Council (nmsdc.org), the U.S. Small Business
Administration (sba.gov), the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs
(va.gov) and the Women's Business Enterprise National Council
(wbenc.org).
Smith said that the Supplier Diversity program at Fifth Third is
already exceeding its 2017 goals, and events like the Summit build
relationships with diverse suppliers, which, in turn, build future
business opportunities.
For more information about Fifth Third’s Supplier Diversity
program, visit
https://www.53.com/content/fifth-third/en/personal-banking/about/diversity-at-fifth-third/supplier-diversity.html.
About Fifth Third
Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company
headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. As of June 30, 2017, the Company
had $141 billion in assets and operated 1,157 full-service Banking
Centers and 2,461 ATMs in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan,
Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia and North
Carolina. Fifth Third operates four main businesses: Commercial
Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending, and Wealth & Asset
Management. Fifth Third is among the largest money managers in the
Midwest and, as of June 30, 2017, had $330 billion in assets under
care, of which it managed $34 billion for individuals, corporations
and not-for-profit organizations through its Trust and Registered
Investment Advisory businesses. Investor information and press
releases can be viewed at www.53.com. Fifth Third’s common stock is
traded on the Nasdaq® Global Select Market under the symbol “FITB.”
Fifth Third Bank was established in 1858. Member FDIC, Equal
Housing Lender.
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Fifth Third BankDanielle Jones, 513-534-0162
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