Fifth Third Bank Hosts Annual Supplier Diversity Summit to Educate and Connect Diverse Suppliers
September 03 2019 - 10:18AM
Business Wire
Fifth Third Bank recently hosted its fifth annual Supplier
Diversity summit. Themed, “Success through Synergy,” the summit
focused on educating minorities and women on the best business
practices and featured a pitch competition for innovative female
businesses.
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Executives from Fifth Third Bank, diverse
suppliers and leaders in the supplier diversity industry attended
Fifth Third's 2019 Supplier Diversity Summit. (Photo: Business
Wire)
“Supplier diversity is critical to the success of Fifth Third
Bank,” said Greg Carmichael, Fifth Third’s chairman, president and
CEO. “We value the business relationships we have built and
continue to nurture the diverse suppliers who bring us innovative
solutions. We are proud to help foster economic inclusion in all
the communities we serve.”
The Supplier Diversity Summit is hosted each year as a way to
help minority-, women- and veteran-owned companies do more business
with Fifth Third. It also is a way for those owners to gain insight
from each other and to network with other corporate partners at the
event. More than 150 people representing 75 companies from across
15 states participated.
The program featured national and local speakers, including
Pamela Prince Eason, president of the Women’s Business Enterprise
National Council, and Sheila Mixon, executive director of the
Women’s Business Council Ohio River Valley; and match-making
meetings at which diverse business owners learned about sourcing
opportunities with 13 national and local business partners in
addition to Fifth Third.
Diverse-owned suppliers benefit from Fifth Third’s small
business-related investments that provide technical assistance for
small business development and growth, and support the ecosystem
for small business lending. Fifth Third is showing progress toward
goals that represent its $32 billion Community Commitment, which
includes $11.1 billion in small business lending and $8.6 billion
in community development lending and investments.
Awarding more contracts to diverse businesses has been a major
focus of the Bank’s Strategic Sourcing department, led by Juan
Munoz, chief sourcing officer, Stephanie Smith, chief inclusion and
diversity officer, and Marsha Thornton, director of supplier
diversity.
“We believe that doing business with certified M/WBEs will
improve the banking experience and drive bottom-line profitability
for years to come,” said Thornton. “This year we hosted the
match-making meetings to have a greater impact on the supplier
diversity ecosystem by bringing business owners together to create
a positive impact for all of us. And we hosted the pitch
competition to showcase the capabilities and sales skills of
emerging and diverse-owned businesses.”
During the pitch competition, which was open to female business
owners whose companies focused on innovation, six woman-owned
companies competed for a monetary prize to go toward costs
associated with attending the 2020 WBENC national convention. The
winner of the event was Anne Weigand, director of Happiness for
Aunt Flow, a company that aims to provide menstrual products free
of charge to all women and to encourage positive menstrual
education for men and women. The company developed a free-vend
menstrual product dispenser to ensure that businesses and schools
can provide freely accessible, quality menstrual products at no
cost to the users. Weigand says that she was excited to participate
and hopes to continue to spread awareness about the company’s
products.
“I am thankful for Fifth Third and the WBENC community for the
continued support, guidance, and direction as we continue to grow,"
said Weigand.
Through the years, Fifth Third has developed many partnerships
with organizations that focus on enhancing supplier diversity
efforts, 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). In 2018,
Fifth Third’s Supplier Diversity Program was recognized by Minority
Business News as one of the Best of the Decade and in 2018 and 2019
by WBENC by naming the Bank one of America’s Top Corporations.
To learn more about Fifth Third’s Supplier Diversity activities,
please visit: www.53.com/supplierdiversity.
About Fifth Third
Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company
headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and the indirect parent company
of Fifth Third Bank, an Ohio-chartered bank. As of June 30, 2019,
Fifth Third had $169 billion in assets and operated 1,207
full-service Banking Centers and 2,551 ATMs with Fifth Third
branding in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida,
Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina. In total,
Fifth Third provides its customers with access to approximately
53,000 fee-free ATMs across the United States. 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, 2019, had
$399 billion in assets under care, of which it managed $46 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. Deposit and Credit products are offered by
Fifth Third Bank. Member FDIC.
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Danielle Jones (Media Relations) Danielle.Jones@53.com |
513-534-0162
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