Since 1983, minority-owned businesses have been encouraged to pursue official certification in Wisconsin and gain bid preference through the state’s supplier diversity program, with a goal of at least 5% of contracted business going to these certified entities each year. Women-owned businesses were added to the program in 2006. In 2007, the state met its 5% goal for the first time. In its nearly 40-year history, the state has met its goal for the program only four times.
Critics say the lackluster results are the result of a clunky program that hasn’t had enough will and support to succeed. But as we enter an era in which diversity consultant Anna Steinfest says “businesses are laser-focused on supplier diversity,” the conversation around certification takes a different tone.
The state, which now also offers certification to veteran-owned businesses, is no longer the only entity in Wisconsin setting goals around supplier diversity. Stakeholders ranging from large companies to the Department of Transportation to the Green Bay Packers are clamoring for it. The Packers hired Steinfest, who is president and CEO of AFF Research, LLC, as the administrator of its groundbreaking mentorship program designed to tackle the issue.
The Packers Mentor-Protégé Program is the oldest of many examples of New North region efforts to encourage women, minority and veteran entrepreneurs to pursue certification. Other programs designed to promote certification and its associated opportunities include The Blueprint, a Milwaukee seed accelerator program that was picked up by the Greater Green Bay Chamber, and the Innovation Accelerator for Veterans, a program of Fox Valley Technical College and its Venture Center. In addition, New North, Inc. offers a series of supplier diversity training sessions.
New North, Inc. President and CEO Barb LaMue says cataloging information about diverse businesses will be a significant part of her organization’s plan of work in 2022. This includes building a new digital platform that will connect consumers to minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses in the 18-county region.
It’s information that has been in demand for a variety of reasons, she says, so New North is partnering with the state’s Ethnic & Diverse Business Coalition and pursuing grant funding to support the project. Meanwhile, the organization is continuing to host information sessions and supporting businesses through the certification process, which can be labor intensive.
“It’s taking the time; it’s paperwork,” LaMue says. “But it’s also making sure that you not only can complete the paperwork, but you are able to deliver. If you can’t deliver on a contract, it’s much more difficult to be taken seriously again.”
Steinfest says certification isn’t necessarily always the right step. For business-to-business companies like consultants and construction contractors, certification can offer tremendous advantages, provided those companies can deliver. But business-to-consumer enterprises like restaurants may see little direct benefit from pursuing certification. And with a wide variety of public and private certification programs available, businesses should know which specific certifications matter to their prospective partners.
“It’s very important to know your targeted customer before you decide what certifications to get,” Steinfest says. Her company has been working with entrepreneurs on this process for more than 16 years. But really, she says, certification is the “small” step.
“If you’re not at scale, you will never get hired, no matter how many certifications you have,” Steinfest says. The important work, she adds, is scaling up minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses so they can build connections and get to the next project. The Packers Mentor-Protégé Program works to address exactly that issue.
“The Packers were so forward-thinking about capacity building,” Steinfest says. “Collecting data doesn’t move the needle. You move the needle when you are helping them build capacity.”
