Office of Supplier Diversity One Florida Update

Our Mission To robustly expand economic opportunities for Minority/Women Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) by focusing on Customer Service to better enable State agencies and employees to deliver the Governor’s priorities to the people of Florida

Values The Office of Supplier Diversity’s values include integrity, respect, quality customer service and team work.

Vision It is the vision of the Office of Supplier Diversity to become a one-stop resource center for Minority/Women Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) which facilitates equity in contracting while ensuring diverse participation in the procurement process by providing excellent customer service.

Why get certified at all? What are the benefits of certification?

State certification is Florida’s premier stamp of approval for minority and women business entrepreneurs. Across the State of Florida, the validation of Minority/Women Business Enterprises most widely accepted in the private sector as well as cities, counties, school districts, hospital and water management districts and other quasi governmental entities is provided by state government certification. Additionally, the four-page state certification application is one of the most “user-friendly” applications in the State of Florida.

FIRST TIER REFERRALS are given to minority and women-owned businesses that are certified by the state. This means they are the first tier of businesses referred to state agencies seeking to include supplier diversity as a part of their purchase order and contract opportunities.

STRATEGIC ALLIANCES with major corporations are encouraged as a part of the Office of Supplier Diversity’s (OSD) “Matchmaking” efforts. Vendors certified by the state of Florida have “first stop” status as OSD strives to assist in developing business relationships, which hopefully will lead to contract opportunities.

GOVERNOR’S MENTOR-PROTÉGÉ program is available to minority and women-owned businesses (MWBE) certified by the state of Florida to enhance the capability of MWBEs to compete more successfully for state government contracts. The program expands the OSD’s efforts to identify and respond to the developmental needs of state-certified MWBEs.

LOAN MOBILIZATION program assists state- certified minority business enterprises in obtaining funding when starting a state-funded project. The loans made through participating banks are designed to enhance relationships between the banking community and CMWBEs.

RE-CERTIFICATION is simplified for vendors who have registered in MyFloridaMarketPlace and completed the certification process. Annually, all that is required is a signed affidavit for re-certification in order to reduce duplicated efforts.

ON-LINE DIRECTORY on the MyFlorida website lists only state-certified minority and women business enterprises. The directory makes certified MWBEs available by alpha and commodity listings to state and local governmental entities, as well as the general public and private-sector corporations.

SPECIAL E-MAILS and other information are disseminated to vendors who appear in the state’s database as certified minority and women-owned businesses. This information could vary from contract opportunities to special events, networking activities and technical assistance training.

VENDOR IN THE SPOTLIGHT is designed to highlight certified minority and women-owned businesses by industry to a target audience of purchasing agents and decision makers. In the IT arena certified vendors make presentations at the quarterly CIO Council meeting which allows CMWBEs to introduce their companies and capabilities to several state entities at one time.

SPECIAL DISCOUNTS including gratis admission to events may be offered to state-certified minority and women-owned businesses who participate in educational, outreach and matchmaking activities put on by state government and/or the Office of Supplier Diversity. These activities could include regional workshops and seminars, the Governor’s corporate roundtable and the annual Matchmaker Conference.

Certified Minority Business Spending Fiscal Year 2003-2004 Governor’s Agencies Non-Governor’s Agencies Statewide Total $527,196,998 $177,318,439 $710,480,917 The statewide dollars do not include $68 million graduated out of the program

Additional Points of Interest Association of General Contractors Lawsuit Hurricane Disaster Relief Hotline 1-800-OSD-MWBE Electronic Imaging Initiative for Certification Process Governor’s Agency Report Cards

Web sites of Interest MyFlorida http://www.myflorida.com/ DMS http://dms.myflorida.com/ OSD http://osd.dms.state.fl.us/ MyFloridaMarketPlace http://dms.myflorida.com/purchasing/myfloridamarketplace

Office of Supplier Diversity 4050 Esplanade Way, Ste 380 Tallahassee, FL 32399-0950 Main Line: (850) 487-0915 Fax: (850) 922-6852 Helpdesk: osdhelp@dms.state.fl.us