Most academic institutions have initiatives in place to promote equitable procurement activities through solicitation and inclusion of diverse suppliers. Even those who have not adopted formal policies typically look to provide opportunities to vendors that are
more than 50% owned and operated by members of a minority group.
It can be a challenge for procurement teams to meet such initiatives, especially if there is a lack of responses to proposal requests. Sourcing diverse suppliers requires diligence to avoid excluding businesses controlled by individuals from underrepresented groups.
Supporting diverse businesses has a significant impact, stimulating economic growth for underserved populations, and also pays dividends across the board. In the private sector, studies show that companies with industry-leading diversity programs generate
133% greater ROI on procurement costs compared to average industry performers. 46% of organizations that prioritize supplier efforts say the
biggest benefit is innovation. Not only do they fulfill their societal obligations, but they benefit from goods and services that provide creative solutions.
Common Strategies to Source Diverse Suppliers
Educational institutions craft supplier diversity programs with stated goals, such as increasing participation from minority-owned, female or veteran-owned, LGBTQ+-owned, and small businesses as part of their procurement. This may include setting specific goals or targets for spending.
For large Tier-1 suppliers, academic institutions may also require their primary suppliers to subcontract a portion of their work to diverse suppliers to extend the impact of their efforts.
Still, many efforts fall short. For overworked procurement teams—often doing more with less these days—it can be a frustrating experience, requiring more extensive sourcing efforts. Even weighted systems that give priority to diverse suppliers may not meet diversity goals when you consider other initiatives, like sustainability and cost control, that go into today’s complex decision matrix.
One way to improve your efforts is to work with
education purchasing cooperatives that can provide access to a larger pool of diverse suppliers that meet these goals.
We need to dispel a common myth here. Some people think that working with education purchasing cooperatives prevents diverse and local participation. In fact, the opposite is true. When you partner with E&I Cooperative Services, for example, you’ll see that our process focuses on including diverse suppliers. In fact, the process is largely driven by member inpur and participation.
Want to learn more about supplier diversity in cooperative purchasing? Check out this episode of Cooperatively Speaking that delves into this very topic!
The Benefits of Cooperative Purchasing
There are several key benefits to joining education purchasing cooperatives. Because cooperative agreements leverage purchasing across multiple institutions, such contracts are often more valuable to suppliers due to volume. More potential suppliers may respond to an RFP from an education purchasing cooperative than might apply to a single institution. Members often find additional diverse suppliers that do not respond directly to local sourcing efforts. Cooperative purchasing enables you to expand your supplier pool and leverage volume pricing discounts at the same time.
Other benefits of
cooperative purchasing include:
- Reduce administrative overhead, increasing efficiency in the procurement process
- Achieve cost savings from economies of scale
- Maintain trust through ethical, transparent procurement practices
- Provide access to diverse, quality products from reliable suppliers
- Enable independent businesses to compete with retail chains
Partnering With E&I Cooperative Services to Improve Supplier Diversity
E&I Cooperative Services has practices in place to maximize contracting opportunities with certified diverse businesses.. We are currently adding more Tier-1 supplier relationships nationwide as well, based on feedback from our members.
As part of a contract, you may be able to require some local fulfillment or use of diverse suppliers. Many national companies, for example, will subcontract work with diverse or local suppliers to help you meet your diversity initiatives while maintaining contract terms and pricing.
There is no cost to become a member of E&I Cooperative Services and no minimum purchasing obligation. As the only non-profit member-owned sourcing cooperative that focuses solely on the education sector, E&I Cooperative Services is uniquely positioned to negotiate favorable contracts on behalf of its members.
View available contracts at E&I Cooperative Services today. 
