Stellantis N.V. and the National Business League (NBL) have formed a partnership to develop Black suppliers across America for future contracting and procurement opportunities in observance of Juneteenth 2021.
The Stellantis-NBL National Black Supplier Development Program will support the development of more than 2.9 million Black businesses around the country, which will secure future opportunities within the public and private sectors.
“As a key part of our corporate diversity, inclusion and engagement strategy, Stellantis is excited to partner with the National Business League to ensure that all Black Business Enterprises and suppliers have an equitable and inclusive stake in the global marketplace,” says Mark Stewart, COO of Stellantis — North America.
“Post-pandemic and in response to rising demands for social and economic justice for all people, finding equitable and impactful ways to engage and empower Black businesses is critical to the sustainable development of Black entrepreneurs and communities.”
Over the next three years, Stellantis will anchor the development of a virtual training and development portal. The portal will enable the program to qualify, train and develop Black businesses for future contracting opportunities. Its resource marketplace will also provide access to capital, mentorship and executive coaching, supplier training and development, bid posting, matchmaking, supply chain solutions, talent placement and acquisition and more.
The portal will first be made available to Stellantis’ suppliers, then to all OEMs, the federal government, and other public and private companies in the U.S. and abroad.
“The upside potential for Black Business Enterprises is immeasurable when the focus is on development, equity and inclusion,” says Kenneth L. Harris, president and CEO of the National Business League. “This is where we truly start to level the playing field by bringing commerce solutions to the marketplace to solve economic problems.”
Around 95 percent of Black-owned businesses are comprised mainly of home-based, one-employee enterprises. Of these, fewer than 3 percent are agency certified, and most do not have the capacity to meet the demands of the future contracting and procurement market.
The online virtual procurement and contracting marketplace is expected to realize 20 to 30 percent of the untapped business potential of Black suppliers. The goal is to create sustainable Black businesses that will impact the local and global economies, creating jobs through entrepreneurship and growing the number of Black businesses of all sizes.
The National Business League was founded in 1900 by Booker T. Washington, and was the first non-partisan, non-sectarian Black business and professional trade association. It has more than 120,000 members nationwide and offices in Detroit, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.
