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Supplier Diversity – Marketing Opportunity or Ideological Rant?
To be transparent, I’ll start off stating that I ran supplier diversity for the State of Michigan. It wasn’t much of a program, since there are only two legislatively approved purchasing preferences at the state level. Regardless, disclaimer made.
Lately, we’ve heard soap box experts questioning the rationale for supplier diversity programs. As someone who believes that these programs help expand the supplier base in the public sector, I happily defend the use of diversity initiatives. As someone who recognizes the massive volume of public sector contracting opportunities available to bidders, I also happily call haters out. If a solicitation is set aside or has a preference that makes you less competitive, this is a factor in your bid/no-bid decision. If you decide to no-bid the opportunity, move on to the next one. No whining. If you oppose purchasing preferences on some ideological basis, stop bidding entirely. You’ll show them.
However, recent challenges question whether companies should maximize their diverse supplier status when given the opportunity. (I should add that we have experienced these questions firsthand, publicly and rather aggressively.) We counsel clients to understand and follow the law, know the opportunities and whenever possible, maximize diverse supplier status for a competitive advantage. We also counsel clients against bidding when preferences indicate an opportunity is better suited for another company.
I’m floored that supplier diversity is suddenly so interesting.
posted in Uncategorized February 2nd, 2012
The State of Government
In the last two weeks, I’ve had the privilege of discussing two significant addresses – the State of the State and the State of the Union — with a brilliant policy mind. His take on our state and our country is marvelously filled with common sense, and he is well informed about the budget process, legislative dysfunction and the presidential candidates. Importantly, he finds ideological zealotry irritating and is able to look at people without partisan labels.
He is 13. He is also my stepson, so I am understandably biased about his knowledge and perspective.
ET (his nickname) has exams this week and didn’t stay up to watch the complete State of the Union address last night. This morning on the way to school, we discussed it briefly. I told him I was pleased with the attention paid to the D and to Michigan. I also like the concept of a smarter, more efficient government; whether this tagline will be backed by action is another matter.
ET and I discussed the curious GOP selection for the delivery of their rebuttal to President Obama’s address. I am not terribly familiar with Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels’ background, but he seemed like an odd choice to follow a charismatic speaker. Quite frankly, he’s creepy. (Sorry for dumbing down this post with that statement. But did you watch??)
Back to the “smarter” government. I frequently give government human qualities, sometimes positive and sometimes negative. Based on our experiences working with public sector agencies at all levels of government, we have great ideas for procurement improvements. Our clients’ experiences serve as the foundation for most of these… and most highlight the need for candor and transparency.
Taking off my B2G marketing hat and walking in others’ shoes… a few random thoughts…
- If I were a teacher in Michigan, I might argue the irony of making government smarter by cutting funding to public education.
- If I were in Congress and saw the rampant dysfunction around me, I would wonder how government can get more efficient when my branch of government won’t pass a damn annual budget. (I’m still bitter about the continuing resolution cycle.)
- If I were a federal agency employee, I would feel bitter at the number of pending unfunded projects because of the inability of our elected “leaders” to create a freaking annual budget.
- If I ran a community college, I would be giddy at all of the attention.
- If I were the brand new head of OMB, I would be completely overwhelmed by having to create a 2,000 page budget draft. And, I would be sad that my first budget will be one week late.
- If I were Michelle Obama, I would be irritated at the harsh criticism of my husband. (Fair or not — it’s hard to hear negativity about the man you love without wanting to protect.)
The State of the Union address gave a glimpse at some priorities we can expect to see in the federal budget draft, due to be released on February 13. Happy Valentine’s Day to me — that will be fascinating reading. (I’m really not kidding. I can’t wait.)
My next conversation with ET will circle back to President Obama’s attempt to humanize government and make it “smarter.” I look forward to hearing what human traits ET sees in government, and I have every expectation that his perspective will be absent of the partison crap that dumbs down many policy talks.
And the discussion will be smart.
Brilliance and Bragging Rights
In two days, brilliance will converge upon Lansing. (Feel free to insert your own commentary here about our state legislative process needing a bit more brilliance.)
The JetCo team holiday party occurs in January. December is busy for everyone, so we choose to wait until the new year when time is more plentiful. Because our team is spread out between Grand Rapids and Detroit, we meet in Lansing — in the middle. (Feel free to insert yet another commentary about how our state legislators need to meet in the middle a bit more.)
We gather, we laugh, we have happy hour, we bond, we have dinner and drinks, we laugh more, and we eat and drink more. Good fun.
This post is boastful. Jon and I are overwhelmingly grateful for the people that make our company successful. We have an ecclectic bunch, and their talents are immense and diverse. Between our team members and their spouses, we have strong personality traits. We’ve attracted a team of very loyal people, which we adore and admire. This loyalty means they respect their spouses, our company and our clients. We are terribly fortunate.
Renee and Jeff, Kim and Josh, Karen, Kevin and Mary, Penny and Nick… you are brilliant and fun, you are stylish and caring, you are organized and handy, you are patriotic and ethical, you are loyal and creative. You’ve made us laugh, you’ve made us think, you’ve made us better people and you’ve made us pudding shots.
Thank you. Can’t wait for Saturday.
posted in Random Bragging January 12th, 2012
Defending Contracting Officers
Hey, Congress… got a news flash for you. YOU are a huge reason that government contracting officers are risk averse.
Government Executive (great publication, by the way) reported on a recent discussion held by the Congressional Smart Contracting Caucus. (Yes, there really is such a congressional caucus.) The caucus held a dialogue regarding “Innovation in a Budget-Constrained Environment,” and concluded that Contracting Officers have such great fear of conflict of interest and protests that their risk aversion is blocking creative ways to embrace innovation.
This congressional caucus should get an award in stating the obvious.
Disclaimer: I worked with public procurement officials at the state level, and have great respect for their abilities and intent. I tend toward defending the profession based on my experience with them.
Contracting Officers at all levels of government are risk-averse. They really have to be — they work in a fishbowl and are constantly judged by people that don’t understand the procurement rules that bind them. Their environment is completely unlike their private sector counterparts. If they take a risk, it can become a headline.
Imagine, just for a moment, a contracting officer taking a risk that embraces innovation. This decision embraces up-to-date technology and will bring long-term cost-efficiency, but has interim short-term cost increases to get there.
Company X, who was the incumbent and held the contract when it was not innovative, is pissed. They lost a lucrative contract. They call Congressman Y, who represents their district.
Congressman Y, who relies upon voters and supporters to keep her job, has staffers that are paid to raise holy hell on behalf of constituents. Congressman Y’s office reaches out to the agency and the contracting officer to demand an explanation.
In the meantime, Company X protests, holding up the procurement process and blocking the purchase, at least in the short term. In addition, Company X has made contact with local media, who report on the story and it is picked up on the wire. Taxpayers, knowing half of the story, rail against “bureaucrats” in letters to the editor.
The contracting officer has a mound of extra work, playing defense and educating congressional staffers, reporters and angry taxpayers. Half-informed taxpayers demand explanations.
The contracting officer has a great defense — he was truly making a decision that was in the best interest of the program in the long term. This doesn’t actually matter in a society that prefers headlines to logical explanations.
I hope the Congressional Smart Contracting Caucus is looking for solutions to this culture of risk aversion. But if these solutions don’t give the Contracting Officer cover, they should be regarded as just rhetoric.
A message to our heroes…
You served us selflessly, and we thank you.
Every year on November 11, our nation honors you for your service. Veterans Day pays tribute and offers gratitude to you for serving in the military, whether in wartime or peace. Through this day, our country acknowledges our appreciation for your contributions to our national security. You were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and a holiday or a simple “thank you” does not suffice to express our gratitude. There are more than 25 million of you in our country – you are our neighbors, our family members, our customers and suppliers.
With no offense intended to Sweetest Day, the importance of a holiday is not marked by how many greeting cards are available, but rather its effect on our lives.
You affected our lives in immeasurable ways.
Many of you have recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. You deserve more than our respect and gratitude. You deserve to return from wartime to opportunities that allow you to put your work ethic and knowledge to productive use. You deserve to have our nation collectively salute your sacrifices by ensuring you have work when you return, and the training and support to become entrepreneurial if you choose.
Some of you returned longer ago, and continued fighting for opportunities to open. I have the privilege of serving with some of you as advocates for other veteran business owners that expect our elected and appointed leaders to honor their commitments. Keith, Rodney, Ed, Guido, Greg, Tim… you are an inspiration with your tenacity and passion.
JetCo is a veteran owned and operated company. We actively seek out other veteran owned businesses to work for and with. We do this because it makes good business sense and because of a mandate from our founder and owner, who served in Operation Desert Storm. We are a small business. While we cannot hire every returning hero or help every veteran owned firm win a government contract, we will spread the word and help where we can.
JetCo’s founder happens to be my husband as well, so we have a hero living in our home. His veteran status doesn’t exempt him from garbage duty or occasional friendly mockery. But his personal experiences give us great appreciation for those currently serving, and empathy for their families who apprehensively wait for their return home. Like most veterans that I’ve met, Jon doesn’t expect special treatment. And he’d rather help or thank another veteran than have someone thank him. In our home, Veterans Day has special meaning because of his sacrifices. He has earned our gratitude.
To Jon and to all of those who sacrificed for our freedom and safety…
You served us selflessly, and we thank you.
posted in Uncategorized November 11th, 2011