ComEd to Celebrate 1st Inaugural Supplier Diversity Awards Event
Published: April 1, 2016
CHICAGO (March 31, 2016) - ComEd will celebrate the achievements of some of its top diverse suppliers at the first-ever ComEd Supplier Diversity Awards Luncheon on April 4, at the Bridgeport Art Center located at 1200 W. 35th Street in Chicago. Nearly 40 companies were nominated with 16 entrepreneurs selected as award finalists.
The Supplier Diversity Awards will recognize high-quality suppliers for their performance in areas ranging from job creation to storm support and diversity supplier mentoring, training and development. Award categories will include Overall Performance (construction and material / professional services), Diversity Advocacy, Rising Star and Community Partnership.
The inaugural event is a showcase of successful minority, veteran and women-owned suppliers that are helping to drive community and economic development across Northern Illinois. Each of the finalists brings with them a success story that can serve as a roadmap for other companies that want to do business with ComEd.
“We believe that diverse perspectives lead to greater innovation, increased employee engagement, meaningful community impact and better solutions and products for our customers,” said Anne Pramaggiore, ComEd President and CEO. “There are 16 finalists for the five awards that will be presented.”
The $2.6 billion Smart Grid investment program enacted in 2011 has enabled ComEd to expand investments in supplier diversity. In 2014, ComEd’s total diverse spend reached an all-time high of $415 million – an increase of $100 million – and provided new opportunities for African American, Hispanic, Native American, veteran and women-owned enterprises. ComEd set and achieved higher goals for 2015, investing $654 million in diverse spend, or 29% of total spend. Since 2012, ComEd has pumped $4 billion of supply chain spend into the Illinois economy, including $1.6 billion total diverse supply chain spend.
ComEd’s approach to supplier diversity involves building the capacity of potential suppliers so that they can be competitive in the industry not only with ComEd, but with other companies throughout the expanding energy marketplace. Because diverse suppliers bring different perspectives and market insights, they are playing an increasingly important role in ComEd’s efforts to meet the growing demand among customers for more choice and personalized services.
“Many of the entrepreneurs that will be recognized have truly transformed their businesses while never losing sight of their civic responsibility to help build communities by providing jobs and creating programs with neighborhood impact,” Pramaggiore said. “We take pride in offering real opportunities for large and small businesses to thrive in the competitive energy market because, like ComEd, they have demonstrated a commitment to the environment, safety, diversity and transparency.”
ComEd, an Exelon company, is one of the largest electric utility companies in the nation, responsible for delivering safe and reliable power to 3.8 million homes and businesses across northern Illinois. In the electric utility industry, Exelon delivers economic benefits to the communities it serves having spent more than $4 billion with diverse suppliers over the past six years.
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Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation’s leading competitive energy provider with approximately 7.8 million customers. ComEd provides service to approximately 3.8 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state’s population. For more information visit ComEd.com and connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.