Verizon Communications, one of the world’s leading providers of communications services, recognizes the importance of diversity in employment, philanthropy and procurement.  Supplier diversity is a critical element of Verizon's strategy to compete in the marketplace and provide customers with the highest quality and service.
 
Verizon spent $1.5 billion in 2001 with diverse vendors, including more than $611 million with women-owned businesses.  These expenditures result, in part, from programs to identify and mentor a broad range of suppliers.
 
Verizon's Corporate Sourcing organization recruits qualified minority and women suppliers to submit competitive bids for company purchases.  The company also joins forces with advocacy groups including the National Association of Women Business Owners, the National Minority Supplier Development Council, the Women's Business Enterprise National Council, the United States Hispanic and Pan Asian Chambers of Commerce, regional purchasing councils and local chambers to identify and mentor diverse vendors.
 
Verizon was one of the first companies to sign the Dallas Women’s Covenant, in conjunction with the Greater Dallas Chamber, to identify and promote programs that improve economic and employment opportunities for women in the region.
 
Verizon joins other organizations to invest in and support women and minority-owned business development.  In 1999, Verizon contributed $10 million to a private equity fund sponsored by Black Enterprise magazine and Citigroup to finance growth of minority and women-owned businesses.  In 2000, it contributed $10 million to the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce equity fund for the development of Hispanic-owned businesses.
 
As a charter member of the Billion Dollar Roundtable, Verizon belongs to a select group of corporations that spend more than $1 billion annually with minority and women-owned businesses.  Its diversity initiative has prompted awards and recognition from numerous publications including Working Woman magazine, which named Verizon to its list of the country's top 30 companies for supplier diversity in 2001.
 
The company’s state-of-the-art interactive Web site allows suppliers to register online.  Information on Verizon’s supplier diversity process can be found at http://www.verizon.com/diversity/suppliers.
 
 

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