ComEd to Celebrate Inaugural Supplier Diversity Awards Event
Highlighting how diverse suppliers drive economic vitality in the
communities they serve
CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–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.
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.
Contacts
ComEd
Media Contact:
312-394-3500
