DALLAS, March 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T* spent $9.2 billion with minority, women and disabled-veteran owned enterprises in 2010, as part of its initiative to bring diverse vendors to its supply chain. The figure represents 18.8 percent of its total procurement and a 34 percent increase from the year before.
AT&T's 43-year-old Supplier Diversity initiative promotes, increases, and improves the quality of the overall participation of minority, women, and disabled veteran-owned business enterprises in its supply chain. AT&T has one of the most aggressive goals in the industry, working to reach 21.5 percent of its procurement with diverse suppliers.
Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) provided $6.6 billion worth of goods and services to AT&T, while Women Business Enterprises (WBE) provided $2.5 billion and disabled veteran business enterprises (DVBE), $115 million.
"We're proud to report these figures not only because they indicate a noticeable trend in the right direction for our Supplier Diversity spending record, but also because they were generated during challenging economic times," said Marianne Strobel, Executive Director, Supplier Diversity. "We made a determined effort to continue to bring diverse suppliers into AT&T despite the trimmed budgets we had to work with," she added.
AT&T has been widely recognized for its spending results with diverse enterprises as well as for the numerous programs it has put in place to attract, develop and guide those companies so they can become part of the company's supply chain. In 2011, AT&T was ranked No. 2 in the DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Supplier Diversity. In 2010, the National Minority Supplier Development Council named AT&T "Corporation of the Year."
AT&T was one of the first companies to bring diverse suppliers into the core of the complex telecommunications supply chain. It is also a member of the Billion Dollar Roundtable, a supplier diversity think tank of corporations that spend more than $1 billion annually with diverse companies. Only 17 member companies qualify at this level.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
About DiversityInc
Launched in 1997, DiversityInc is the leading business publication connecting diversity and the bottom line, with 1 million unique monthly visitors. DiversityInc also produces events and conducts benchmarking, custom research and consulting.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services. A leader in mobile broadband, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T | DIRECTV brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising.
Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT. Find us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ATT to discover more about our consumer and wireless services or at www.Facebook.com/ATTSmallBiz to discover more about our small business services.
© 2011 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. Mobile broadband not available in all areas. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE AT&T Inc.
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