Chrysler Group Receives Company of the Year Innovation Award from the National Minority Supplier Development Council

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Dec. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- 

• Award recognizes Company's innovation and leadership in expanding opportunities for minority suppliers
• Since 1983, Chrysler Group has purchased more than $50 billion from minority-owned suppliers

Chrysler Group LLC has received the inaugural Company of the Year Innovation Award for 2013 from the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). The newly-created Innovation Award "recognizes a new corporate method, initiative or process to accelerate and positively impact minority supplier development in support of NMSDC's vision, mission and core capabilities – certify, develop, connect and advocate – with particular emphasis on professional services and non-traditional categories."

Chrysler Group was selected to receive the award for the accomplishments of its High Focus Supplier Program. Since 1983, the Chrysler Group has purchased more than $50 billion from minority-owned suppliers.

"I'm pleased to present our inaugural Innovation Award to Chrysler Group," said Joset Wright-Lacy, President of the National Minority Supplier Development Council.  "Its High Focus Supplier Program is a best practice that creates a win-win for Chrysler and its suppliers, and serves as a great example of supply chain innovation."

The High Focus program, established in 2011, takes suppliers with greater potential for diverse spend and equips them with the tools and support to achieve their diversity targets. The diversity spend status of each supplier is monitored monthly and reviewed with the supplier quarterly. Since the program's inception, 52 suppliers have improved their minority purchasing by more than 92 percent or more than $325 million. Chrysler is the only automaker to include diversity sourcing performance at the Tier 2 level as a criterion on a supplier's scorecard.

Another Chrysler Group innovation designed to expand opportunities for minority suppliers is its Matchmaker program. Just completing its 14th year, the annual Matchmaker provides minority-owned, women-owned and veteran-owned businesses access to Chrysler Group's Tier 1 suppliers and to decision makers in the Company's procurement organization. The program has generated more than $2 billion in new business opportunities for exhibitors since 2000. As the premier networking trade event in the automotive supplier community, this year's Matchmaker attracted more than 3,000 participants. More than 270 minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned and majority-owned Chrysler Group suppliers participated in the day-long event.

"Chrysler Group's supplier diversity program brings together our culture of inclusion with our passion for innovation," said Scott Kunselman, Senior Vice President - Purchasing and Supplier Quality, Chrysler Group LLC. "We are very proud that programs like Matchmaker and High Focus not only create new business opportunities for minority suppliers but set benchmarks that other companies can emulate, moving the entire supplier diversity landscape forward."

Chrysler Group's supplier diversity goals require that 10 percent of a Tier 1 supplier's procurement buy be sourced to certified minority suppliers. Chrysler Group announced early this year that it spent $2.1 billion with approximately 200 minority suppliers in 2011, representing 8.5 percent of its total annual purchasing. Women-owned businesses, which are tracked separately, accounted for $301 million of the Company's spending. Overall, the Company purchased $31 billion in direct and indirect parts, materials and services in 2011. 

Chrysler Group continues to support several organizations that assist Tier 1 suppliers with achieving their minority-owned and women-owned sourcing goals. These organizations include the National Minority Supplier Development Council, the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council and the Women's Business Enterprise National Council. In addition, Chrysler Group supports veteran-business ownership through membership with the National Veteran-Owned Business Association.

About Chrysler Group's leadership commitment to diversity, inclusion and diverse talent development

Chrysler Group has been named one of the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" by Working Mother magazine 13 times.  The Company has also been named ten times to Latina Style magazine's annual list of the 50 top U.S. employers for Hispanic women.

The Company was named among the nation's "Top Supporters" of Engineering Programs of Historically Black Colleges and Universities for the past three years, recognizing the Company's efforts to develop, recruit and hire talented students pursuing technical careers at the nation's minority-serving institutions.

Over the years, a long line of Chrysler Group employees have received important professional recognition from various diversity organizations, including Black Engineer of the Year, Women of Color, HENAAC Great Minds in STEM and others, reflecting the Company's strong commitment to developing its diverse workforce.

The Company supports six employee resource groups (ERGs) whose objectives include promoting a positive awareness of diverse people and issues within Chrysler Group and to ensuring that the Company's products and services are tailored to diverse customers and employees. Chrysler Group's ERGs include: Chrysler African American Network; Chrysler Hispanic Employee Network; Chrysler Asian Network; the Native American Employee Resource Group; the Gay and Lesbian Alliance at Chrysler Group and the Women's Forum. 

SOURCE Chrysler Group LLC