Results which can be measured in dollars and cents. If you have a headache and take an aspirin for the pain, the aspirin may relieve the pain but it doesn't eliminate the cause of the headache. Therein lies the problem. Government affirmative action programs need to take a page out of the Business 101 handbook. Corporate America has realized that minority supplier development programs have delivered a real, measurable benefit to the corporate bottom line.
Corporations realize that a healthy economy derives from a healthy community.
The trail from supplier to community to customer is clear. This, I believe, is what our congress intended. It is time for government to institutionalize a change in attitude. Corporate America has reinvented its approach to supplier diversity, making it part of its marketing strategy. Government contracting also needs to reinvent its process.