Tech Company Spends $274 Million With Black Suppliers, Exceeding Its Goal By $24 Million

Semiconductor chip maker Intel Corp. has exceeded its goal of spending $250 million with Black-owned suppliers a year earlier than expected.

The giant technology company announced in 2020 it would disperse that amount to the suppliers by late 2023. Intel reported it more than doubled the target by $24 million, reaching $274 million in 2022.

The firm has a policy not to provide the names of suppliers. However, the company has previously disclosed two Black-owned suppliers, Jordan IP Law firm and World Wide Technology (WWT).

The latter company serves the technology needs of large public and private organizations globally, including many of the world’s best-known brands. It is No. 1 on the latest Black Enterprise’s 100s list of the nation’s largest Black businesses. Based on a news release on its website, the company now has annual revenue of $17 billion and nearly 9,000 employees.

According to an Intel blog post, WWT Chairman and Founder David Steward said, “We are fortunate to be in a position to give back and support other small, disabled, minority, veteran, and women-owned businesses and provide the same level of support we were given when our company was finding its roots decades ago. Together, we can enable transformational business outcomes to drive inclusion and economic growth in our communities—one partnership at a time.”

Intel’s spending with Black suppliers is part of a goal announced three years ago to boost global annual spending with diverse suppliers to $2 billion by 2030. The company just disclosed it hit $2.2 billion for that spending in 2022, eight years ahead of schedule. Intel stated the amount represents almost 15 times the annual total when its supplier diversity program began in 2015 and doubles its 2019 results.

In general, many U.S. companies have been beefing up efforts to add more diverse companies to their supply chains since the 2020 murder of George Floyd. After the tragedy, many of the nation’s largest corporations vowed tens of billions of dollars for three years to support economic growth and new opportunities for Black businesses and individuals.

Still, companies face obstacles boosting their usage of diverse suppliers. Observers say identifying those suppliers requires fresh strategies to elevate spending and accountability from top management.

Intel’s actions with Black suppliers represent a seismic jump. Its spend with Black suppliers was $118 million in 2019. Jackie Sturm, corporate vice president of global supply chain operations at Intel, shared via email that Intel recognizes economic inequity within the U.S. Black community. She added the goal established for Black-owned suppliers was a response to address that inequity.

Further, she explained goals for each racial group were determined based on current spending in each particular commodity category, taking into account contracts open for competition and projected overall corporate spending. Intel did not disclose how many Black-owned suppliers in the U.S. work with the firm, indicating its policy is not to disclose supplier information.

The company’s diverse spend progress comes from several actions it has taken in recent years. For instance, Sturm says for every new sourcing opportunity, Intel’s procurement teams will continue to include at least one diverse-owned company in the bidding process.

“We’ve been able to reach our goals ahead of schedule thanks to our processes and incentives that encourage Intel’s ecosystem to provide opportunities for diverse suppliers to compete for contracts throughout the supply chain.”

Prospective Black-owned firms hoping to develop or expand a supplier diversity relationship with Intel can do so here.