Vizient Further Advances its Supplier Diversity Initiative Through Agreement with ICIC

For many years, Vizient has been helping diverse suppliers refine their business strategy to more effectively compete, prosper, and grow within the health care supply chain. Today, the company announces it is expanding its support of diverse suppliers through a new agreement with the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) and their Inner City Capital Connections program (ICCC). The agreement is expected to have a direct impact on Vizient’s member hospitals’ ability to improve supplier diversity in their individual supply chains and accelerate economic growth in their local communities. The ICCC program meets the unique needs of inner city entrepreneurs, providing them with capacity-building executive education, coaching/mentoring, connections to business networks and contracting opportunities, and access to capital. The agreement with Vizient will help to underwrite participation in the program for some of the more than 1000 businesses that will enroll this year.

“The ICCC program is perfectly aligned with Vizient’s supplier diversity objective to champion inclusion of minority, women and veteran businesses (MWVBEs) in our members’ supply chains which serves to accelerate economic growth in their local communities,” said Shaleta Dunn, senior director, program services, supplier diversity for Vizient. “We are excited to be one of their Sustaining National Partners and to support a program that has a proven formula for advancing economic growth by delivering a powerful combination of strategic insight, business acumen and entrepreneurial training.” “We are honored to partner with Vizient in our nationwide effort to create sustainable small business ecosystems in many of America’s largest cities where Vizient’s member hospitals play critical roles in healthcare delivery and economic revitalization,” said Steve Grossman, ICIC’s CEO. “Vizient is in a unique position to have a meaningful and lasting impact on supplier diversity initiatives that create good-paying jobs in our most underserved communities.”

As part of the agreement, Vizient and its member hospitals will nominate MWVBE businesses to participate in ICCC, as well as ICIC’s other urban business initiatives including the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, the Inner City 100, and Cultivate Small Business. In addition, ICIC recently announced a formal partnership with SCORE, allowing ICIC’s program participants and alumni to access ongoing mentorship and coaching by leading executives from more than 300 chapters around the country, a benefit which companies nominated by Vizient and its members would also enjoy. – Medical Buyer Bureau