Supplier Diversity

We believe investing in supplier diversity activities is a critical component of our company’s success. WWT has developed this program from the same foundation as the rest of our business – our clearly defined core values, corporate vision and mission. These principles provide transparency and visibility into our business and define how we engage employees, partners and customers.

Program Vision

To partner with value added diverse organizations to provide our customers with revolutionary products and services around the globe, while ensuring that our partners and suppliers meet WWT’s high standards with regard to ethics, labor, health and safety, diversity and positive environmental impact as well as supporting community outreach initiatives.

Program Mission

To help develop and sustain diverse and socially responsible business relationships, one contract at a time.

Leadership Commitment

The advantages are clear. When we are able to contribute to the success of small, minority, and woman-owned businesses, we benefit directly from a broader selection of competitively priced goods and services. Our customers benefit from the increased opportunity to provide them with the best solution and the community benefits through job creation and quality-of-life improvements.

Additionally, when we work with our partners and suppliers to ensure the highest possible standards are met with regard to ethics, labor, health and safety, diversity and environment, we are able to improve our overall social and environmental impact. This commitment to supplier diversity moves us closer to our objective to be recognized as a corporate social responsibility leader in our industry and a Great Place to Work.

Supply Chain CSR Performance

We have a responsibility to hold ourselves, our partners and our suppliers to high standards of behavior with regard to social, environmental and ethical issues. We are committed to working with our partners and suppliers across the supply chain to ensure measures are being taken to positively impact our community and the environment.

WWT has established a Supplier Code of Conduct (please see Additional Resources below). that provides guidelines for performance and compliance with critical social, environmental and ethical issues and expects its suppliers to acknowledge and adopt this code.

Program Goals

This program is designed to help train and integrate qualified and certified minority, women and disabled veteran-owned suppliers into the provisioning of products and services for our commercial and telecommunications customers.  It is designed to strengthen minority, woman and disabled veteran-owned businesses and provide knowledge sharing opportunities and support. Our goals are simple:

• Provide supplier with direct access to procurement opportunities
• Provide mentoring and counsel regarding subcontracting opportunities and procurement procedures
• Advocate for suppliers internally
• Participate in business opportunity workshops, minority, women and veteran business enterprise seminars, events and trade fairs

Diverse Supplier Requirements

A qualified business enterprise must be certified by a local, state, regional or national agency and be at least 51 percent owned, operated and controlled by one or more of the following:

• Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) – a for-profit enterprise, regardless of size, physically located in the United States or its trust territories, which is owned, operated and controlled by minority group members. “Minority group members” are United States citizens who are Asian, black, Hispanic or Native American. Ownership by minority individuals means the business is at least 51 percent owned by such individuals or, in the case of a publicly-owned business, at least 51 percent of the stock is owned by one or more such individuals. Further, the management and daily operations are controlled by those minority group members.
• Women Business Enterprise (WBE) – a for-profit enterprise, regardless of size that is at least 51 percent owned by one of more women or in the case of publicly owned businesses, at least 51 percent of the stock of which is owned by one or more women. The owner must be involved in the day-to-day activities.
• Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) – a for-profit enterprise, regardless of size that is at least 51 percent owned by one of more disabled veterans in the case of publicly owned businesses, at least 51 percent of the stock of which is owned by one or more disabled veterans. The owner must be involved in the day-to-day activities.

Our Supplier Diversity team also encourages participants to take a leadership role within their community and help identify and mentor other minority business enterprises.

Small Business Enterprise

WWT agrees to meet the principles of Public Law 95-507 and the Federal Procurement Regulations, including the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and to ensure that our business practices conform to these regulations.

As a successful graduate of the Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) Business Development Program and the largest African American–owned technology business in the country, WWT has a profound appreciation for the assistance it provides to small and disadvantaged companies during their formative and early growth years. In our own case, with support from SBA and mentoring support from larger companies, WWT is now recognized as one of the top 50 Federal contractors. Our experience has encouraged us to offer similar support to other small and disadvantaged firms. We know it is good business as well as good corporate citizenship.

WWT’S Commitment To All Small Business Enterprises Includes:

• Participation in business opportunity workshops, federal procurement conferences
• Ensuring WWT subcontracting procurement “packages” are well-designed to be compact and simplified to encourage the maximum possible participation of firms on the list.
• Ensuring small businesses are made aware of subcontracting opportunities and how to prepare responsive bids to WWT.
• Providing assistance and counsel to small business concerns regarding subcontracting opportunities set aside opportunities and procurement procedures.

Small Business Requirements:

Self-certify as a small business in SAM, but must meet the Federal government’s definition of a small business.

Small Business Classifications:

• 8(a) Business Development Program
• Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB)
• Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB)
• HUBZone (Historically-Underutilized Business Zone)
• Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB)
• Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVOSB)
• Historically Black College and Universities and other Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI)
• Native American–owned (NA)
• Alaskan Native–owned Corporations (ANC)
• Native Hawaiian–owned Corporations (NHOC)