Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has spent more than $780 million with diverse suppliers in the past three years. For the past 11 years, we have honored the best and brightest of the individuals and companies connected with this effort during our annual Supplier Diversity Awards. “The success of our business has a lot to do with the partnership between Blue Cross and hundreds of diverse vendors,” President and CEO Daniel J. Loepp said. “Our emphasis is on pursuing strong partnerships that improve member experience, help us grow, help us diversify, give us scale, help us compete and strengthen our brand.” The awards program also honors internal partners for their diversity achievements. Tricia Keith, senior vice president, Corporate Secretary and Services, said Blue Cross met its stretch target for diversity spend in 2015. The company spent more than $286 million with more than 170 diverse suppliers. "Our diversity spend goes right back into Michigan’s economy and we promote this activity through partnerships such as Michigan Pure Business Connect and the D2D program,” she said. Jim Line, director, Corporate Procurement, credited the company’s great community partners with a share of the success. They include:
- Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council
- Great Lakes Women’s Business Council
- Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce
- Michigan Black Chamber of Commerce
- Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
- Michigan Economic Development Corporation
- Detroit Economic Growth Corporation
“Without these organizations, our jobs would be more difficult and our ability to benchmark our success would be limited,” Line said. [smartslider3 slider=5] Photo Credit: Oregon Department of Transportation
