As part of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) Supplier Diversity Initiative, the organization is teaming up with corporate partner IBM to offer scholarships to eligible LGBT-owned businesses seeking first-time certification.
The NGLCC/IBM LGBT Business Enterprise Scholarship will cover the entire cost of certification for eligible businesses that are at least 51 percent owned, operated and controlled by an LGBT person or persons.
"We are optimistic that the economy is moving in the right direction, but many LGBT-owned businesses are still feeling the pain," said NGLCC co-founder and president Justin Nelson. "That is why we are teaming with IBM to give LGBT businesses an opportunity to compete to win corporate contracts and attract new customers from America's top companies and one another."
Upon completion of certification, every business receives the LGBT Supplier Toolkit. The toolkit includes valuable information, ranging from how to register with corporations as a diverse supplier to branding your business as a certified-LGBT company. In addition, the toolkit shares practical insights for evaluating the company's delivery and quality processes, focusing on operational excellence and finding the right customers for each business.
"Corporations purchase billions of dollars in goods and services every year from certified ethnic minorities, women and LGBT businesses," said Irwin Drucker, NGLCC Procurement Council chairman and program director of GLBT and International Programs for IBM's global procurement. "This scholarship—and in turn, certification as an LGBT business enterprise—offers LGBT companies a premiere opportunity to add new customers and grow their business."
In addition to corporate contract opportunities, becoming certified by the NGLCC offers LGBT small businesses from across the country the chance to connect with one another as customers.
"An extremely large part of my new clients are other LGBT-owned companies that I have met by being certified and being active as a part of the NGLCC's supplier diversity program," said Janice Mahlmann, owner of August eTech, a technology solutions company based in New York and Philadelphia.
Businesses that are interested in the NGLCC/IBM LGBT Business Enterprise Scholarship and would like more information should contact the NGLCC Supplier Diversity and Corporate Relations Department at supplierdiversity@nglcc.org, or by phone at 202-234-9181.
