We know that small businesses are a vital component of our economy. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), there are nearly 30 million small businesses in the United States and they collectively employ 47.8 percent of the U.S. workforce. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed into law California SB 534, Insurance Reporting Update, a bill that will have a wide-reaching impact on supplier diversity and the growth of diverse-owned businesses. 

Much has been written about how millennials are killing this or that industry; how they can’t afford to buy homes because they spend all their money on avocado toast (as if that’s a legitimate correlation). In the midst of all the breathless editorializing, a picture of millennial consumers has emerged showing that their generation, more than any other to date, values representation and diversity, and their spending habits reflect those values.

IBM launched the first supplier diversity program in 1968 in response to the civil rights movement. Many other corporations of all sizes followed IBM’s lead in creating their own supplier diversity programs, whether to gain access to federal contracts or as part of their corporate values statements.

In June, we released the third annual State of Supplier Diversity Reports with informative and comprehensive results from over 450 respondents in the industry.

Between the supplier diversity professionals managing and growing their companies’ programs, and the diverse suppliers on the other side of them, both reports provided us with extensive insight into the industry.