U.S. Postal Service Voted No. 1 for Supplier Diversity

News provided by

May 24, 2011, 05:03 ET

Agency Enters Second Decade of Achieving Top Honors

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Postal Service was voted America's No. 1 government agency for providing multicultural business opportunities, according to a recent survey in which more than 750,000 business owners participated. This marks the 11th consecutive year the Postal Service has appeared in that top-10 listing.

DiversityBusiness.com — a multicultural business-to-business website and sponsor of the survey — presents the award each year to companies and government agencies that consistently buy the most products and services from multicultural businesses and sustain the most mutually beneficial business relationships with multicultural suppliers. Journalist Joan Lunden, the host of DiversityBusiness.com's 11th Annual National Multicultural Business Conference, presented the award.

"I am extremely proud of our Supply Management employees and everyone at the Postal Service who is involved with improving business relationships with our diverse supplier community," said Susan Brownell, vice president, Supply Management. "This recognition highlights our dedication and focus on maintaining a diverse and agile supplier base that delivers best value to the Postal Service."

Brownell participated in the chief procurement officer panel of DiversityBusiness.com's 11th Annual National Multicultural Business Conference recently held just outside Washington. Brownell provided USPS sourcing strategies and strongly encouraged conference attendees to research, register, respond and deliver excellence as suppliers to the Postal Service.

Commitment to Supplier Diversity

The Postal Service continues its strong commitment to supplier diversity. Annualized contract values with small businesses totaled nearly $3 billion in FY 2010. Contracts with minority-owned businesses exceeded $358 million and contracts with women-owned businesses surpassed $561 million. The Postal Service actively participates in supplier outreach events for small, minority and woman-owned businesses, which typically draw thousands of participants.

Commitment to Employee Diversity

Commitment to diversity is a norm at the Postal Service. With more than 569,000 career employees, it is one of the leading employers of minorities and women, with minorities comprising nearly 40 percent of the workforce and women comprising more than 40 percent. More than 20 percent of employees are African-American. Nearly 9 percent are Hispanic and nearly 9 percent Asian-American/Pacific Islander. Nearly 1 percent of USPS employees are American Indian or Alaska Native.

In July 2010, Black Enterprise magazine highlighted the Postal Service as one of the "Top 40 Best Companies for Diversity," and for the fourth consecutive year, the Postal Service was included in Hispanic Business magazine's annual "Diversity Elite 60" list of best companies for Hispanics.

A complete list of voted top agencies and companies is available at www.DiversityBusiness.com/TopBusinessList.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

We're everywhere so you can be anywhere: www.uspseverywhere.com

Please note: To obtain a high-resolution image of the award presentation for media use only, email [email protected]. For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/news.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

SOURCE U.S. Postal Service