Unlike past years, the fourth annual Corporate Equity and Inclusion Roundtable did not focus solely on getting more African Americans into the “C-suite” upper echelons of Pittsburgh’s corporate community, but also on expanding corporate supply chains to include Black-owned service and manufacturing firms.
It even went further to include not just expanding the recruiting, hiring, developing, promoting and retention of more African Americans, but also looked at creating entrepreneurial opportunities for individuals to write their own ticket.
To that end, the panel discussions included not only corporate leaders like Rahmon Hart, who is transforming the diversity signature at the Rivers Casino, and Steve Massaro, who created an in-house construction training program for Blacks, but also entrepreneurs like Dan Bull, who is creating opportunities for ex-offenders in a number of fields, and Greg Spencer, who knows both sides, as a former energy executive and now the owner of a chemical manufacturing firm.
One of the things Spencer and others noted is that even when corporate leadership is on board with efforts to diversify suppliers, it doesn’t always translate—especially in large corporations down to the people who do the purchasing.
“When I became an entrepreneur, the people I know from my former life—the ones with the corner offices—they don’t buy chemicals,” he said. “The people at the top do care, but somewhere between them and the decision, it doesn’t get made.”
Suresh Ramanathan, President and CEO of the KORYAK management consulting firm, put it more succinctly: “Supplier diversity dies in middle management.”
Spencer said he got so annoyed with trying to sell his chemicals in Pittsburgh—to firms that had contracts with large national firms—he took his firm international.
“My products and delivery exceed expectations, but they assume because I’m a small Black-owned company I can’t be as good,” he said. “I said the hell with it and went international, now I’m selling in China, Hong Kong.”
Bull, who created a company on the South Side that employs ex-offenders to build tiny houses. has created a firm called Zero Eight Six as an incubator for start-up businesses, again focusing on ex-offenders. Zero Eight Six, he explained is the federal prison code for inmates from Pittsburgh. They were the last three digits of his number.
“We’re talking about a talent pool with expertise in everything from cyber security to the trades,” he said. “At the end of one year, we have 10 companies employing 100 ex-offenders.”
Tim Stevens who built the CEIR out of workforce discussions his Black Political Empowerment Project was having with corporate and political leaders four years ago said he is pleased with the progress, and attention the roundtable is making.
“As Evan Frazier said, Highmark instituted the Rooney Rule for its executive searches last year, and it is showing dividends with hiring and promotions. And UPMC and the Rivers Casino have instituted the modified Rooney Rule for their supply chains,” he said.
“Mayor Peduto and County Executive Fitzgerald have done so and inclusive vision for the future. As Melanie Harrington said, we are doing much better with diversity and inclusion—but because we started so far behind other regions, we’ll have to do more to catch up. I’m optimistic that we can.”
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