The Supplier Diversity program of Con Edison of New York and Orange and Rockland Utilities succeeded in meeting its goal for 2010. Goods and services purchased from minority- and women-owned businesses totaled more than $285 million, an increase of 8.3 percent from 2009 despite a more than 14 percent decrease in company expenditures for goods and services. Including fuel, the program's expenditures were more than $307 million, which is an overall increase of 10 percent from the year before.

We continued to focus on outreach to diverse communities in 2010 to identify and qualify new vendors. Forty new suppliers were identified and qualified: 28 are minority-owned and 12 are woman-owned. Twelve of these vendors were successful in obtaining contracts.

The Purchasing Department worked closely with various organizations to encourage minority- and women-owned business participation. Some of the outstanding successes in 2010 were:

• two-year, $15-million contract with a minority-owned business for steam-leak repairs and system improvement
• $5.6-million contract with a woman-owned contractor for class and stock safety items
• $3.1-million contract with a woman-owned contractor to manage and supply jackets and overalls
• $2.6-million contract with a minority-owned business to replace the roof at the Astoria facility
• three-year, $2.3-million contract with a minority-owned business to build test pits

We continue to encourage prime contractors to award subcontracts to minority- and women-owned businesses. To support this effort, we awarded a subcontract of approximately $40 million to an Asian woman-owned business for aluminum and copper through a prime vendor that supplies cable and wire.

Con Edison hosted and participated in several seminars and workshops to support minority- and women-owned businesses including: the Thypin Oltchick Institute for Women's Entrepreneurship; Women President's Educational Organization; the annual Regional Alliance for Small Contractors' Clearinghouse; and the New York City Small Business and Women Builders Council.

Supplier Diversity staff also attended and participated in several other events to network with minority- and women-owned businesses and to benchmark with other corporations about their supplier diversity/small business programs: Asian-American Queens Economic Development Workshop; Latina Style Magazine Business Series; Women Business Enterprise National Council Conference; Edison Electric Institute Supplier Diversity Best Practices Workshop; Supplier Diversity Development Council Conference; Association of Minority Enterprises of New York's Annual Business Legislative Conference; and Albany SBA Matchmaker and Business Expo.