Our mission is to certify, develop, connect, and advocate for suppliers as the premier supplier development organization creating sustainable and profitable relationships between small business enterprises and major buying organizations.
Certify
We certify the authenticity of ownership and the integrity of operations for small business enterprises. A small business is eligible for certification if it is a for-profit enterprise of any size, physically located in the United States or its trusted territories.
The business must be at least 51% owned by qualifying individuals or at least 51% of the stock is owned, in the case of a publicly-owned firms, by one or more such individuals.
The ChicagoMSDC certifies approx. 300 Small Business firms annually. Each application is processed within 90 days on average.
Connect
Our goal is to constantly improve connectivity between capable certified small businesses and major buying organizations.
The ChicagoMSDC executes customized events to facilitate meaningful connections between buyers and sellers through personal introduction, one-on-one meetings, and networking events.
We are committed to creating successful exchanges that will address the supplier goals of each corporate member.
We will rely on improved communications, technology, data, and metrics as a foundation for our strategic plans and processes for buyer and seller connectivity.
Develop
ChicagoMSDC is dedicated to developing and implementing initiatives that support the growth and sustainability of certified small businesses while also delivering valuable education and tools for supplier diversity professionals and advocates.
We invest our resources in the development of small businesses with a focus on:
- Increasing Small Business size and capacity for effective competition
- Connecting Small Business with the right corporations based on corporate interest and supplier capabilities
- Encouraging mergers, alliances, teaming and partnering between Small Business
- Developing succession planning to ensure continuity and benefits to minority communities
- Offering strategic resources for accelerate advancement and growth
- Improving technology skills and implementation as a competitive advantage
We develop resources for our supplier diversity professional and advocates to (1) build diversity team infrastructure, (2) generate successful buying relationships, (3) identify gaps in the market where diverse suppliers are unknown, and (4) growing our network of Small Business and corporate members.
Advocate
The ChicagoMSDC collaborates with all stakeholders to communicate the value and necessity of supplier goals. It is critically important that we showcase the small businesses, but we must also showcase and document the economic impact and job creation by those businesses within our communities.
We are advocates for supplier goals locally, regionally, nationally, and globally.
Our local Small Business Input Committee (Small Business IC) champions the voice of firms to ensure government transparency and compliance with all applicable laws. In addition, the ChicagoMSDC maintains communications with legislators and corporate government relations groups to foster open dialogue regarding social and fiscal responsibilities tied to fair and opportunistic business-to-business competition for contracts.