Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council Launches
New organization aims to open opportunities to Aboriginal and visible minority businesses across Canada
TORONTO, October 12, 2004 – A new private-sector organization that seeks to promote purchasing from Aboriginal and minority enterprises by large corporations, was launched today.
The Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council (CAMSC) will help Aboriginal and minority-owned businesses of all sizes gain access to new procurement opportunities. It will also help major corporations improve efficiency and innovation by linking them to enterprising, smaller suppliers.
“This unique initiative supports Aboriginal and minority businesses through win-win commercial relationships with the country’s largest buyers,” says Doug Lord, chair of the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council and president and CEO of Xerox Canada Ltd. “With a solid base of corporate members and strong leadership from our new president, Orrin Benn, the Council is well-positioned to promote new opportunities for Aboriginal and minority-owned businesses.”
The Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council aims to boost economic development efforts, employment and inclusion for Aboriginal and visible minority suppliers through business relations and mentoring. In addition to providing procurement opportunities at large companies, the Council will offer business development programs, seminars and other support services to certified suppliers.
“Integrating Aboriginal and minority businesses into the supply chain of major companies is the core mission of our organization,” says Orrin Benn, president of CAMSC. “By pursuing this mission, we become an enabler to governments in promoting employment and economic development.”
The Council has been established with assistance from the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), a U.S. organization chartered in 1972 to provide increased procurement and business opportunities for minority businesses.
The NMSDC, whose members reported US$72 billion in minority procurement in 2002, provides a direct link for CAMSC-certified Canadian suppliers to procurement opportunities at 3,500 U.S. corporate members, including most of America's largest companies, as well as universities, hospitals and other buying institutions. Initiatives similar to CAMSC have been launched in the past few years in Brazil, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
“With the rise of CAMSC in Canada, an enormous opportunity is emerging for Canadian minority suppliers to do business with NMSDC corporate members in the United States,” said Harriet R. Michel, president of NMSDC. “CAMSC and NMSDC are committed to establishing cross-border certification reciprocity to permit Canadian Aboriginal and minority suppliers to knock at the doors of NMSDC corporate members.”
Sixteen companies are currently enrolled as members of the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council: Alberici Constructors, Canadian Pacific Railway, Cisco Systems Canada, Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Corporate Express, DaimlerChrysler Canada, Hewlett-Packard (Canada), IBM Canada, Navistar International Corporation Canada, Niigon Technologies, Office Depot, Pepsi-Cola Canada, RBC Financial Group, Toyota Canada, Waste Management and Xerox Canada.
The Council is accepting new corporate memberships and pursuing suppliers for minority certification status from coast to coast.
”I am encouraged to see influential members of Canada’s corporate community undertake such a worthwhile initiative,” says Phil Fontaine, National Chief, Assembly of First Nations. “There are more than 20,000 First Nations-owned businesses across Canada. These companies contribute to the greater good of our country and that needs to be recognized and acknowledged.”
About CAMSC
The Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council is an independent,
non-profit organization that aims to boost economic development
efforts, employment and inclusion for Aboriginal and visible minority
suppliers through business relations and mentoring. Corporations
operating in Canada also benefit from this initiative by gaining
a better understanding of and access to ethnic communities, while
diversifying and improving their supplier chain base. CAMSC is headquartered
in Markham, Ont. For more information, please call 905-479-1114
or visit www.camsc.ca.