Corporate leaders open doors for Aboriginal suppliers
Globe and Mail
By Randall Anthony Mang
TORONTO, November 8, 2004 - A new private-sector-led non-profit has opened a gateway for Aboriginal and visible minority-owned Canadian businesses to supply goods and services to North America's largest corporations.
Founded by RBC Financial Group, Daimler Chrysler, IBM and Xerox Canada, the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council (CAMSC) hopes to replicate the success of its U.S. predecessor, the National Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. (NMSDC)
Carla Woodward, RBC senior manager of Aboriginal Banking says, "The NMSDC was established in 1972 to encourage the growth of minority-owned businesses in the U.S. Today, it has 3,500 member buyers and 15,000 minority-owned businesses registered."
CAMSC chair, Doug Lord, president and CEO of Xerox Canada, says, "The U.S. organization is facilitating $72 billion in business provided by minority suppliers. CAMSC brings together procurers from large corporations with Aboriginal and visible minority owned businesses to ensure that our procurement processes include these groups. Already, there is a lot of excitement among those who see this as opportunity to gain accessibility."
While CAMSC, which was launched less than a month ago, is in its infancy, its affiliation with NMSDC will soon enable CAMSC registered businesses to tap into procurement opportunities in the U.S.
So far, CAMSC has 15 member corporations, including Hewlett Packard, Office Depot, Toyota Canada and others. "I expect that within six months we should have 30 more top-100 companies," says Mr. Lord.
Canadian corporations find unique reasons to participate. While RBC has been working for two years to help launch CAMSC, Ms. Woodward ways it's nothing new for the bank, which she says has had a focus on Aboriginal banking for 15 years. "One of our key strategies has been to increase economic capacity of Aboriginal communities and businesses. We recognize in CAMSC a great opportunity for our customers."
Among its other efforts, in 1999 RBC introduced a means for First Nations people to obtain home mortgages. Through RBC's "On Reserve Housing Loan Program," a band council may guarantee a mortgage loan, thereby overcoming a historic challenge presented by the Indian Act, which prevents First Nations people from using their on-reserve homes as security.
"Bands now have greater autonomy as to how they handle their housing issues," says Ms. Woodward, who adds, "CAMSC is just another example of RBC's interest in helping Aboriginal people expand their horizons."
Gord Miller, president of Alberta-based Promotions by Waldo, an Aboriginal-owned company that supplies companies with branded merchandise and corporate gifts, says of CAMSC, "I would definitely investigate it. It's obviously a way to get recognized quickly, instead of pursuing the normal road of business growth."
Doug Lord says Xerox Canada involvement in CAMSC is, "as much driven by a community interest as anything else. We believe in working with diverse groups across the board and already do business with Aboriginal suppliers. We hope that CAMSC will lead us to more. We just think it's the right thing to do."
Mr. Lord says that while CAMSC is a step in the right direction, more needs
to be done, "We've got a long way to go for equality, but I think through
some enlightenment we can move the process along more quickly."