Boeing

The Boeing [NYSE:BA] Company has won two of the most prestigious awards presented by the St. Louis Minority Business Council in 2004. The Council named Boeing a co-winner of its 2004 Corporation of the Year Award, an honor Boeing shares with the Monsanto Company. Boeing was also honored with a 2004 Excellence Award in the category of "Corporate Innovative Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Program" by the Council.

"We're honored to be recognized by the St. Louis Minority Business Council," said Norma Clayton, vice-president, Supplier Management & Procurement, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. "We know our relationships with minority businesses bring diversity, strength, innovation and flexibility to our supply base. We're committed to expanding that diverse supply base by developing new relationships with minority businesses. Our continuing success depends upon it."

The Corporation of the Year Award is presented annually by the Council to the corporate member best demonstrating its commitment to minority business purchasing through achievement in areas including total sales with MBE's, support of financial programs assisting MBE's and educational and technical assistance to MBE's.

The Excellence Award in the "Corporate Innovative MBE Program" category is presented each year to a major purchaser exhibiting the highest commitment to minority business development through its policies and actions. Winners of this award must have in place a formal written minority business development program, the assignment of a senior level manager to implement the program and the commitment of its chief executive officer.

The Boeing commitment to minority businesses is not new. The company has had an established, formal small business and supplier diversity program in place for more than fifty years.

Throughout the years, Boeing has sought and found creative ways to promote opportunities for small and diverse businesses. The company has formally incorporated support of historically black colleges and universities and minority institutions, minority businesses, women-owned small businesses and veteran and service-disabled veteran businesses into the overall Boeing supplier diversity program.

Boeing is developing working-together relationships with diverse companies to help them grow into future business associates, and is linking small-, minority- and woman- owned firms to companies with complementary strengths to increase their mutual opportunities with Boeing.

Boeing also works with its first-tier suppliers to ensure they too develop opportunities for diverse suppliers.

These efforts have helped Boeing award more than $12 billion in business to small businesses of all kinds in the last three years.