Small businesses are big business in Delaware, and Shavonne White is working to build an economic ecosystem that thrives by valuing the contributions of small and diverse business enterprises.
As director of the Delaware Office of Supplier Diversity, part of the Division of Small Business, White is focused on expanding economic opportunities for small businesses and those owned by women, veterans, minorities and individuals with disabilities. Through its business certification and procurement assistance, OSD helps these businesses get access to support and tools that allow them to compete equally for state contracts.
Bringing to life OSD’s mission of expanding economic opportunities for diverse business and small business enterprises is a passion for White, who has worked 16 years for the state of Delaware.
“I really love working with our business owners and helping them see how they can grow,” White said. “I’ve had many business owners over the years who didn’t have all the tools at first, but as they’ve gotten certified and learned the procurement process, they’re actually on state contracts. For anyone like me who values small businesses, that is great to see.”
White recently answered questions about her office and the impact it has on small businesses in Delaware.
Q. Shavonne, your office offers a wealth of information for small business owners. Can you explain the mission of the Office of Supplier Diversity?
A. Our office enhances economic opportunities for our diverse business community and our small business community by helping them navigate the state’s procurement system with the goal of obtaining a state contract. Our focus on supplier diversity is about providing small businesses with basic business knowledge and education to help them grow and be able to do business with the state. What we try to do is simplify all this information that’s out there so vendors know where they can start. Our key focus is not only on certification but also on understanding how to use the certification to their advantage.
Q. What types of certifications are available for business owners in Delaware?
A. We have two certifications. The first is a diverse business enterprise certification, and that’s inclusive of five categories that include women, minorities, veterans, service-disabled veterans and individuals with a disability.
We also have what we call the small business focus certification, which is solely based on the size of the business. We like to say that these businesses are uniquely small because our thresholds are 50% of the Small Business Administration’s national standards for what qualifies as a small business.
Q. How does being certified by the Office of Supplier Diversity help these businesses when it comes to competing for state contracts?
A. When people ask about business certification, I say it’s a free marketing tool and it has no cost to apply. So, why not get certified? Being certified does not guarantee your business is going to get a state contract, but every certified business gets listed on the state of Delaware directory of certified businesses.
It’s definitely a competitive advantage to be certified. If an agency puts out a request for proposal for a product or service they need, a lot of times businesses will get extra points in their scoring for having that Office of Supplier Diversity certification.
And the increased visibility is not only with our state agencies, but with other prospective clients as well. Our directory is public, so it’s used by larger corporations in the state, including ChristianaCare, Corteva and others when they’re looking for diverse or small business suppliers.
Right now, we have 948 diverse businesses and 543 certified small businesses in our directories.
Q. What’s the process to be certified?
A. Interested business owners must meet our eligibility requirements to apply. To qualify for diverse business certification, a business must be at least 51% owned and controlled by someone who falls into one or more of the diverse categories I mentioned earlier. Control is also important for eligibility. For example, if the business is related to work done as an electrician, the owner has to actually have their license to be an electrician.
The small-business focus certification is race and gender neutral. The certification applies to the size of the business.
Q. And that certification process is now easier for applicants, right? Tell us about the portal.
Yes! We recently launched an online portal on our website to streamline the application process for our diverse business and small business certifications. This is where applicants can fill out their information, upload their documents and manage their information. It’s really a game-changer for our businesses because they can just log in and submit their application. This is something we’ve wanted to do for years, and I’m thrilled we can now give our business owners this tool.
Q. As we wrap up, what’s something that you wish small and diverse business owners knew about your office?
I wish they knew about the information available on procurement. The state of Delaware has put really good effort into making sure that everything related to procurement is transparent and online. There’s actually a procurement education library with tutorials, live training plus resource guides and more on the procurement website.
