SoCalGas Exceeds State Goal for 30th Consecutive Year, Purchasing Nearly 43% of all Goods and Services from Diverse Businesses Last Year
Over $1 billion of 2022 spend was with minority, women, service-disabled veteran, and LGBT-owned businesses
March 22, 2023 — Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced the company exceeded the California Public Utilities Commission’s diverse spending goal for a 30th consecutive year, purchasing nearly 43% of all goods and services from minority, women, service-disabled veteran, and LGBT-owned businesses in 2022. Last year, SoCalGas collaborated with 578 diverse businesses in support of the company’s operations and mission to build the cleanest, safest, most innovative energy company in America. SoCalGas’ full 2022 supplier diversity report, entitled Supporting a Sustainable Future in Clean Energy Through Diversity, Innovation and Collaboration, was filed with the CPUC earlier this month.
“For 30 straight years we have exceeded the CPUC’s diversity procurement goals, mainly through collaborations with hundreds of local businesses from Los Angeles, to the Central Valley, to the Inland Empire, helping to bolster the economies in the communities we serve,” said SoCalGas Chief Executive Officer Scott Drury. “This milestone is a great example of how SoCalGas’ commitments to equity, inclusion, and sustainability extend into the hundreds of California communities we’re proud to serve.”
SoCalGas’ ASPIRE 2045 sustainability strategy, includes an even bolder goal to achieve 45% spending with diverse business enterprises by 2025. Through a robust portfolio of programs, SoCalGas is working to increase diverse business participation especially among African American, Native American, LGBT, and veteran businesses—categories in which certified DBEs are historically underrepresented.
Last year SoCalGas expanded outreach to hundreds of businesses, offering enhanced technical assistance and other programs to provide a bridge to business opportunities with SoCalGas today and in the future. As a result, 146 diverse businesses began working with SoCalGas for the first time in 2022. Additionally, 15 of SoCalGas’ top 25 suppliers last year were diverse vendors, up from 13 in 2021.
Over the last six years, SoCalGas spent nearly $5 billion with diverse business enterprises. In addition, many companies have benefitted from business development programs and services offered by SoCalGas’ supplier diversity team.
“Our journey began when we were enrolled in SoCalGas’ Smaller Contractor Opportunity Realization Effort (SCORE) program in 2013,” says Bianca Vobecky, president & CEO of Vobecky Enterprises Inc., an African American-owned firm that provides logistics services to SoCalGas. “The knowledge and training we received from this program helped expand our business and diversification into other areas like material procurement and project management. Working on SoCalGas projects, and with the supplier diversity team’s unwavering advocacy, we’ve received more opportunities.” Vobecky recently received a contract with SoCalGas in support of a fleet safety retrofit program.
“SoCalGas continues to bring in new diverse suppliers, helping their growth, and contracting with nearly 90% of diverse businesses that are headquartered in our state. They understand that keeping dollars in our local businesses creates a greater impact in our diverse communities,” said Dennis Huang, Executive Director and CEO, Asian Business Association, Los Angeles.
“Thanks to our 36-year partnership with SoCalGas, we have been able to scale the business, employ more people, and develop a program that brings on diverse suppliers as subcontractors,” said Henry Barber, president of Doty Brothers, a Hispanic-owned general engineering contractor. “One of the benefits of such a long-standing relationship is that SoCalGas gets a consistent, quality product for their customer base. For Doty Brothers, it’s helped us stay in business, remain profitable and provide good-paying jobs.”
Last year, SoCalGas’ Chief Executive Officer, Scott Drury, was named 2022 CEO Diversity Champion by the Southern California Minority Supplier Development Council (SCMSDC), which represents more than 1,500 certified minority-owned businesses. Drury was recognized by SCMSDC for embodying ”the leadership needed to advance diversity and inclusion in contracting,” and for featuring supplier diversity as a focus of SoCalGas’ ASPIRE 2045 sustainability strategy. ASPIRE 2045 sets forth SoCalGas’ goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in the company’s operations and delivery of energy by 2045, as well as goals related to safety, DE&I in the workplace, and investment in underserved communities.
More information about SoCalGas’ commitment to supplier diversity can be found in its 2022 Supplier Diversity Annual Report. SoCalGas invites diverse businesses to engage and learn more about the Supplier Diversity Program at socalgas.com/for-your-business/supplier-diversity.
