Even if you don’t work for a specific construction company, the industry has numerous opportunities for veteran-owned businesses and entrepreneurs. In an effort to create stronger partnerships, most construction companies are required to implement supplier diversity programs. Supplier diversity is the practice of purposefully including a diverse supplier pool when securing goods and services for a business. While this does apply to businesses that are minority and women-owned, these opportunities also extend to the veteran community.
Here’s how your small business can benefit from a supplier diversity partnership within the construction industry.
Opportunities for Business Growth
Supplier diversity partnerships are fantastic for business growth. They offer opportunities for steady working relationships with large name corporations, a better insight to your clientele and how best to serve their needs and exposure to other leading companies that may be interested in your services. In return, corporations can better curate their companies to fit the needs of the veteran community and open the doors for collaboration in supply chain innovation; leading an increase in supportive jobs for transitioning veterans.
Construction Understands Veterans
The construction industry is no stranger to the veteran community. Making up 6.5% of the total workforce, veterans are often hired by construction companies for their ability to lead, adapt, work their hands, stay organized, work in teams and work well under pressure. With so many veterans on their workforce, this also means that many construction companies are deeply familiar with the needs of the veteran community; often offering training and transitioning resources, veteran focused ERGs and more. This means that the chances of you entering a business partnership that is beneficial, communicative, understanding, has a decreased chance of stressful encounters and understands the importance of working with veterans.
Certification Opportunities
To work within a supplier diversity relationship, your business will need to become an officially certified veteran-owned or service-disabled veteran-owned business. Once you have these credentials in place, you’ll not only get to reap the benefits of steady partnerships with larger-name corporations, but gain access to a whole plethora of resources. With the proper certification, veteran owned businesses can gain access to workshops, conferences, networking groups and funding opportunities that are exclusive to certified veteran-owned businesses. These resources will not only help your business to stay afloat, but to grow, strengthen and flourish.
For more information on certification and how to begin that process, you can visit one of the following resources:
- The Small Business Association: https://veterans.certify.sba.gov/
- National Veteran Owned Business Association: https://www.navoba.org/certification
- National Veteran Business Development Council: https://nvbdc.org/
Explore more articles for the Veteran Community here.