New York Power Authority Turns Up Heat On Supplier Diversity
Leading the way with Governor Cuomo’s climate and clean energy initiative.
One of the first things you notice about Victoria Daniels, Manager of Supplier Diversity for the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and the New York State Canal Corporation, is the passion she has for what she does. She has a “take no prisoners” resolve for exceeding New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s goal of 30% spend with minority and woman-owned businesses. But she will also choke up talking about driving through a town in upstate New York and seeing only two cars in the parking lot at a mall in the middle of the day. Is it any wonder then that when many in supplier diversity are trying to hold their own going into 2021, Daniels and NYPA are expanding their program?
Daniels presented a request to fund 11 new initiatives in 2021 that cover programs, policies, operations and communications. The NYPA Board’s governance committee, at a recent meeting, challenged her to get more ambitious with her goals. They did not have to ask twice.
NYPA announced in December 2020 that it will be investing an additional $25 million over the next five years in diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. With part of that investment, NYPA intends to double its contracts with MWBE companies from the current $80 million to $160 million incrementally in five years. To meet this objective, NYPA will focus on four key areas: Programs, Policies, Operational and Communications, which will help build capacity and break down barriers for MWBEs.
Initiatives that NYPA’s Supplier Diversity program are committed to include but are not limited to:
Create a mentor-protégé program and related training
Create a surety bonding program and related training
Develop a networking mentoring program
Develop a supplier diversity marketing plan to help locate more diverse-owned businesses to provide energy and utility related goods and services within NY state.
“I want to be a conduit between New York’s MWBE businesses and NYPA,” says Daniels. Her action plan of tackling meaty problems like surety bonding and credit card tail spend shows that NYPA is serious about moving the needle on spend dollars and on MWBE business capacity and capabilities. They are attacking the challenges from every angle, breaking the goals and KPIs down by department, and making it policy that any diverse firm that bids on a construction project and doesn’t win gets a debrief meeting.
Daniels wants more MWBE businesses in the supply chain and she is not willing to take no for an answer. “If I can’t find businesses already here, then I want to entice companies to come to New York,” she says.
Daniels and her team may just be getting started on this new strategy, but people are already taking notice. NYNJMSDC (New York & New Jersey Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc.) awarded NYPA Local Corporation of the Year in December. Daniels was recognized by the state of New York and Governor Cuomo for her work on behalf of MWBEs and the creation of increased contract opportunities. Impressive, but you know the news out of NYPA for MWBE companies is just going to get better.
If you are a MWBE company with a presence in the state of New York, check out NYPA and see what kind of business you can do together. NYPA can guarantee it is eagerly waiting to hear from you.
As the largest state public power organization in the United States, NYPA operates 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. More than 80% of the electricity NYPA produces is clean renewable hydropower. NYPA uses no state tax money or state credit. It finances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity.
Want to stay up to date on what is happening with the new initiatives? Visit NYPA Supplier Diversity’s program web pages at www.nypa.gov and follow NYPA on Twitter @NYPAenergy, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and LinkedIn.
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NEW YORK STATE’S NATION-LEADING CLIMATE PLAN
Governor Cuomo’s nation-leading climate plan is the most aggressive climate and clean energy initiative in the nation, calling for an orderly and just transition to clean energy that creates jobs and continues fostering a green economy as New York state builds back better as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Enshrined into law through the CLCPA (Climate Leadership and Community Leaders Protection Act), New York is on a path to reach its mandated goals of a zero-emissions electricity sector by 2040, including 70% renewable energy generation by 2030, and to reach economywide carbon neutrality. It builds on New York’s unprecedented ramp-up of clean energy, including a $3.9 billion investment in 67 large-scale renewable projects across the state, the creation of more than 150,000 jobs in New York’s clean energy sector, a commitment to develop over 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035, and 1,800% growth in the distributed solar sector since 2011. New York’s Climate Action Council is working on a scoping plan to build on this progress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85% from 1990 levels by 2050, while ensuring that at least 40% of the benefits of clean energy investments benefit disadvantaged communities and advancing progress toward the state’s 2025 energy efficiency target of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 TBtus.