SCE’s Spending With Diverse Suppliers Creates More Than 19,000 Jobs

The company’s $2.2 billion in such spending last year contributed more than $3.3 billion to the economy

ROSEMEAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Last year, Southern California Edison recorded 40.1% of its corporate purchases, or $2.2 billion in spending, with more than 650 diverse businesses. The company’s contracting with these companies had an economic impact of more than $3.3 billion and sustained more than 19,000 jobs. This is according to SCE’s 2019 Supplier Diversity Economic Impact Report, prepared by data consultancy supplier.io, which helps companies evaluate the real-world effects of their spending in their communities and beyond.

“Through our four decades of partnering with diverse firms, we know our supplier diversity and inclusion activities have a profound impact beyond our operations,” said Kevin Payne, SCE president and CEO. “Diverse perspectives make businesses, including ours, more competitive and sustainable, leading to more jobs and a boost to local communities. Further, many of these businesses ‘pay it forward’ by hiring and mentoring other diverse firms or providing support to organizations and communities.”

Importantly, SCE provides technical assistance and guidance that help minority-, women-, disabled veteran- and LGBT-owned businesses develop capabilities that will let them meet the company’s specific demands.

“We are confident this work, aimed to improve the ability of diverse suppliers to meet our needs, is an investment that will yield positive results for the businesses and improve our overall Greenlining scores in the future,” Payne said.

The report states that SCE’s $3.3 billion economic impact — pertaining only to its spending with diverse suppliers — is the sum of three effects: direct purchases by SCE from its small, minority, women, disabled veteran and LGBT suppliers; indirect activities within these companies’ supply chains; and the induced effects that result as employees of these companies, and those of companies within their supply chains, spend their wages in the wider consumer economy.

“SCE makes an outsized economic impact in the Western U.S. through its purchases,” said Ashlee Nelson, a vice president at supplier.io. “SCE's purchases of leading-edge equipment from manufacturing firms bolsters the California economy through jobs for California's highly skilled workforce.”

For more information, including details of the report’s methodology, see the Supplier Diversity Economic Impact Report.

About Southern California Edison

An Edison International (NYSE: EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of approximately 15 million via 5 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern California.