OneAZ Credit Union Launches New Supplier Diversity Initiative

As part of its diversity, equity and inclusion initiative, the $3.1 billion OneAZ Credit Union in Phoenix recently launched a new supplier diversity program to serve historically underrepresented entrepreneurs including minorities, women, veterans and LGBTQIA small business owners throughout Arizona.

The goal of the program is to ensure the credit union maintains a diverse supplier database of small companies for the procurement of their goods and services.

Currently, OneAZ manages a database of about 500 suppliers but discovered that only about 20 of them include small business owners who are minorities, women, veterans or LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning one’s sexual or gender identity, intersex and asexual/aromantic/agender).

While that number was disappointingly low for Margaret Chamberlain, OneAZ’s vice president of risk management, she said she expects the new program will substantially increase the number of underrepresented companies as more people become aware of it.

The credit union is coordinating a campaign to market and promote the supplier diversity database. She also plans to make the database accessible for free to other credit unions, banks and local businesses.

“We launched the page on our website this past April, but we haven’t really marketed it quite as much as we’d like to,” Chamberlain said. “We’re going to include individuals in the three regions of the state, where we have branches, to be representatives of the supplier diversity program, and have them go out to local events and Better Business Bureau events to promote not only the credit union and the services that we have to offer those business members, but the ability for them to be a partner with us.”

The credit union also said it plans to reach out to chamber of commerce organizations and other business groups.

OneAZ serves more than 10,000 businesses.

“Being able to share [the new database] with other credit unions will be great because it’s so difficult to find these businesses to include them in the process because there isn’t one source to go to,” she said. “You have to go to multiple different sources to see whether [the minority, woman, veteran or LGBTQIA-owned businesses] are certified or registered.”

The first step to participate in this program requires small business owners to complete an online registration form on OneAZ’s web page. The application is then reviewed to verify that the company meets the qualifications to be designated as a small business and/or as a minority, women, veteran or LGBTQIA -owned company.

While there are other publicly available databases, Chamberlain has found they are difficult to find and difficult to use as a search tool. The OneAZ database, she said, will be accessible and feature an easy-to-use searchable function.

“At OneAZ, we are committed to creating an environment of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging among the businesses we work with,” OneAZ President/CEO Kim Reedy said. “Our supplier diversity program will help us ensure that businesses that have historically faced disadvantages to access, now have an equal opportunity to partner with us.”

OneAZ launched its “Together is Better” initiative in 2020 with the goal of ensuring diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are seamlessly reflected throughout the credit union’s business operations, associate and member experience, community engagement and vendor relations.

Learn more about OneAZ’s commitment to supplier diversity on the credit union’s website.