Supplier Diversity

The Polk County Board of County Commissioners does business with many companies and wants to make sure everyone gets a fair chance when it comes to competing for contracts.

The Office of Supplier Diversity implements ways to encourage disadvantaged women and minority procurement participation, including training and development for new bidders. Its goal is to ensure a procurement environment in which disadvantaged women and minority-owned businesses have the best opportunity to participate in the county’s procurement process and compete fairly for contracts.

Supplier Diversity works with county agencies and the women and minority business community of Polk through:

Advocacy

The county works to maintain a supplier database that reflects the region, promotes a culture of business and professionalism to those wishing to become vendors, and fosters an atmosphere of diversity, acceptance and equality.

Compliance

The Office of Supplier Diversity monitors organizational and vendor compliance with all rules and guidelines relevant to women, minority and disadvantaged business utilization in county contracting as set forth in county ordinances, state statutes and federal law. This office also reports and makes recommendations to the county manager on how to improve participation in contracts.

• Creates and reviews utilization plans and makes recommendations
• Makes recommendations to approve or reject participation waivers, substitutions and modifications on county contracts
• Conducts investigations to monitor contract compliance

Outreach

Seminars and workshops are provided to help enhance the understanding and desire of women and minority owned businesses that want to become vendors for the county. Events like Minority Vendor Day, the monthly How to Do Business with Polk County meetings and the quarterly workshops on topics about running and owning a business help make vendors aware of the services and opportunities available with the county. These workshops are done in partnership with the Central Florida Business Diversity Council, Central & North Florida Minority Supplier Development Council, Women Business Enterprise Network Council, National Association of Women Business Owners and the state’s Office of Supplier Diversity.

Resources