TUCSON–Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) Chairwoman Lea Márquez Peterson on October 4th held a Second Annual Supplier Diversity Summit to hear presentations from regulated utilities on their supplier and corporate board diversity programs. 

The Summit also featured a Business Expo to allow diverse owners of small businesses such as minority-owned, women-owned, and veteran-owned to network with representatives of the electric, water, gas, railroad and telecommunications industry. 

The Summit was held in-person and virtually to allow hybrid attendance for presenters and small business owners. The Business Expo was held in-person at the ACC building in Downtown Phoenix. To view the recording of the presentations please visit azcc.gov/live.

“We were thrilled to host the Second Annual Supplier Diversity Summit at the Arizona Corporation Commission to hear how regulated utilities have been making progress on their efforts to diversify their corporate vendors and suppliers. It is important that we monitor the procurement efforts of our regulated utilities to ensure that they are reaching out to business owners that are representative of our broader population.”

“We partnered with local chambers of commerce and trade organizations from across the state to ensure that Arizona’s businesses are involved in the conversation. Our partners for the event included Arizona MDBA Business Center, Arizona Minority Contractors Assoc, Tucson Hispanic Chamber, Black Chamber of Arizona, NAWBO Tucson, NAWBO Phoenix, Marana Chamber, Springerville-Eager Chamber, Greater Phoenix Chamber and, of course, Hispanics in Energy.”

“As chairwoman of the Arizona Corporation Commission and the first Latina to hold statewide office in Arizona, I host this annual event as a way to learn what our utilities are doing to ensure diversity considerations are included in their supplier procurement programs, as well as how they are improving year over year. This year we heard from 14 different utilities that operate in Arizona, each making progress on tracking and building out their supplier diversity initiatives.”

“It is so important as a regulator to support minority, veteran, and women-owned businesses in Arizona and ensure that the utilities that operate in our state are being intentional about supporting these critical businesses that help keep our economy thriving.”

“In the coming months I will be publishing a tracking sheet to show how our biggest utilities are faring with their diversity goals, and of course, next fall I look forward to hosting another summit.”