The Sweeten ACHIEVE application will help increase UMB’s use of diverse suppliers in procurement opportunities.
In 1978, the Maryland General Assembly enacted legislation creating the Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) program to ensure that socially and economically disadvantaged small business owners are included in the state’s procurement and contracting opportunities, which includes the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB).
In 2023, Gov. Wes Moore issued an executive order to further improve upon the state’s MBE program. Each quarter, UMB reports to the state the dollar value and percentage of goods and services obtained from MBE and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (WBE) certified by the Maryland Department of Transportation.
In further support of Maryland’s MBE program, UMB Strategic Sourcing and Acquisition Services (SSAS) has hired Arnold Jolivet as its supplier diversity program manager. Jolivet has been at UMB for just over a year and serves as the University’s MBE liaison to the state of Maryland. He and Keith Gagnon, assistant vice president, SSAS, are overseeing the implementation of UMB's new Sweeten ACHIEVE Supplier Diversity Software, which will help increase UMB’s use of diverse suppliers in procurement opportunities.
“The Sweeten system will allow end-users to identify a broader base of diverse suppliers to procure goods and services,” Jolivet said.
Along with a compliance responsibility, the supplier diversity program aligns with UMB's core values set of Equity and Justice. Using Sweeten to automate the procurement process in support of supplier diversity also aligns with our core values set of Innovation and Discovery.
Maryland has a statewide goal of 29 percent MBE/WBE utilization in its purchases. To achieve that goal, departments are expected to seek out MBE/WBE firms as they make purchases using PCards and purchase requisitions. Individuals who procure goods or services for their departments will be able to use Sweeten ACHIEVE to easily and effectively search for diverse suppliers who sell the goods and services they seek to purchase.
Starting Aug. 20, the Quantum Financials homepage will include a Sweeten Suppler Diversity icon for all Quantum users that will link to the searchable database of certified diverse suppliers.
Quantum users can join SSAS on Aug. 20 at 2 p.m. for a Supplier Diversity Info Session to hear more about how to use this resource. You can join the session directly using this link.
For more information about Sweeten, visit the SSAS Services webpage.