Will Launch at NMSDC Annual Conference; Highlights over 1,400
Products Offered by Certified Minority, Women, Disabled, Veteran and
Small Businesses
BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 26, 2009--
Office Depot (NYSE: ODP), a leading global provider of office products
and services, today announced the release of the Company’s
first Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB) catalog, which
highlights the Company’s current HUB suppliers and an assortment of more
than 1,400 items ranging from Hess white board cleaning products and
Smead file folders to Neutral Posture desk chairs and Lepages packaging
tape. Office Depot is the first Company to create such a catalog, which
features its complete diversity product offering and is available to
national corporations and accounts.
HUBs are enterprises that have not historically had equal opportunities.
Examples include certified minority, women, disabled, veteran and small
businesses. By purchasing from Office Depot’s HUB catalog, customers are
able to fulfill their second tier HUB sending requirements.
Additionally, Office Depot hopes to inspire future HUB suppliers to
participate in the Company’s sourcing opportunity process so that they
can be identified and their products can be included in future catalogs.
“Office Depot has a commitment to the economic development of the
communities in which we work and live,” said Steve Schmidt, President of
Office Depot’s Business Solutions Division. “This commitment is evident
in our multi-dimensional approach to small business development and our
Supply Chain Diversity Program, which assists HUBs in building
community, business, and customer relationships that inspire
organizational growth and empowerment within every aspect of our
business.”
The Office Depot HUB catalog, which will be officially released at the
National Minority Supplier Diversity Council (NMSDC) Annual Conference
Trade Show in New Orleans today, will also be available online at www.officedepot.com/diversity
for customer orders in early November.
Office Depot will release the HUB catalog at the NMSDC Conference to
help celebrate the Company’s tenth year of exhibiting at the event.
Additionally, Office Depot will host a dinner at the Conference for
leading supplier diversity professionals from across the country. Office
Depot’s Director of Supplier Diversity, Robert McCormes-Ballou, serves
on the NMSDC Executive Committee.
About the National Minority Supplier Diversity Council
The National Minority Supplier Diversity Council (NMSDC) provides a
direct link between corporate America and minority-owned businesses.
NMSDC is one of the country’s leading business membership organizations.
It was chartered in 1972 to provide increased procurement and business
opportunities for minority businesses of all sizes.
Office Depot’s Commitment to Diversity
In 2005, through a thorough and intensive process that engaged members
of the Company’s Global Officer Coalition, Office Depot adopted a new
vision statement – Delivering Winning Solutions That Inspire Worklife™ -
and identified and defined those values that guide, inform and influence
every area of our operations. One of those core values was the concept
of “Inclusion.” For Office Depot, Inclusion means that we approach all
opportunities and challenges by respecting the diverse thoughts,
beliefs, backgrounds, cultures and energies of all associates, customers
and suppliers.
The Company’s commitment to Inclusion inspires Office Depot as it buys
and sells products and recruits new associates. As a global company that
offers an extensive range of products to our customers – and that also
makes a significant investment in supplies and services to keep business
running smoothly – Office Depot constantly searches for ways to partner
with minority and women-owned businesses. Office Depot accomplishes this
through a multifaceted approach, which includes fostering a diverse
vendor and supplier network. The Company’s diversity goals are to
increase and strengthen the vendor diversity network to reflect the
global marketplace, and to support the growth of women and
minority-owned suppliers.
Office Depot works with partners like NMSDC to expand the capacity of
the organization’s members and to help them compete more effectively in
the office supply marketplace. These efforts help Office Depot’s
partners achieve long-term independent business viability with
sustainable economic growth.
For more information on Office Depot’s diversity initiatives, please
visit www.officedepot.com/diversity.
About Office Depot
Every day, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of
customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as
Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides products and services to
its customers through 1,593 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales
force, top-rated catalogs and a $4.3 billion e-commerce operation.
Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $14.5 billion, and
employs about 42,000 associates around the world. The Company provides
more office products and services to more customers in more countries
than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or
through affiliates in 47 countries.
Office Depot’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index. Additional
press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6081687&lang=en
Source: Office Depot
Office Depot
Melissa Perlman, 561-438-0704
Melissa.Perlman@officedepot.com
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