​Supplier diversity is a key part of the company's commitment to powering the economies of its local and diverse communities

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 11, 2023) — Pepco purchased $352 million in goods and services from diversity-certified suppliers in 2022, accounting for 43 percent of the company's total yearly purchases. Up $31 million from 2021, this is the most spent with diverse suppliers in the company's more than 100-year history.

"We take tremendous pride in growing our commitments with local and diverse suppliers," said Rodney Oddoye, senior vice president of Governmental, Regulatory and External Affairs at Pepco Holdings. "These supplier diversity partnerships are just one of the many ways that our customers and communities benefit from our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. We make these investments to power the economies of the local and diverse communities that we serve."

For Pepco, as well as its parent company Exelon, diversity, equity and inclusion are core foundational values—both in the workplace and in its engagement with the communities it serves. Over the past five years, Exelon, the nation's largest utility company with more than 10 million customers, has spent more than $13 billion with diversity-certified businesses, including more than $2.8 billion in 2022. Because of its commitment to diverse suppliers, Exelon is a member of the Billion Dollar Roundtable, a top-level national advocacy organization that promotes corporate supplier diversity excellence.

"Since becoming a contractor of choice for Pepco, our company and its employees have realized tremendous growth and opportunity," said Eric Holland, president of Holland Enterprise LLC. "As a small and local Certified Business Enterprise and member of the Capital Region Minority Supplier Council, the partnership with Pepco immediately and positively impacted our development. The strong internal support, along with exposure to the world-class business processes of Exelon has positioned our company to compete at a higher level."

Last year, Exelon announced a company-funded $36 million Racial Equity Capital Fund to support minority-owned businesses in the areas where its utilities operate, including Pepco's service area. The Racial Equity Capital Fund was established to help minority businesses obtain capital, fueling growth and spurring job opportunities in communities that have historically been underserved, under-resourced and overlooked by investors and traditional funding sources.

As part of Pepco's commitment to expand its procurement efforts with local diversity-certified suppliers, the Empowerment Academy, formerly Target 25, provides potential suppliers opportunities to learn more about Pepco's procurement processes, as well as its parent company Exelon, advancing the growth and development of each vendor's relationship with the energy company. Since establishing the Empowerment Academy, Pepco has graduated 17 diversity-certified suppliers and looks to expand this opportunity to even more local, diverse suppliers.

Companies interested in working with Pepco and other Exelon companies can register and provide pertinent information, including their diversity status, at exeloncorp.com/Suppliers.  

To learn more about Pepco, visit The Source, Pepco's online newsroom. Find additional information by visiting pepco.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/PepcoConnect and on Twitter at twitter.com/PepcoConnect. Pepco's mobile app is available at pepco.com/MobileApp.