Indianapolis is making strides towards bringing more business to diversified suppliers. 

Emil Ekiyor, the Founder of InnoPower, says the city of Indianapolis is working hard to create a fair and equitable business environment that attracts more diversified suppliers to bid for contracts. Ekiyor says minority business owners are at the forefront of this transformative era in business.

Ekiyor says there is a “Huge opportunity for supplier diversity,” in Indiana also. He says the state is in a unique position to nurture minority-owned businesses who want to become more involved in bidding for private and public contracts. But, he says Indianapolis can’t take its foot off the gas just yet. 

Along with improving the ability to track when, where, and what types of minority-owned companies make bids on contracts, Ekiyor wants to see enhanced metrics showing which companies are winning contracts and why. 

Ekiyor is also focused on helping those businesses that do not win bids. He wants more resources dedicated to helping them improve their operations so they have a stronger bid position in the future.  

In addition, Ekiypr says he wants to see a centralized app built where minority-owned suppliers can easily find what contracts are out for bid, and businesses can see what minority-owned suppliers are ready to take on more business. Something like this would be a “game changer,” says Ekiyor.

While Ekiyor says Indiana is “way ahead,” he stresses that the state and city need to continue to work to attract more diverse suppliers to the market.