NCIMED presents annual awards
(pictured above: NCIMED’s 2014 business diversity honorees (from left) Derek Cantey, Larnie G. Horton and Bank of America, represented by Vonshe Jenkins.)
Two business executives and a major corporation have been honored by the North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development (NCIMED) for their leadership in expanding business diversity.
The nonprofit awarded its President’s Award to Derek Cantey, senior supplier diversity manager at Wells Fargo; its Robert J. Brown Trailblazer Award to Larnie G. Horton; and the Corporate Diversity Award to Bank of America.
“These recipients understand that globalization and shifting demographics make supplier diversity a business imperative,” said NCIMED President Andrea Harris. “They demonstrate by their actions that supplier diversity is achievable and desirable. They set the bar for their competitors and they drive economic growth.”
Cantey is responsible for Wells Fargo’s supplier diversity strategic planning, diversity sourcing and procurement, education and outreach, and he acts as the department’s principal contact to the company’s lines of business. He has held numerous positions within the sourcing and procurement department of Wells Fargo during his 25 years with the company.
He is also chairman of the Financial Services Roundtable for Supplier Diversity, an industry group of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, and serves on the boards of directors of Carolinas Minority Supplier Development Council, National Minority Supplier Development Council and Women Business Enterprise National Council.
Horton was the first African American assistant to former N.C. Gov. James Holshouser. Under the governor’s leadership, Horton recruited and hired approximately 5,000 minorities for statewide and cabinet-level positions. He was director of the first U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Minority Business Enterprise in North Carolina, the owner and operator of numerous businesses and recipient of numerous small business awards.
He is past president of Kittrell College, a U.S. Army veteran and an ordained minister.
Bank of America spent $2.3 billion with diverse businesses in 2012. The company encourages supplier diversity by using diverse suppliers in the communities it serves. Its Supplier Diversity and Development Program will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2015.
Durham-based NCIMED, a nonprofit consulting and services organization, helps small businesses start and grow, large corporations diversify their supply chains, and local and state governments expand their business base.
