Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/832311
economic empowerment program announced in September 2011. The initiative established goals intended to help empower women through sourc- ing, training and supporting diversity and inclusion. One of the objectives was to stock Wal-Mart shelves with $20 billion in products from female-owned suppli- ers for its U.S. business, and Wal-Mart revealed in late March it had reached the mark. Kathleen McLaughlin, chief sustain- ability officer and president of the Walmart Foundation, said the company sourced about $21.5 billion in products from businesses owned by women over that time. "We want to move now from some- thing we've been doing more on our own to try to foster more of a move- ment," McLaughlin said. "So we thought it would be helpful to essentially recruit a bunch of other companies and get them to also be more public, work together to continue sourcing from women-owned businesses and report the total across all the companies to create a more visible sign of commit- ment from private sector organiza- tions." According to the 2016 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, which was commissioned by American Express, more than 11.3 million U.S. businesses are owned by women. Those businesses employ nearly 9 million people and generate over $1.6 trillion in revenues. The survey also said that between 2007 and 2016 the number of female- owned firms increased by 45 percent, compared with a 9 percent increase in the number of all businesses. Women are now the majority owners of 38 percent of U.S. businesses, up from 29 percent in 2007. Sarah Frey, the chief executive officer of Illinois-based Frey Farms, believes the new collaboration can continue to increase opportunities for female- owned businesses. Frey's company began with a local farm in Illinois and has been a Wal-Mart supplier for more than 20 years. Frey Farms has grown into a national supplier with operations in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri and West Virginia. "It's important we're tracking and reporting those numbers," Frey said. "If you're a female-owned company and you're kind of standing on the sideline and have a product or a service you can provide to one of these companies, maybe understanding this information and knowing it's going to be out there a little more gives you the courage to call on one of these large corporations." In 2014, Wal-Mart promoted women's ownership of businesses by helping fund the creation of the "Women- Owned" logo. The logo can be used by any female-owned supplier certified by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council and WEConnect International, a network that connects women's businesses to qualified buyers around the world. Wal-Mart has 1,500 suppliers that identify as female-owned businesses, including Frey Farms. Frey credited Wal-Mart for its previous five-year initiative as well as the new program intended to further increase visibility. "It takes courage for any company, regardless of your size, to come out and say 'we have a goal, and our goal is $20 billion,'" Frey said. "I remember hearing that [five years ago] and that's the first thing that came to my mind. Wal-Mart is the leader in this, and they just basically doubled down on their commitment by bringing all these other companies." While Wal-Mart will continue reveal- ing its annual spending on products from women's businesses, companies won't be required to share their data publicly as part of the initiative. The collaboration also isn't limited to the nine companies, according to McLaughlin. She hopes the announce- ment will lead others to participate, and Prince-Eason said she began hearing from interested companies right after the summit. "Some suppliers to Wal-Mart who are here and are large companies on their own, they stepped forward to say 'we want to be a part of this,'" Prince-Ea- son said. "The leadership Wal-Mart is taking to draw attention to this is already yielding something." Thursday, June 1, 2017 25 NWA Democrat-Gazette Walmart Shareholders Firms v Continued from Page 19 "It takes courage for any company, regardless of your size, to come out and say 'we have a goal, and our goal is $20 billion.'" — Sarah Frey, chieF executive oFFicer oF illinoiS-baSed Frey FarmS