SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) Latino Employee Resource Group was named as the nation’s top Hispanic ERG at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s (USHCC) sixth annual ERG Summit and Corporate Challenge. The utility, one of five finalists and the lone regional nominee, received the top honor at the USHCC’s national convention on Sept. 21 in Houston.
The award was based on four criteria, which align with PG&E’s goals of providing safe, reliable, affordable and clean energy services to its customers:
1. Careers: How the ERG helps accelerate development and advancement of its members within the company.
2. Community: The ERG’s involvement with academic scholarships and within the utility’s service area.
3. Culture: Efforts that create inclusion and raise the cultural pride felt by their community.
4. Commerce: Participation in the company’s marketing and branding efforts.
PG&E’s Latino ERG received the honor for:
- Holding employee workshops on personal development (such as creating personal development plans and how to develop leadership skills).
- Participation in various community efforts (like collecting long-sleeve shirts for Central Valley farm workers and holding an annual youth camp for students from underserved areas).
- Having a presence at events which help promote the utility’s cultural diversity (such as Carnaval San Francisco and Festival de Nopal).
- Working with local organizations and Hispanic media to educate the Latino community on energy efficiency programs, gas and electric safety and calling 811 before digging.
“Our Latino ERG has consistently shown how we can work together to build a better California. They’ve inspired Hispanic employees to achieve their full potential. They’ve empowered Hispanics within our communities through scholarships, educated them on our energy services and improved their quality of life through sponsoring various local events. The Latino ERG has set an example for our other nine ERGs to follow,” said Laura Butler, PG&E vice president of talent management and chief diversity officer.
For more than 30 years, PG&E’s Latino ERG (one of the oldest in the company) has been committed to improving the professional development of its members while helping the communities within the company’s service area. The main purpose of the ERG is to increase the role of Hispanic/Latino employees within the company. Since 2004, the Latino ERG has also awarded more than $500,000 in college scholarships to students.
PG&E Named to the USHCC’s “Million Dollar Club”
In addition, PG&E was named to the USHCC’s “Million Dollar Club” for the second consecutive year. The utility was honored for spending $477 million with Hispanic-owned businesses in 2014. PG&E was inducted into the Million Dollar Club during the organization’s national convention on Sept. 22 in Houston.
The Million Dollar Club was established to recognize corporations and procurement executives who demonstrate an unwavering commitment to Hispanic business enterprises through their work with Hispanic suppliers. The 2015 honorees invested a minimum of $25 million to more than $400 million in Hispanic-owned businesses.
“Our many business partnerships, including those in the Hispanic community, have helped these enterprises to grow, hire and strengthen California’s economy. These relationships not only reflect our diverse customer base, but also help us work together in building a better California to deliver safe, reliable, affordable and clean energy,” said Gun Shim, PG&E vice president of supply chain management.
PG&E has spent more than $2 billion with diverse suppliers for three consecutive years. In fact, diverse suppliers have accounted for more than 40 percent of the utility’s total spend for two straight years. PG&E has also surpassed the California Public Utilities Commission’s diverse spending goal of 21.5 percent for nine consecutive years.
In the last five years, PG&E’s total spend with Hispanic-owned businesses has increased 86 percent ($477,513,257 in 2014 from $256,408,228 in 2010). In that same period, spend with Hispanic male-owned enterprises has gone up 93 percent ($366,147,457 from $189,869,798) and Hispanic female-owned enterprises spend has seen a 67 percent rise ($111,365,800 from $66,538,430).
Over the last 12 months, PG&E has been very active in strengthening and improving relationships with its diverse suppliers. For example, the utility has played host to business-building workshops for veteran-, African-American-, LGBT- and Hispanic-owned enterprises. Earlier this year, PG&E was recognized as one of America’s top corporations for support of women’s business enterprises in 2014 by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/ and www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/index.page.
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