ABC Recognized for SWaM Efforts
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (left) presents the SWaM award to Procurement and Diversity Program Coordinator LaTiscia Fowlkes (middle) and Policy, Analysis and Support Services Director Claiborne Watkins.
The Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) was recently awarded the Governor's SWaM Champion Award, (large agency category), for its outstanding effort to increase business opportunities for Small, Women- and Minority-owned (SWaM) companies.
Claiborne Watkins, Virginia ABC director of procurement and support services, and LaTiscia Fowlkes, procurement and diversity program coordinator, were both on hand to receive the award at the Department of General Services Public Procurement Forum luncheon in Hampton on November 16, 2009.
Virginia ABC increased the number of contracts awarded to SWaM businesses by 40 percent during Fiscal Year 2009. "We knew employees would be dedicated to using SWaM vendors," said Watkins. "We just had to make them more aware of the services SWaM vendors were offering."
SWaM vendors provided ABC with a wide variety of goods and services, including point of sale hardware such as cash registers and barcode scanners, security services, flooring and counters for retail stores, and janitorial services for the Central Office.
"The commitment from our small purchase card holders, regional managers and store personnel in supporting the agency's SWaM initiative was instrumental in helping ABC reach our goals," Fowlkes added. "It is a tremendous honor for the agency, and we will continue to build upon the foundation that has been created."
According to a news release on the governor's Web site, the commonwealth's expenditures for SWaM businesses increased from $674 million in 2006 to $1.8 billion in 2009.