Federal, state, and local governments in the United States have always been the strongest force behind supplier diversity programs, and they continue to be the largest drivers on minority, women veteran, and small businesses. However, supplier diversity programs can be confusing and intimidating to both government staff and vendors. To meet compliance requirements, one must track, report and visualize diverse spend data from increasingly varied and wide-ranging sources. Handling the reporting process manually relative to current requirements is practically impossible, error-prone and expensive. “There are many challenges that government agencies face but the most critical one is limited resources and unfunded mandates. Governments rarely have enough staff, time, money, and technology to digitize and eliminate inefficient paper-based processes. We continue to find organizations that are still collecting spend data on paper forms. But we are solving that challenge,” says Justin Talbot-Stern, CEO of B2Gnow. The company provides software which allows government organizations of all sizes to streamline and improve the effectiveness of their supplier diversity programs.
B2Gnow’s turn-key, hosted SaaS software solution removes the paper from the equation by automating data-gathering, tracking, reporting, vendor management, and administrative processes. Due to its unmated staff expertise with all types of diversity programs and unparalleled technology at a cost-effective price, the company and its software enables the government customers to focus on meeting diversity goals and not on tedious manual processes. The company supports all types of governments, including cities, counties, states, airports, transit authorities, certification agencies, housing authorities, schools universities, utilities, port authorities, and more. “We can save your organization 60 percent to 80 percent of the time spent on administrative and clerical compliance activities while enhancing the impact and reach of your program,” adds Talbot-Stern.
B2Gnow is offered as a unique and cost-effective modular solution. With over twenty modules, B2Gnow can structure a combination of services to specifically address the unique needs of each client. Each module is highly configurable, allowing B2Gnow to further adjust the software to a clients needs without costly custom development. This modular approach also extends to a pricing model where clients only pay for the modules they need.
The company’s comprehensive solution helps U.S. DOT funded recipients (state DOTs, transit authorities, and airports) comply with all aspects of 49 CFR Part 26 (DBE) and Part 23 (ACDBE) regulations, including generating the Uniform Reports, monitoring up to ten tiers of subcontractors, tracking, prompt payment, and facilitating compliance on large and small projects.
Organizations can simultaneously track state and locally funded contracts so that all types of utilization – DBE, MBE, WBE, SBE, DVBE, etc. – are captured. Certification agencies can streamline the application process for diverse firms and optimize their internal certification review. The Outreach and Events module ensures the vendor community is fully aware of upcoming procurement opportunities, networking events, and educational programs. Other modules assist agencies with online vendor registration and pre-qualification, workforce tracking, contract-specific goal setting, subcontractor utilization plans, on-the-job training reporting, tier 2 spend reporting, sales reporting and more. “Our software is designed to streamline and automatically while the system takes care of the administrative workload. The impact on and organization’s efficiency cannot be overstated, and this has driven customer satisfaction and a nearly 100 percent renewal rate over the past 20 years,” states Frank Begalke, COO of B2Gnow.
Currently B2Gnow is working with 250 clients across the U.S. with over $1.3 trillion in monitored contracts. Every system provides best-practice examples that have been adopted by other organizations and the positive impact of B2Gnow resonates across the country. One agency needed to monitor compliance on a multi-billion dollar project with 600 subcontractors spread over five tiers. Multi-layered federal, state, and local reporting requirements created a massive challenge for the organization. B2Gnow transitioned the agency in just three months to a 100 percent online reporting process, eliminating hardcopy and emailed documentation, reducing reporting time, and bringing them into compliance across the board.
Utilizing its 20 years of experience and success, B2Gnow will continue to deliver exceptional service and solutions well into the future. The company engages continuously with customers to identify trends in the diversity marketplace and build solutions to address these changes.
