Supplier Diversity Program

Supplier Diversity is the proactive business strategy which encourages maximizing opportunities to identify, educate, develop, and utilize historically underutilized and historically underrepresented businesses, to include both small businesses and those diverse in ownership and operation. This process ensures BD maintains a diverse supply base in the procurement of goods and services.

By maximizing opportunities to identify, educate, develop, and utilize diverse suppliers, the BD Supplier Diversity Program contributes to:

Good fiscal stewardship
Economic inclusion, development, and parity
Positive social and societal impacts

Ultimately contributing to the improvement of health and well-being in the communities of our customers and patients.

Currently, the BD Supplier Diversity Program covers United States and Puerto Rico operations, with international expansion planed in the near future.

BD recognizes the following small business classifications, identified by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 19—Small Business Programs:

Small business (SBE)
Small disadvantaged business (SDB/DBE)
SBA 8(a) Business Development Program business(SBA 8a)
HUBZone small business (HUBZone)
Women-owned small business (WOSB)
Minority-owned small business
Veteran-owned small business (VOSB)
Service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB)
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-owned (LGBT) small business

Small businesses interested in a supplier relationship with BD through our Supply Diversity Program must be established as a small business organized for profit, located in, and operating primarily within the United States.

For additional information on whether your company is eligible to qualify as a small business under any of the above classifications, refer to the U.S. Small Business Administration website.

Additional diverse classifications

In addition to the designations tracked as small businesses, BD recognizes the following diverse business classifications:

Women-owned business
Minority-owned business, including:
- Alaskan Native and Native American-owned business
- Black or African American-owned business
- Hispanic-owned business
- Asian American-owned business
Disabled-owned business
Veteran-owned business, including:
- Service-disabled Veteran-owned business
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-owned (LGBT) business
Historically black colleges and universities
AbilityOne business

Suppliers that qualify as small businesses or diverse-owned businesses are required to provide BD with evidence of certifications through either an approved third-party certifying organization or use of the BD Business Size & Diversity Self-Certification Form (available through the BD Supplier Inclusion Portal).

Required third-party certifications:

The following small and diverse business categories require third-party certification/verification:

All Small Businesses should ensure their business is registered and their registration maintained annually in the U.S. System for Awards Management (SAM) database. This process will create a Unique Entity ID (UEI) which is expected to register as a small business with BD.
Initiate registration in the System for Awards Management (SAM), here: https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration
Maintain existing records in SAM, here: https://sam.gov/content/home
SBA 8(a) small businesses must also be actively enrolled in the SBA 8(a) Business Development Program. Proof of active enrollment, provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), must be provided to BD through the BD Supplier Inclusion Portal.
Further details about this program can be found here: https://www.sba.gov/federal-contracting/contracting-assistance-programs/8a-business-development-program.
Application for this program can be initiated here: https://certify.sba.gov/
HUBZone small businesses must also be certified by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Certification, provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), must be provided to BD through the BD Supplier Inclusion Portal and updated annually to maintain this classification.
For more information on HUBZone qualifications and certification please refer to the SBA website here: https://www.sba.gov/federal-contracting/contracting-assistance-programs/hubzone-program
Apply for HUBZone certification using the SBA General Login System here: https://connect.sba.gov/
Veteran- and Service-disabled Veteran-owned businesses must also be able to show evidence of verification or progress toward verification through the Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert). The verification process can be initiated here: https://veterans.certify.sba.gov/
All businesses that do not meet the SBA definition for Small Business (considered large businesses) but hold other diversity classifications must submit corresponding third-party certifications.
Examples of approved 3rd party certifying agencies include:

For more information on certifying agencies, contact the BD Supplier Diversity Office.

All small business and diverse-owned suppliers are encouraged to register within the BD Supplier Inclusion Portal. Our procurement professionals regularly access the site to search for qualified small business and diverse suppliers to include in bidding opportunities. In addition, we keep certification information in this database up-to-date to provide aggregate reporting as required by the United States Federal Government and to provide information on the BD Supplier Diversity Program to other BD customers.

For more information, contact the BD Supplier Diversity Office.

If you have an existing scorecard, you would like to participate in the ESG desktop assessment program or you have any questions please reach out to BDSupplierDiversity@BD.com