On February 14, 2023, ICSC, the member organization for industry advancement, announced its participation in an industry-wide alliance, The Commercial Real Estate Diverse Supplier (CREDS) Consortium, to foster supplier diversity in the real estate industry. CREDS, comprised of seven real estate trade associations, aims to accommodate the rising demand from real estate firms for increased supply chain diversity and promotes the use of services provided by Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs).
ICSC works with CREW Network, NAIOP, Nareit, the National Multifamily Housing Council, Mortgage Bankers Association, and the Real Estate Roundtable as a founding member of CREDS Consortium. In addition, the alliance has launched a pilot program of two years with the leading supplier management software platform SupplierGATEWAY to help their members with tracking, identifying, reporting, and engaging with MWBEs.
Members of ICSC can sign up for SupplierGATEWAY's software platform at a discounted price to search for, connect with, and even hire MWBE suppliers. Through the CREDS portal, they will also be able to post their purchase orders and have other opportunities to do business. During the pilot program, the Consortium wishes to learn more about trends in supplier diversity in the real estate industry.
Tom McGee, ICSC President & CEO, said, "ICSC is committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the Marketplaces Industry and giving our members ways to identify and source MWBEs is one way we can do this." He also said, "The CREDS Consortium helps meet the growing demand for diversity in service providers and offers our members direct access to the tools and resources they need to support their own DEI goals. We are proud to be a founding member of the Consortium and look forward to working closely with the partner organizations to further this important initiative."
(Source: Business Wire)
About ICSC
Founded in 1957, ICSC is a member organization that works to improve the industry. It promotes and raises the status of the places where people shop, eat, work, play, and gather as important parts of communities and economies. It creates experiences that bring people together and make deals happen. It also fights hard to change public policy, creates high-impact marketing and public relations that change people's minds, gives professionals a solid foundation for success, and makes forward-thinking content with actionable insights that further drive growth in the industry.