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Diversity Development Program FAQ
Office Depot is committed to improving the industrial climate as well as improving the economic growth and development of the communities, in which we live and serve. To this end we have established a dedicated Vendor Diversity Development team whose ultimate goal is to facilitate the accomplishment of this endeavor. As a company we are increasing our effort to recruit, mentor, train and retain historically underutilized vendors. Office Depot is dedicated to increasing the amount of product and services that we obtain directly from MWDVE owned businesses.

1. How does a MWDVE business start a business relationship with Office Depot?

  • There are two types of suppliers: those for resale and those for internal use.
  • All suppliers must be registered with Diversity Information Resources (www.diversityinforesources.com)
  • Suppliers with products or service they want to resell through Office Depot must completely fill out the form located at http://partner.officedepot.com. Download the vendor profile form and send it along with a copy of one of the accepted certification to Office Depot Vendor Diversity, 2200 Old Germantown Road, MC: 32B3050, Delray Beach, FL 33445.
  • Suppliers that just want to sell their services or products to Office Depot for use by Office Depot should see our "How To Do Business with Office Depot" brochure on the Internet. It may answer specific questions about certain buying agents and their contact information at Office Depot. Click on the Vendor Information link on the left-hand side menu. You will find the "How To Do Business with Office Depot" file there.
  • We have established a single point of contact for all MWDVE suppliers: vendordiversity@officedepot.com.
2. Who can I talk to about my ideas/concepts, patents, products, solutions, etc. that can help Office Depot achieve its goals and objectives?
  • Office Depot frequently receives requests from individuals not employed by our company who wish for us to review information that they believe would be valuable for use in some phase of Office Depot's business. Our experience has shown us that the best way to review this type of proposal while avoiding any potential misunderstandings is for Office Depot to only review information that is publicly disclosed in the form of a filed utility patent application or issued utility patent. Therefore, Office Depot will not accept for review any of the following documents:
    1. Unpatented ideas or information (including documents filed through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Document Disclosure program);
    2. Unfiled patent applications;
    3. Design patents, including design patent applications;
    4. Provisional patent applications;
    5. Copyrights, including copyrighted materials, applications to register copyrights, and copyright registrations;
    6. Trademarks, including trademark registrations;
    7. Promotional materials; and
    8. Any type of explanatory materials, including studies, reports, newspaper articles or photographs. If you submit any of these eight categories of information to us, we will not review it. Instead, we will return it to you unreviewed.
3. What businesses are eligible for certification through the Office Depot Diversity Development program?
  • Office Depot does not certify businesses. We work closely with a few organizations that certify these companies as MWBEs.
  • Any business that is certified through the NMSDC, WBENC, or the state as:
  • MBE businesses-any for profit business regardless of size located in the United States or it’s trust territories which has been certified through the NMSDC as being at least 51% owned , operated and controlled by a Minority person who is also a US citizen. Minority is defined as Asian Indian, Asian Pacific, African-American, Hispanic and Native American.
  • WBE businesses- any for profit business regardless of size located in the United States or it’s trust territories which has been certified through its State as being at least 51% owned , operated and controlled by a Woman who is also a US citizen. A woman owned business is one owned by one or more women regardless of ethnic origin that is certified by WBENC.
  • DVE businesses- any for profit business regardless of size located in the United States or it’s trust territories which has been certified through its state as being at least 51% owned , operated and controlled by a Disabled Veteran, a blind or severely handicapped person who is also a US citizen. A disabled owned business is one owned by one or more disabled persons with a permanent mental or physical impairment. Certified by state agencies.
4. What does MWDVE mean?
  • MWDVE-Minority, Woman, Disabled, or Veteran Enterprise.
5. Is Office Depot considered a Minority Vendor?
  • No, Office Depot is not a Minority Vendor. However, we can facilitate their procurement process so that other contract customers may receive Tier-two credit based on their choice of product, which will enable them to meet their minority spending goals.
6. I have heard people mention Tier-one credit and Tier-two credit, what do these terms mean?
  • Tier-One Credit -this is a credit that companies receive for purchasing directly from a MWBE firm. Office Depot is not a minority or woman owned company so our customers cannot receive this credit for purchasing from us, however they can receive tier two credit.
  • Tier-Two Credit -this is a credit that companies receive for purchasing MWBE product or services indirectly through a supplier. By purchasing products or services of MWBE businesses through us, our customers receive tier two credit.
7. How does the Office Depot Diversity Development team ensure that MWDVE businesses are included in the supplier selection process?
  • We have developed an internal process to identify, attract, and retain historically underutilized businesses as suppliers.
  • We attend minority trade fairs, seminars, and business card exchanges sponsored by National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and Minority, Woman, Disabled Veteran Enterprise (MWDVE) affiliated councils to identify and establish contact with minority businesses.
8. How can I become certified?
  • Please contact the NMSDC or WBENC for the affiliate nearest to you.
  • NMSDC-1040 Avenue of the Americas, Second Floor
    New York, New York 10018
    Tel: 212-944-2430
    Fax: 212-719-9611
    Website: www.nmsdcus.org
  • WBENC-1710 H Street, NW, 7th Floor
    Washington, DC 20006
    Phone: (202) 872-5515 · Fax: (202) 872-5505
    Website: www.wbenc.org
9. Does Office Depot guarantee contracts for MWDVE suppliers?
  • Our commitment is to provide opportunities and include MWDVEs in our procurement process. We cannot guarantee contracts.
10. Does Office Depot require preferred suppliers to utilize specific MWBE suppliers?
  • We are in the process of including MWBE requirements in our RFP processes through the company. However, we do not dictate which companies our preferred suppliers utlize as MWBE strategic partners.
11. How many MWDVE items do we carry in the current catalog? How can the items be identified?
  • There are over 800 MWDVE items that we list in the current edition of BSD Contract and Commercial catalogs.
  • The items can be identified by the blue MWDVE logo, which is printed after the name of each MWDVE item.
  • There is a page that gives an overview of our vendor diversity program and lists our catalogued MWDVE vendors.
  • There is also a vendor diversity index in the back of each catalog that lists the MWDVE items we carry and the pages where they are located.
12. How effective has the Corporate Vendor Diversity program been since its inception?
  • Office Depot Industry Success Measurements:
    Industry Awards since 2000
    • One of America’s Top 8 Corporations for Women’s Business Enterprises – Women’s Business Enterprise National Council
    • Primary Vendor of the year - Bank of America
    • Minority Business Development Corporate Advocate of the year -Bank of America
    • Primary Vendor of the Year - Bell Atlantic
    • Corporation of the Year - Vanguard Chronicle
    • Majority Supplier of the Year, MBE HUB Organization - Proctor and Gamble
    • One of America’s Top 50 Corporations for Multicultural Business Opportunities – Div2000.com
    • President’s Award – Florida Regional Minority Business Council
    • Advocate of the Year – Florida Regional Minority Business Council
13. What organizations are we involved in that deal specifically with Supplier Diversity and what is our role?
  • National Minority Supplier Development Council (www.nmsdcus.org)
    Corporate Member, Office Depot trade fair coordinators
  • Florida Minority Business Development Council (www.frmbc.org)
    Board of Directors, Finance Committee Chair, Business Expo 2001 Committee Chair and Event Director, Buyers and Coordinators Committee Chair
  • Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (www.wbenc.org)
    Corporate Member, Board of Directors, National Certification Committee
  • Women’s Business Development Center of Miami
    Corporate Member, Board of Directors, Certification Committee
  • National Association of Women Business Owners (www.nawbo.org)
    Corporate Member
  • Diversity Resources Incorporated (www.diversityinforesource.com)
    Board of Directors
  • Institute of Supply Management (formerly NAPM – www.napm.org)
    Minority Business Development Group
  • Diversity Speakers, Incorporated
    Registered Speaker
14. What publications do we use to recruit MWBE suppliers and market our Vendor Diversity program?
  • Fortune Magazine
  • Hispanic Network Magazine
  • Minority Business Entrepreneur Magazine
  • Minority Business News Magazine
  • Minorities and Women In Business Magazine
  • Hispanic Magazine
  • Asian Enterprise Magazine
  • American Indian Report
  • Office Depot Corporate Website
15. Who are the members of our Corporate Vendor Diversity team and how can I contact them?