Watch to learn more about PNC's Supplier Diversity Program

PNC’s Supplier Diversity Program seeks to develop relationships with business enterprises that are at least 51% owned, operated and controlled by minorities, women, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, veterans, service disabled veterans, people with disabilities as well as small and disadvantaged business enterprises.

We want to work with more businesses like yours. As a program participant, you will:

• Be asked to register our supplier database: The PNC Supplier Diversity Team uses the supplier database to find the goods and services we need
• Be contacted with next steps when there is a sourcing event that is relevant to your company’s profile
• Have access to consultancy and support from PNC Supplier Diversity team
• Receive event information and educational opportunities that the team feels would be of interest to you

PNC's Supplier Diversity Program relies on a tiered approach to make sure diverse suppliers have the maximum amount of opportunities when participating in the program. The concepts of “Tier 1” and “Tier 2” are widely used in the Supplier Diversity field. The “tier” is relative to the purchaser. PNC views a Tier 1 Supplier as a supplier that directly invoices PNC for goods and services rendered. A Tier 2 supplier is a supplier that invoices the Tier 1 supplier for goods and services rendered. Learn more about each tier below.

PNC Tier 1 Supplier Diversity Program

The Tier 1 supplier program enables PNC to work directly with diverse suppliers. When a sourcing opportunity arises, a PNC Sourcing Specialist will reach out to diverse suppliers that are registered in our Supplier Diversity Portal and qualify for a particular RFI/RFP^[1]

If a contract is awarded to a diverse supplier, the supplier will start a Tier 1 supplier relationship with PNC. The amount of which PNC spends with this diverse supplier is called "Tier 1 diversity spend" and will be tracked and reported on a regular basis.

To participate in PNC’s Supplier Diversity Program and to understand more about processes and opportunities for diverse suppliers, read more about our Process for Diverse Suppliers

PNC Tier 2 Supplier Diversity Program

This program is one of the most impactful efforts of PNC Supplier Diversity Program. PNC launched the Tier 2 program to increase opportunities for diverse and small businesses. Under this effort, PNC works with its non-diverse suppliers to establish diverse spend goals and strategies when working with PNC.

By doing this, PNC encourages its suppliers to work with more diverse-owned and small businesses, as subcontractors  to provide products and services. This spend is called Tier 2 diverse spend and is tracked and reported by PNC.

If you have any specific question about diversity certification, please use our Supplier Contact Form for clarification and direction.

PNC Supplier Diversity Program relies on a tiered approach to make sure diverse suppliers have the maximum amount of opportunities by participating in the program. The “Tier” is relative to the Purchaser.

• PNC views a Tier 1 Supplier as a supplier that invoices PNC for goods and services rendered directly.
• A Tier 2 supplier is a supplier that invoices the Tier 1 supplier for goods and services rendered.

When a PNC Tier 1 supplier is a non-diverse business, PNC encourages its non-diverse Tier 1 supplier to subcontract or work with diverse suppliers. The spend that the Tier 1 supplier has with diverse suppliers in that regard is considered as Tier 2 diverse spend.

PNC’s Tier 2 Definition

At PNC, we track and report Tier 2 spend as either direct or indirect. The differences are explained below:

Direct Spend
This is the amount that PNC spends with a Tier 2 diverse supplier through PNC’s prime supplier for services/products that directly supports PNC’s business needs. These purchases must be able to be directly traced back to a specific agreement between PNC and some association.

One example of Tier 2 direct spending would be a large technology firm contracting with a diverse-owned firm (aka Tier 2 diverse supplier) to provide IT staff augmentation services to PNC (in support of the contract between PNC and the large technology company).

A second example would be a PNC general contractor outsourcing to a diverse mill work company (aka Tier 2 diverse supplier) in order to provide check desks to a new PNC Branch.

Indirect Spend
This is the amount that PNC’s suppliers spend with diverse businesses in support of a Tier 1 supplier’s overall operations and business. This spend is not related to a specific PNC’s business need, but indirectly contributes to the business that supplier has with PNC. A company can have both direct and indirect diversity spend.

One example of Tier 2 indirect spend would be a PNC supplier with $1,000,000 in total company sales and $50,000 in total spend with diverse suppliers. This Tier 1 supplier has sold a total $200,000 (20%) worth of goods and services to PNC. In this case, PNC considers 20% of the prime supplier’s diversity spend as Tier 2 indirect diverse spend. Therefore, the indirect diverse spend that the supplier reports to PNC is 20% of $50,000 diversity spend, which is $10,000.

Such calculations are automated within our reporting system once the required information is submitted.

Visit Tier 2 Reporting to learn more about how large and non-diverse owned businesses report tier 2 diverse spend.