Q&A Session with B2Gnow CEO and Co-founder Justin Talbot-Stern

A insider look at how B2Gnow is helping government, education and private sector organizations simplify diversity management complexities

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 of minority, women, veteran, and small businesses. However, supplier diversity programs can be confusing and intimidating to both government staff and vendors.

In order 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.

In a candid interview with B2GNow Co-Founder and CEO Justin Talbot-Stern, we break down how B2GNow Diversity Management Software is changing the game and solving these challenges with powerful software that allows not only government organizations of all sizes, but also hundreds of education and private sector organizations, to streamline and improve the effectiveness of their supplier diversity programs.

Q: What’s one of the biggest hurdles you see government organizations, and others, facing today with respect to their supplier diversity programs?

JTS: We continue to find organizations that are still collecting spend data on paper forms or homegrown systems. The problem with this is it makes it difficult to ensure accuracy, not to mention it’s extraordinarily time-consuming and painful to facilitate any type of tracking or generate meaningful reports. We find our customers seek us out for our ability to provide a turnkey, Saas solution that removes paper from the equation by automating data-gathering, tracking, reporting, vendor management, and administrative processes.  In turn, our clients literally save hundreds and thousands of hours of time and are much more confident in their data.

Q: Does B2GNow only handle government supplier diversity programs, or do you span industries?  What kind of results do your clients typically see after implementing?

JTS: We support all types of governments, including cities, counties, states, airports, transit authorities, certification agencies, housing authorities, schools, universities, utilities, port authorities, and more. We also support many supplier diversity programs for leading corporations within the private sector. To date we are working with over 300 clients across the U.S., monitoring over $1.5 trillion in spend. Most of our customers report that we save them 60 percent to 80 percent of the time spent on administrative and clerical compliance activities while enhancing the impact and reach of their supplier diversity programs.

Q: How do the different software modules work together? Furthermore, how cost-effective is the system since many organizations have a desire to become more efficient but may have limited resources and unfunded mandates?

JTS: 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 our staff to further adjust the software to a client’s needs without costly custom development. This modular approach also extends to a pricing model where clients only pay for the modules they need.  Our core system deliverables include rapid and robust report creation, data sharing across modules and systems, access to high quality data from 150+ certified directories, valuable industry insight, and a highly qualified support team who are there for our clients every step of the way.

Q: Does the system support and comply with 49 CFR Part 26 (DBE) and Part 23 (ACDBE) regulations?

JTS: Our 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.

Q: What do you think sets B2Gnow apart from other diversity management software?

JTS: Our software is designed to streamline and automate processes to optimize supplier diversity programs, and our clients can track billions of dollars automatically while the system takes care of the administrative workload. The impact on an organization’s efficiency cannot be overstated, and this has driven customer satisfaction and a nearly 100 percent renewal rate over the past 20 years. Additionally, we partner and continuously engage with our customers.  We work with them to identify opportunities, roadblocks, and trends in the diversity marketplace and build solutions to address these changes. Furthermore, with over 20 years of experience and success, we’re confident we have the best team out there.  Our qualified staff goes above and beyond to deliver exceptional service and solutions to our clients. We understand supplier diversity. It’s all we do. Our B2Gnow team includes experts in contract compliance, certification, vendor management, spend analysis, goal setting, workforce, project management, software development, systems administration, customer support and more.

Interested in exploring the powerful capabilities of B2Gnow Diversity Management Software?
Let us take you on a tour of B2Gnow, a robust, cost-effective solution that streamlines and automates data-gathering, tracking, reporting, vendor management, and administrative processes, resulting in a significant reduction in staff time and cost – allowing you to focus on meeting diversity goals, not on chasing paper. Learn more about B2Gnow and request a demo.