MBN USA

August 19, 2022

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Williams honored for lifelong advocacy of supplier diversity

The Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council, or GMSDC, recently honored Reginald Williams, CEO of Procurement Resources Inc., (PRI), with its 2022 Spirit of Alliance Blue Legend Award. 

The Spirit of Alliance Awards event recognizes excellence in supplier diversity across the state of Georgia, honoring the many achievements of Georgia’s top corporations, small-business owners and supplier diversity champions. 

The Blue Legend Award is the top individual honor presented at the Spirit of Alliance Awards. It is presented to a visionary leader who has demonstrated extraordinary courage, overcome a variety of challenging obstacles, and remained steadfast in the pursuit of equal opportunity for minority business owners in Georgia and elsewhere. 

Williams, a lifelong advocate for supply chain diversity and inclusive procurement practices who is the principal of one of the most influential consulting firms in the nation, joins an exclusive circle of distinguished past recipients of the Blue Legend Award, including Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson, Sen. Sam Nunn, Congressman John Lewis, Ambassador Andrew Young, Georgia Hispanic business leader Sara Gonzalez, and business icons Herman J. Russell and Gregory Baranco. 

A veteran of nearly 50 years in the supply chain arena, Williams began his career as a purchasing agent at Westinghouse Aerospace, eventually rising to the level of chief procurement officer. He served in the nonprofit sector as an advocate for affirmative action and as a long-time faculty member at several higher education institutions alongside running his company, which he launched in 1976. 

His client list reads like a Who’s Who of America’s largest and most prestigious Fortune 500 brands, including IBM, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Kaiser Permanente and American Electric Power. 

It is no accident that many of PRI’s clients are members of the Billion Dollar Roundtable Inc., an exclusive organization of companies that spend at least $1 billion per year with diverse Tier I suppliers. A consultant, speaker, author, subject matter expert and trusted advisor to many, Williams is one of the true pillars of the diverse supplier engagement community.

The 2022 Spirit of Alliance Awards Luncheon was held Aug. 18, 2022, and was hosted by The Coca-Cola Co. 

To learn more about Georgia MSDC, visit gmsdc.org.

To learn more about PRI, visit procurementresourcesinc.com.