Teaming with small businesses is a top AT&T priority and a critical ingredient toward achieving our primary objectives of growing our business and providing outstanding products and services to all of our clients. AT&T is committed to being a channel easy teammate, facilitating alliances with qualified small businesses who can work with us to build highly efficient and diversified teams capable of winning new business and providing excellent customer service to the Government.
AT&T Government Solutions is proud of its successful record in small business outreach and utilization. This effort includes small, disadvantaged, women-owned, HubZone, veteran, and service disabled veteran-owned business concerns, historically black colleges and universities, and minority institutions. We are proud to report that our Small Business Program was awarded the highest rating available to a government contractor of "Outstanding" by the Small Business Administration and Department of Defense and that we are active participants in Mentor-Protégé Programs through various Government agencies. We received the prestigious Nunn-Perry Award for working with small businesses.
Marketing Opportunities and Small Business Relationships
AT&T has always considered the strengths and benefits that diversity brings to the workforce as an important strategic factor contributing to the company's success. Appreciating, developing, and implementing the innovations, creativity and unique insights proffered by an empowered and diversified workforce is key to the health and growth of any company in today's competitive, fast-moving, global economy. No less important than taking advantage of the pluralism that exists within an organization, is the additional need to build alliances with a diversified group of external suppliers, as well. American small businesses are the seedbed of this diversity. One of AT&T's primary goals, therefore, is to benefit our customers by utilizing the often-overlooked potential of the small business community.
In an effort to fully leverage this potential, a new shift directed and assertively supported by AT&T management is underway that approaches small business outreach from a market-driven perspective. Our small business relationships are being reviewed and qualified in order to identify and exploit potential marketing opportunities through a "channel easy" approach. Small businesses are being challenged to bring to bear their unique insights and positions within the Government marketplace to help AT&T locate business opportunities that can turn into winning teaming opportunities. The goal of this challenge is to motivate small businesses to look upon AT&T, with our full array of proven products and services, as a strong, competent and reputable teammate in the competitive effort to win new solicitations or grow current programs. This mutually beneficial relationship will serve to benefit our small business suppliers and will simultaneously help AT&T achieve its organizational goals.
