By Jeff McKinney
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Procter & Gamble Co., hoping to do more business with minority companies, plans to boost its supplier-diversity spending by about $600 million in the next two years, the company said Tuesday.

Executives at the Cincinnati-based consumer products conglomerate said P&G's goal is to spend $1.5 billion by July 2005, with all of the money going to minority- and women-owned businesses.

That would be up from the $702 million P&G spent to buy everything from janitorial services to product packaging from minority businesses and $206 million from women businesses during its 2002-03 fiscal year ended June 30.

"We have to find a way to accelerate our minority supplier program," Keith Harrison, global product supply officer at P&G, said.

He said the nation's largest consumer-products company, which makes everything from Pampers diapers to Tide detergent to Crest toothpaste, has never been more committed to supplier diversity.

Icy Williams, associate director of supplier diversity at P&G, said that as African-Americans, Hispanics and Asian-Americans become the fastest-growing consumer base of the future, P&G wants to do more business with those minority suppliers, who in turn buy P&G's goods.

Harrison made comments to about 275 suppliers at P&G's Ninth Annual Supplier Diversity Award Breakfast at the Phoenix, downtown.

The event included an awards program that recognized P&G employees and some of the 800 minority- and women-owned businesses that the company buys goods and services from.

One of those firms, the Specialized Packaging Group Inc. of Hamden, Conn., was named P&G's Minority Business Enterprise of the Year.

Carlton Highsmith, president and chief executive at SPG, said P&G makes up about 50 percent of his company's $120 million in annual sales. SPG makes folding cartons for P&G products such as Cheer, Tide, Ivory Snow, Crest and Puffs.

He encouraged other minority companies to approach P&G and seek business opportunities.

"If you have something to offer, deliver innovation and help them do what they're looking to accomplish, you should not be intimidated and make that call," Highsmith said.

E-mail jmckinney@enquirer.com