Suppliers
At Southern Company, we take great pride in developing strong, long-term and trusting relationships with suppliers that will help drive value for our company and our customers. All suppliers are expected to compete on quality, reliability and price.
Second Tier Program
Southern Company strongly encourages prime suppliers to extend subcontracting opportunities to diverse suppliers. This program has added opportunities for minority businesses in companies we do not own or manage.
Standards and Practices
The Southern Company system maintains ethical standards in all business practices, including relationships with suppliers. We hold our suppliers to these standards contractually when they are performing work for us.
Suppliers must meet policies for legal compliance, equal employment, harassment, workplace threats and violence, electronic communications, safety, the environment, drugs and alcohol and conflicts of interest. Supplier information.
The Southern Company system awards business based on best overall value. We have established a mentoring program to help suppliers understand and follow our conventions and policies, qualify for opportunities, and excel in performance. By nurturing relationships with small and diverse suppliers, the Southern Company system broadens its access to products and services while demonstrating commitment to economic inclusion.
Labor Relations
We recognize the right of our employees to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing and recognize unions as the exclusive representatives of these employees to collectively bargain for rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, working conditions and other matters of employment.
Approximately one-third of the Southern Company system employees are covered under IBEW union agreements. We have contracts with nine local chapters across a four-state service area. The last strike against the Southern Company system occurred over 25 years ago.
Supplier Diversity
Since 1978, Southern Company has been a champion of supplier diversity and development. Partnerships with Small Business Concerns help us to deliver the service, reliability and value our customers deserve. Supplier diversity allows Southern to spread wealth and jobs throughout the communities we serve.
We seek small and diverse suppliers that offer quality, reliable, competitively priced equipment, products and services. Southern maintains relationships with diverse businesses to ensure that the best and widest possible supplier base is included in our purchasing decisions.
Supplier Diversity Business Development Program
Our Supplier Diversity Business Development Program helps build relationships between Southern Company system employees with buying authority and diverse suppliers, enabling suppliers to increase awareness of opportunities at Southern Company and giving purchasing employees wider supplier choices.
Supplier Diversity
At Southern Company, our base of more than 9 million customers is amazingly diverse. Our mission is to reflect that diversity in the suppliers that help energize our success.
Southern Company and its subsidiaries are committed to supplier diversity across the Southeast.
Check out our Powering our Success brochure.
Supplier Opportunities
Listed below is a small sampling of the products and services procured by Southern Company:
Products: Cable/Wire, General Hardware, Conduit & Fittings, Electrical Supplies, Cleaning & Janitorial Supplies, Labels, Tags & Signs, Ladders, Abrasives, Conveyor Parts, Filters, Gauges, Drill Bits, Grinding Discs, Couplings, Pipe, Valves & Fittings
Services: Right of Way Clearing, Erosion Control, Fencing, Site Preparation, Paving, Landscaping, Grounds Maintenance, Building Construction & Repairs, Reforestation, Professional Services, Painting, Catering, Security, Sewage Tank Services, Janitorial Services
Registration
Thank you for your interest in becoming a supplier for Southern Company and/or its affiliates. While completion of this process does not guarantee future opportunities with the company, it is a required step in order to be considered. Access our self-registration portal, Smart by GEP, to complete your supplier registration.
Working With Us
Southern Company and its subsidiaries are committed to the highest standards of ethical and legal compliance. When applying to become a trusted supplier, you will be agreeing with compliance principles, which are a summary of some of the governing terms and conditions contained in our contracts. In addition, you can be confident that ethical behavior applies to every part of our business.
These standards are embodied in the Code of Ethics. Our contracts include provisions which specifically require suppliers to conduct their activities in a highly ethical manner and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
If you observe a Southern Company employee doing, or are ever asked by a Southern Company employee to do something that you consider to be unethical, illegal or in violation of the applicable behavior standards, please notify Southern Company management immediately or call the Concerns Program at (1-800-492-3902). You may also visit http://www.yourconcernmatters.southerncompany.com or email the Concerns Program at concerns@southernco.com for options to file a concern.
Requirements for Contractors
Prior to working for us, contractors must comply with certain requirements. Based upon the nature of work that will be performed, contract workers may be required to pass a drug screen and background investigation. The Contractor will be informed during the contract development process whether these requirements will apply. If these requirements apply, the Contractor must have these services performed by an approved Southern Company provider.
Generating Plant Access Requirements
Identification requirements, drug/alcohol testing, background investigation and safety orientation requirements must be met to gain access to generating plants. Learn more.
Technical and Project Solutions (T&PS)
Contractor's Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S) and Quality programs shall meet or exceed the requirements of the Southern Company Generation EH&S and Quality policies and procedures. Learn more.
Contract Worker Drug Screening and Background Investigations
Based upon the nature of work that will be performed, contract workers may be required to pass a drug screen and background investigation. The Contractor will be informed during the contract development process whether these requirements will apply. If these requirements apply, the Contractor must have these services performed by an approved company provider. Learn more (DOCX).
Contract Worker Access to NERC Protected Assets
Based upon location of the work to be performed, contract workers may be required to annually complete additional security training and be subject to a background investigation every seven years. Learn more (PDF).
SMART by GEP
SMART by GEP Supplier Quick Reference Guide
SMART by GEP Manufacturer Representative Quick Reference Guide
