Survey results are based on responses from 98 employers -- 50 companies and 48 nonprofit and government entities. Minorities constituted 19.6 percent of board members among responding entities in 2009, up 1.5 percent from 2008, the commission reported.
Survey results (PDF)
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May 29, 2010: Minorities gain ground slightly in Northeast Ohio board rooms, survey finds
Updated at 6:25 p.m.
Originally posted at 11:46 a.m.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A yearly survey of dozens of the region's largest employers show the share of minorities in boardrooms and executive levels inched up in 2009.
The number of minorities in the work force stayed the same at 25 percent, while the amount that employers spent with minority-owned businesses rose to $126 million, from $121 million in 2008, the survey by the Commission on Economic Inclusion showed.
The numbers are "enouraging news," Andrew Jackson, the commission's executive director, said in a news release. "Going forward, the challenge is to achieve more progress and at a quicker pace."
The commission is a program of the Cleveland area's chamber of commerce, known as the Greater Cleveland Partnership.
Business leaders believe that growing the numbers of minorities in their ranks is an economic driver.
"In a diverse environment such as Northeast Ohio, economic growth cannot be sustained without the inclusion of minority leaders, a diverse workforce, and the (use) of minority suppliers," said an introduction to the survey, which was released Thursday.
Survey results are based on responses from 98 employers -- 50 companies, such as Eaton Corp. and Sherwin-Williams Co., and 48 nonprofit and government entities, including the city of Cleveland and the Cleveland Clinic.
Not all 98 entities participated in the survey the last two years. So year-to-year comparisons are based on a lesser number of respondents.
The commission highlighted a handful of key areas in the survey, including:
Board diversity
Among the 62 companies responding, the number of minorities in boardrooms stood at 19.6 percent in 2009, from 18.1 percent the year before, the survey showed.
The survey defines minorities as blacks, Asians, Latinos and Native Americans.
The commission was unable to provide Thursday the raw numbers behind the percentages.
At the commission's annual meeting Wednesday night, KeyCorp was honored for its efforts in boardroom diversity.
Currently, three of 15 board members are minorities. The bank's board, along with chief executive Henry Meyer, want to recruit members with views that reflect the diverse markets that KeyCorp serves, said Quentin McCorvey, a senior vice president at KeyCorp.
That means widening the recruiting net as the board considers new members, said KeyCorp spokesman William Murschel.
Senior management diversity
Diversity among chief executives and two levels below stood at 9.8 percent last year, compared to 9.5 percent the year before, the survey of companies showed.
Among nonprofit respondents, the number of minority senior managers stood at 15.4 percent in 2009, compared to 15.2 percent in 2008, according to the survey.
The commission honored Eaton Corp. for its diversity efforts among top-level managers. Factors considered in executives' performance and pay include the diversity of their teams, said Barry Doggett, senior vice president of public and community affairs at Eaton.
Diversity "is embedded in the culture," Doggett said.
Workforce diversity
The minority share of workers held steady at 25 percent in 2009, according to 58 companies that responded the last two years.
At the commission's annual meeting, retired U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes commended the commission's effort, but said more must be done, according to a news release.
"I see an urgency in the commission's work," Stokes, a founding co-chair of the commission, said. "I think we can be even more creative and aggressive."