Huntington Bancshares is a Columbus, Ohio-based regional bank with roughly $6 billion in annual revenue and a footprint concentrated across the Great Lakes states: Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kentucky, and West Virginia. That regional focus matters for suppliers. Huntington's procurement team leans toward businesses that understand Midwestern markets, can support branches and operations centers across several states, and have the capacity to scale within that geography.
The bank participates in NMSDC and WBENC, the two largest third-party certification networks for minority-owned and women-owned businesses. Both memberships signal active supplier diversity commitments, not just checkbox compliance.
What Huntington buys from external suppliers
Huntington's external spend covers a wide range of categories. Financial services companies of this size source heavily in technology: software licenses, IT infrastructure, cybersecurity tools, data analytics platforms, cloud services, and managed IT support. Branch operations require facilities management, janitorial services, construction and renovation contractors, signage vendors, and security systems.
Marketing and communications spend includes advertising agencies, print vendors, promotional products, and digital marketing services. Human resources and professional services categories cover staffing agencies, training and development providers, legal services, and consulting firms. Banking-specific spend includes card manufacturing, check printing, document management, and compliance services.
For smaller diverse suppliers, the realistic entry points are often facilities, professional services, and marketing. These categories tend to have lower contract minimums and shorter qualification cycles than core technology or financial infrastructure.
How to register as a supplier
Huntington maintains a supplier diversity program called Huntington Supplier Diversity. To get into their system, you need to register through their supplier portal. Navigate to Huntington's corporate website and look for the supplier diversity or procurement section, typically found under About Us or Investor Relations. Search for "Huntington Bancshares supplier registration" to find the direct portal link.
When you register, expect to provide your legal business name, EIN, business address, NAICS codes for your primary services, ownership demographics, annual revenue, number of employees, and any existing diversity certifications with certificate numbers and expiration dates. You will also need to describe your service capabilities and, in most cases, upload a capability statement or company overview document.
Complete your profile fully before submitting. Procurement teams at large banks filter supplier databases by category and certification status. An incomplete profile gets passed over even when the underlying capability matches what they need.
Which certifications matter most
Huntington recognizes certifications issued through NMSDC and WBENC affiliates. These two carry the most weight in their supplier diversity program.
NMSDC certification (MBE) is administered through regional council affiliates. For Ohio-based businesses, the relevant affiliate is the Minority Business Development Agency's Mideast Regional office and the NMSDC affiliate serving the Columbus and Cleveland markets. Certification requires at least 51% ownership, control, and management by a U.S. citizen or permanent resident who identifies as minority (Black, Hispanic, Asian, or Native American). Annual fees range from roughly $350 to $1,250 depending on your revenue tier.
WBENC certification (WBE) is administered through Women's Business Enterprise Regional Certification Partners. In Ohio, that's the Women's Business Enterprise Council Ohio River Valley or a similar regional partner. Requirements include 51% women ownership and operational control. Certification costs vary by revenue band, typically $350 to $900 per year.
If you hold both an MBE and a WBE certification, list both in your registration. Huntington's procurement team often searches for suppliers who qualify under multiple categories, which increases the number of sourcing events where your profile surfaces.
Other certifications worth listing if you hold them: SDVOSB (Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business) through the VA, 8(a) from the SBA, or state-level MBE/WBE certifications from Ohio, Michigan, or other Great Lakes states. These are supplementary, not primary. NMSDC and WBENC are the core credentials Huntington's program is built around.
How diverse certification status affects your chances
Registration without certification gets you into the database. Certification gets your profile surfaced in RFPs, supplier diversity reporting, and outreach from the procurement team.
Banks like Huntington set internal spend targets for diverse suppliers. Procurement managers are evaluated against those targets. When they need to source a service and two vendors have comparable qualifications, the certified diverse supplier wins. When the bank needs to meet quarterly diversity spend numbers, procurement actively searches for certified vendors in relevant categories. That search does not reach uncertified suppliers.
The practical effect: certification is not a guarantee, but its absence removes you from many sourcing decisions entirely.
Getting your first contract
Start with a clear capability statement. One page, designed for a financial services buyer. Lead with your NAICS codes, your specific service offerings, any relevant banking or financial industry experience, and your geographic coverage across the Great Lakes states. Reference any work you have done for other financial institutions, even if it was community bank or credit union work.
Attend NMSDC and WBENC regional events in Ohio. Huntington procurement staff participate in these events specifically to meet new suppliers. The NMSDC annual conference and WBENC's National Conference both draw corporate members including regional banks. Face time at these events accelerates the relationship beyond a portal registration.
Once registered, follow up. Search for the Supplier Diversity team or Supplier Diversity Manager at Huntington and send a brief introduction referencing your registration. Keep it short: who you are, what category you serve, your certification status, and one sentence on why your services fit their Great Lakes operations. Do not ask for a contract in the first message. Ask whether your category is currently being sourced or if there are upcoming RFPs where your profile would be relevant.
If Huntington runs supplier showcases or matchmaking events, attend them. Regional banks with active supplier diversity programs hold these events specifically to give certified diverse suppliers face time with category managers who control actual purchasing decisions.
Who manages supplier diversity at Huntington
The role to engage is the Supplier Diversity Manager or Director of Supplier Diversity within Huntington's procurement or supply chain organization. This team sits inside corporate procurement and is responsible for tracking diverse spend, identifying new certified suppliers, and connecting them with internal business units that need new vendors.
Reaching the Supplier Diversity team directly, rather than a generic procurement inbox, gets your introduction in front of the person whose job performance depends on finding suppliers exactly like you.
Supplier development programs and events
Huntington participates in NMSDC and WBENC regional programming as a corporate member. Corporate members often sponsor matchmaking sessions and mentor-protege programs through these networks. Check the event calendars for the NMSDC Great Lakes affiliates and WBENC Ohio River Valley partner for events where Huntington is listed as a participating buyer.
Huntington has also historically participated in community development and small business initiatives tied to its Community Reinvestment Act obligations, which sometimes include supplier development components. Monitoring their corporate social responsibility communications and press releases is a practical way to catch program announcements before they are widely distributed.
The path in is patient and sequential: register with full information, get certified through NMSDC or WBENC, build a direct relationship with the Supplier Diversity team, and show up at regional events where procurement staff are specifically there to find new diverse vendors.
