Buy Local

TARGET FUNCTIONS

Routine institutional purchasing of goods and services

GOALS

Increase institutional purchasing from local and diversity vendors

WHO'S AT THE TABLE

Internal staff

Top-level leadership, including the CFO
Leadership in the procurement and purchasing division
Implementation staff: somebody who understands institutional purchasing operations inside and out, including how RFP and contract processes work, as well as any electronic procurement systems
Implementation staff: somebody who can handle procurement data analysis

External partners

A representative from the local department of commerce, or from a relevant local economic development and business capacity-building agency, to bring knowledge of the local business landscape
The local or regional business association may offer feedback on how challenging the institution has been to work with historically for small businesses

Get Started

This planning stage is going to offer your team a set of filters through which to view your procurement data and helps you understand the procedural landscape that new vendors must navigate in order to do business with your institution.

Identify “Local”

Consider how the presence of other large institutions can shape your local purchasing map, as you may find it possible in the future to coordinate multi-anchor purchasing strategies to amplify local impact.

Put the Data to Work

Consider how your diversity data is established: can new vendors opt in to identifying themselves as diverse or local companies as part of the supplier registration process?

Accessible Vendor Process

Vendor Relationship BuildingBoth the process and the published information around vendor onboarding should be transparent, with reasonable expectations that a small business can meet and live with.

Vendor Relationship Building

Implement intentional vendor relationship building.

Evaluating and Reporting

Know who your stakeholders are. Establish and share a dashboard.

Profile Andrew Magnus

Andrew Magnus has been in the printing industry since the late 1980s when, he remembers, there was hardly any diversity in the sector. His goal has been to bring more minority members into the field.

Profile Rita LaRue

Rita LaRue drives Drexel’s purchasing and procurement functions, and her career at Drexel spans more than 20 years.

Profile Julie Jones

Julie Jones is a somewhat recent arrival to Drexel, having joined the Campus Services division as Assistant Vice President for Procurement in the winter of 2018.

Drexel University

Office of University and Community Partnerships