Drexel Starts New Contract With Local Supplier Supra Office Solutions and W.B. Mason
By Rachel Gingold
Accounts Payable (AP) & Procurement Services has entered a new, three-year contract with two one-year extensions with Supra Office Solutions, a local and minority-owned contract supplier, and W.B. Mason, the second largest privately owned workplace products dealer in the country, as Drexel University’s Tier-one office products supplier. This new contract went into effect on July 1.
As Drexel’s Tier-one supplier for office supplies, Supra will work in partnership with W.B. Mason to provide office supplies, furniture, janitorial products, break room products and other related products at extremely competitive prices, along with shared account management, customer service, sourcing of specially requested items, delivery, quarterly business reviews, give-backs and other campus support. This contract will also help increase local jobs.
Supra Office Solutions, founded in 2011, is independently operated and owned by Chairman and CEO Lin Thomas, President and COO Derrick Suswell, and Executive Vice President of Sales & Government Affairs Ismail A. Shahid, all native Philadelphians of African American descent. Supra maintains a newly constructed 70-square-foot office and warehouse space in the West Parkside section of West Philadelphia, located in a HUBZone (Historically Underutilized Business Zone).
AP & Procurement Services’ Supplier Inclusion program broadens Drexel's pool of suppliers by developing business relationships with local, minority, women, veteran, service-disabled and LGBTQ+-owned businesses. This new partnership with W.B. Mason/Supra is one significant example of the many ways the team regularly engages with the Greater Philadelphia community, supports small businesses and improves the quality of Drexel products and services.
“Supra Office Solutions, Inc. combines deep market expertise with the flexibility to meet Drexel’s unique needs, all while sharing a strong commitment to the region's success,” explained Allen Riddick, Drexel’s executive director of supplier inclusion. “By partnering with W.B. Mason, Supra is dedicated to enhancing the local economy through meaningful workforce contributions and economic impact.”
Lin Thomas, chairman and CEO of Supra, shared his excitement about the partnership: “The management and staff of Supra Office Solutions, Inc. a local Philadelphia business, are gratified that Drexel University, a major prestigious anchor university in our city and nation, has selected Supra as its office supplier, in alliance with W.B. Mason. We so appreciate you!”
For more information about supplier inclusion at Drexel, please contact supplierinclusion@drexel.edu, or visit the Supplier Inclusion website and the Socially Responsible Purchasing webpage.