Community

Spectrum Health and City of Grand Rapids partner on Meet the Buyers open house

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., March 7, 2019 – Spectrum Health and the City of Grand Rapids are partnering to connect with new, diverse and local businesses at a Meet the Buyers open house. With an annual combined spending power of nearly $1.5 billion, Spectrum Health, the City and other community partners want to connect with more local vendors who can meet their purchasing needs.

The open house is set for 2 to 5 p.m. Thursday, March 14 at David D. Hunting YMCA, 475 Lake Michigan Drive NW. The free event offers an opportunity for vendors to learn more about bidding opportunities at Spectrum Health, the City, Grand Valley State University and other organizations. It also provides local businesses direct access to purchasing representatives from the various organizations and gives local minority suppliers a chance to learn more about the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council.

“Spectrum Health is committed to improving the health of the communities we serve,” said Kurt Knoth, vice president of supply chain services at Spectrum Health. “Being intentional with our sourcing practices and purchasing from local and minority-owned businesses is central to developing economic health and wealth in our communities. We hope this event builds more relationships between our sourcing teams and the community, increases transparency in our sourcing process and creates opportunities to work with Spectrum Health.”

Representatives from the City’s Diversity and Inclusion Office, which administers a Micro-Local Business Enterprise (MLBE) program, will be on hand to answer questions and provide information.

“This is a great opportunity for us to partner with one of the largest purchasers in West Michigan,” said Alvin Hills IV, a business developer who oversees the City’s MLBE program. “The City is committed to reaching new local suppliers and recruiting more MLBEs to our program.”

Spectrum Health and the City are partnering with Grand Valley State University, Local First and the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council to further align organizations focused on this important work.

“By combining outstanding supplier diversity initiatives with other best practices, inclusion and diversity programs will create a level playing field for vendors and bring more competitive choices for our campus community to select from,” said Kim Patrick, director of procurement services at Grand Valley State University.

Register for the open house HERE. For more information, email inclusion@grcity.us.

Before the open house, Alice Jasper of Local First and Andrew Sims of the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council will lead a workshop for vendors on how spending locally with diverse vendors grows the greater economy. This workshop will take place 1 to 2 p.m. at David D. Hunting YMCA. For more information, CLICK HERE.

People are at the heart of everything we do, and the inspiration for our legacy of outstanding outcomes, innovation, strong community partnerships, philanthropy and transparency. Corewell Health is a not-for-profit health system that provides health care and coverage with an exceptional team of 60,000+ dedicated people—including more than 11,500 physicians and advanced practice providers and more than 15,000 nurses providing care and services in 21 hospitals, 300+ outpatient locations and several post-acute facilities—and Priority Health, a provider-sponsored health plan serving more than 1.3 million members. Through experience and collaboration, we are reimagining a better, more equitable model of health and wellness. For more information, visit corewellhealth.org.

Contact:
Andrea Finnigan
Media Relations and Newsroom Web Manager
Office: 616.486.2535
Mobile: 616.293.6050
Email: andrea.finnigan@corewellhealth.org



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