Philadelphia businesses commit to invest in Black and brown-owned companies

The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia announced Tuesday the creation of the Diverse Procurement Collaborative to increase opportunities for small, Black and brown-owned businesses by partnering with buyers to establish procurement goals and strategies.

The Diverse Procurement Collaborative is part of the Chamber’s Recharge & Recover PHL initiative, a coalition to devise, present and implement solutions in response to the global pandemic crisis.

“Taking steps to make economic opportunities more inclusive and diverse across Greater Philadelphia isn’t just good for our neighbors, it’s good for business,” said Chamber Board Chair Susan Jacobson in a statement. “I am proud to support the Diverse Procurement Collaborative, which aims to drive new revenue to Black- and brown-owned businesses in an equitable way that creates value and opportunity for everyone.”

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As a partner in the Chamber’s Recharge and Recover PHL initiative, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney noted, “As Mayor, one of my highest priorities is creating more economic opportunity for all Philadelphians. That’s why I am pleased to support the Chamber’s new Diverse Procurement Collaborative, which will help companies diversify their supply chains and connect our city and region’s Black- and brown-owned businesses to more contracting opportunities.”

The Collaborative seeks to facilitate the exchange of best practices, build a community of business leaders committed to diverse procurement practices, and create accountability through benchmarking. Collaborative participants will make a two-year commitment to increase the diversity of their supplier networks and their spends with diverse vendors.

“The DPC is an innovative and collaborative approach to enhance the diverse supplier pipeline of our companies, which represent a wide range of businesses, ideas and energy who call this great region home,” said John McAllister, Director of Facility Operations for Wawa, in a statement. “We look forward to working with our colleagues on this important endeavor and doing our part to increase the utilization of diverse suppliers throughout Greater Philadelphia.”

Participating members:

Alexander Perry, Inc.

Bittenbender Construction

Ben Franklin Technology Partners

Black Squirrel Collective

Bradley & Bradley Associates

Brandywine Realty Trust

Bruns & McDonnell

CG Global Management Solutions, LLC

ChristianaCare

City Year Philadelphia

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