CU Grow Hosts First Procurement Event of 2020 for Cohort 4

The CU Grow Vendor Development program hosted its first procurement event of 2020, bringing together the program’s fourth cohort of minority-, women-, and locally-owned (MWL) firms, alumni, project managers from Columbia University Facilities & Operations, and partner organizations to discuss upcoming business opportunities and solutions.

The CU Grow program, which has graduated 43 MWL firms and awarded over $37.5M in contracts within Columbia University, hosts four procurement events throughout the year as part of its 9-month curriculum. Due to the global public health crisis, the program team has transitioned to a virtual platform to host their procurement events to ensure that the CU Grow community continues to obtain the program’s offerings to network and gain valuable resources to continue growing their businesses.

At the event, representatives of several departments at Columbia University gave an overview of their departments, contracting and procurement opportunities they oversee, and pending projects potentially available to offer MWL firms.  Columbia University presenters included Patrick O’Reilly, Assistant Director of Facilities and Engineering at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory campus, Rich Bova, Director of Residential Services, and Tak Eng Senior Engineer of Plant Engineering and Utilities Operations.

The CU Grow participants also learned about business technology solutions that can support their business operations and streamline procurement opportunities with their stakeholders.  Bryan Uribe, Major Account Executive at Xerox, presented on technology solutions for the cohort’s firms, offering resources on marketing, payroll administration, and CRM solutions for managing client relationships within the construction industry.

To learn more about the CU Grow Vendor Development program, visit cufo.columbia.edu/cu-grow.