A new business model, called the Social Purchasing Portal (SPP), has been developed in Vancouver. It’s a form of community economic development that leverages good business practices, not charity. The portal allows the participants in the supply chain to make socially responsible decisions in their supplier/purchaser agreements. Here’s an example of the portal in practice:
Pivotal, a major international software company with nearly 200 local employees, has basically only one entry job, a receptionist. They use their significant catering needs to leverage social value by ordering from Cook Studio Cafe. The increased business for Cook Studio results in business growth and the need to hire six employees from their youth-at-risk training programs.
According to the Vancouver portal, everyone wins in an SPP:
- Participating “Purchasers” use their existing business expenditures to practice corporate social responsibility while still meeting their business purchasing criteria for value, price and quality.
- Participating businesses and social enterprises who participate as “Suppliers” of goods and services have access to new and expanding markets, growing their businesses and requiring new employees.
- The SPP initiated business growth creates employment demand, providing opportunities for hard-to-employ persons seeking employment.
I discovered this through Brian Alger’s post, and he includes a number of other links if you want to explore SPP’s further.
