Furthermore, purchasing locally and engaging with a local supply chain generates social and economic benefits far beyond the products and services themselves.
Research shows that for every dollar spent locally the economic multiplier is four times more than trading with a business from outside the area.
According to Australian Made, for every one million dollars spent with an Australian manufacturer $333,900 in tax revenue is generated and 10 full-time jobs are created.
It’s not hard to see then, that for a region like Western Sydney, which still has many pockets of disadvantage, local procurement is an incredibly powerful economic development tool. If done effectively it has the power to boost the economy, drive jobs and reinvigorate depressed or marginalised communities.
When a large corporation wins a multi-million-dollar government project, it is often easy to continue using the suppliers they have always used.
However, if they use a local supplier, they will not only get the job done, they will also generate enormous economic benefit for the local economy. After all, a local business is far more likely to use local workers and service providers such as accountants, lawyers and cleaners for example, who then go back to their local area to spend their money.
It’s not all about giving back. There are lots of benefits for big business too. By building a diverse supply chain, big business can maintain competitive tension within their supplier base, ultimately resulting in better quality and price.
By using a local supplier, big business will also have better and quicker access to resolve quality issues and suppliers will be faster to respond when something goes wrong. Not to mention the shorter lead times and transport costs and the impact that this has on the final goods carbon footprint.
It can often be challenging for big business to tap into a database of local suppliers and many small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) struggle with that initial step of getting in the door of large corporations.
Western Sydney Business Connection has come up with a practical way to bring big business and SMEs together.
Often referred to as “speed dating for business”, WSBC’s Meet the Buyer event series connects local SMEs to large corporations responsible for delivering the region’s major projects.
Participating SMEs are strategically matched to large procurers and then scheduled to meet one-on-one every 15 minutes to pitch their products and services and to build relationships.
The series has been well received by industry and is seen as an outcomes driven program that has achieved excellent results.
To date, over 1000 meetings have been scheduled between large corporations and local SMEs, with 20% of SMEs securing contracts and a further 40% having work in the pipeline.
Amanda Brisot is the General Manager of the Western Sydney Business Connection, the longest standing, leading business engagement organisation in the region. To learn more go to www.wsbc.org.au
