How can procurement professionals help turn a natural disaster like Hurricane Ike into a positive?

September 18th, 2008

Can procurement professionals help citizens and potentially the economy recover from a natural disaster like hurricane Ike at the same time?

Can procurement professionals help citizens and potentially the economy recover from a natural disaster like hurricane Ike at the same time?

The Condition!

While the United States is in the midst of one of the most important elections in U.S. history, the fact is that the election of the first black president or female vice president has not had front page attention this last week with most national news media. There are two reasons. The first is a natural disaster named hurricane Ike which left more than six million people from the gulf coast to the upper Midwest without power and significant property damage. The second is the U.S. economy this week alone with nearly a nine percent loss in the stock market and another failure of Lehman Brothers a major U.S. based investment bank and the bail out of American International Group (AIG) by the Federal Reserve with up to eighty five billion in loans.

A simple potential solution!

So, what can procurement professionals do? We already know that billions of dollars in new products and services such as building materials, automobiles, clothing and construction will be purchased by service organizations providing benefits to disaster victims as well as by consumers themselves once they receive insurance payments. To support these efforts, procurement professionals can take extra care to insure that the products they buy substantially support the local economy. By purchasing products from U.S. based companies we keep the Americans employed that build, ship, install, and train and otherwise support these products. Simple questioning can be asked of your suppliers. First, are all the products we procure from you made in the U.S.A.? Second, are all of the raw materials that are used to make the products we procure from you sourced within the U.S.A.? Third, are all of the products we buy from you picked, sorted and packaged within the U.S.A.

We look forward to your comments.

If you thought this page is useful to your friend, use this form to send.
Friend Email
Enter your message