On Thursday, Feb 9, CAMSC and the Quebec Business Women Network (Le Réseau des Femmes d’affaires du Québec) joined forces to invite suppliers to Montreal, to meet and learn from leading organizations in the Pharmaceutical industry. The first CAMSC Connect Plus – Inclusive Procurement Through Pharmaceutical Partnerships event was a success.
Morning sessions:
The morning sessions were dedicated to CAMSC’s Pharmaceutical partners in productive roundtable discussions covering topics such as supplier diversity leadership initiatives, supplier development and supplier diversity strategic planning. The roundtable discussions served as an effective forum for CAMSC’s partners to share their best practices and challenges in building inclusive procurement programs within these respective organizations.
While the discussion was productive from a learnings standpoint, the work is not complete for CAMSC. As CAMSC works to summarize and package the insights, we look forward to our next steps of communicating these learnings to capture our primary objective: How might CAMSC augment and support the Pharmaceutical Industry to overcome the challenges your SD program faces here in Canada? The morning session with the Pharmaceutical Corporate Partners was wrapped up with an insightful keynote discussion on Diversity: A Strategic Paradigm Shift, by Suzanne Murray, CEO and Founder, AXDEV Group, Global and Europe GmbH.
Afternoon sessions:
The afternoon sessions were dedicated to our suppliers, many of whom travelled distances to attend. In the first afternoon session, supplier attendees were provided a guided tour behind the procurement curtain, with presentations by our Pharmaceutical Corporate Partners. The presentation topics covered 3 specific areas: 1) An overview of Pharma industry supply chain, 2) How Pharma is approaching supplier diversity, 3) How to best present to Pharma in the matchmaking session.
Matchmaking – Meet the Corporates/Buyers:
The suppliers applied these learnings thereafter in the next session, the speed-dating style business matchmaking forum. This was an opportunity for all certified suppliers (by invite only) to meet the corporate buyers representing CAMSC’s Pharma partners in one on one sessions lasting 10 minutes each. As is typically the case, lasting connections were made and valuable insights about commodity areas of need were exchanged.
Continue to Grow!
“It is CAMSC’s hope that our connection to the Pharma Industry in North America continues to grow.” said Cassandra Dorrington, President and CEO, CAMSC. We’ve identified 3 primary goals on the heels of this inaugural event: 1) making this event with our Pharma partners an annual occurrence. 2) to continue to demonstrate CAMSC’s value as a supplier diversity resource through out the year, between events. 3) hosting even more of Pharma’s best and brightest in the inclusive procurement space.
We are already looking forward to next year!
About CAMSC
CAMSC (Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council) is a non-profit organization created in 2004 to advance the economic strength of Aboriginal and visible minority communities through business development and employment. CAMSC’s mission is to facilitate business relationships with Canadian corporations dedicated to diversity and supplier organizations owned by Aboriginals and minorities. Since its inception in 2004, corporate members have spent more than $2 billion with CAMSC certified Aboriginal and minority-owned businesses. Visit www.camsc.ca.
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Media Contact:
Daphne Shih, Director of Sponsorship and Marketing
Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council
T: 416-941-0004 x223 • E: [email protected]