IUBDC's Professional Services Summit Opens Doors For New Contract Opportunities

JOLIET, IL– Purchasing representatives from six Illinois utilities and the leaders of minority and woman-owned companies met today to explore business opportunities at the Illinois Utility Business Diversity Council’s (IUBDC) first Professional Services Summit in Joliet.
Business leaders from nearly 100 engineering, consulting, finance, and legal firms participated in meetings with utility representatives who are looking to source hundreds of millions of dollars in goods and services from diverse businesses in 2016-17. Represented utilities included IUBDC members Ameren Illinois, ComEd, Illinois American Water, Nicor Gas, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas.
“IUBDC member utilities are investing millions to upgrade our infrastructure and improve services to our customers,” said Jerrold Hill, managing director of supplier diversity for AGL Resources, parent company of Illinois-based Nicor Gas. “Today’s summit put our purchasing professionals face-to-face with qualified suppliers who can help us achieve our business objectives while strengthening economies in communities throughout Illinois.”

Unlike a traditional trade-show style expo, the Summit was orchestrated to engage in collaborative discussion and provide scheduled time for diverse suppliers connect with multiple utility purchasing reps.
“IUBDC provides smaller firms like ours with the opportunity to demonstrate how our innovative solutions can add value to their member utilities,” said Laura Kenton, Business Development Manager of Urban GIS, a provider of geographic information systems and infrastructure consulting to the public and private sectors. “Today’s Professional Services Summit enabled Urban GIS to network with prospective partners and deepen our relationships with existing ones.”