The Columbia Facilities and Operations-led CU Grow Vendor Development Program graduated its eighth cohort in two ceremonies at Faculty House on December 11 and February 5. The program is designed to help minority-, women- and locally owned (MWL) vendors and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals (SEDI) grow their businesses. CU Grow’s eighth cohort was its largest yet. The program expanded into two tracks and doubled the number of MWL firms participating.
“With this class, we now have an impressive 152 graduates of CU Grow over eight years,” said Tanya Pope, assistant vice president of University Supplier Diversity. “The results are transformational. We awarded contracts to the firms that graduated with us. They became vendors with us – long-time vendors – and since 2017, we haven’t stopped."
This year’s cohort graduated 35 firms with specialties including architecture, interior design, glass installation, construction management, painting, urban planning, and more. The program matched each firm with an executive coach from a group of University administrators and partner organizations based on the specific needs of the business and the coach’s areas of expertise.
The CU Grow program supports MWL business owners in building their management, financial, marketing, and back-office skills. Over the course of the 11-month program, the coaches led the business owners through a curriculum developed by the Columbia University School of Professional Studies (SPS) designed to help vendors create a three-year growth plan, connect them with resources to gain specific knowledge, and review their overall business plan.
In addition to helping participants hone their business acumen, CU Grow identifies contracting opportunities for firms across all Columbia’s campuses and recommends that graduates be considered approved university vendors. Each year program participants and alums are invited to procurement events with Columbia, other university affiliates, and contracting partners to learn of upcoming contract opportunities.
Columbia and some of the graduating firms are already reaping the mutual rewards of the CU Grow program. Sherlock Homes Interior Corp, a graduate of the program, secured a $1.3M contract with Consigli at 611 W. 112th Street, a Columbia undergraduate residence hall, to complete the building’s structural framing. This milestone project showcased the tangible opportunities and connections made possible through CU Grow.
"Through the CU Grow program, my firm has gained advanced business skills and strategies, built valuable connections through Columbia's procurement officials, vendors, and mentors, and received support in diverse areas from compliance and certification to mentorship and more," said Annmarie Sherlock, president of Sherlock Homes Interior Corp.
The Best Shades LLC was also recently awarded a three-year contract as a task order vendor to supply Columbia’s window treatments on work orders up to $50,000. “The best part of this program is the network we build. We become family supporting one another as we grow,” said Yuliya Gimadiev, CEO of The Best Shades.
To date, CU Grow’s 152 graduated firms have collectively earned over $160 million with the University.
