Anchor institutions and local economic development through procurement : an analysis of strategies to stimulate the growth of local and minority enterprises through supplier linkages

Anchor institutions, such as hospitals and universities are increasingly engaging in community and economic development initiatives in their host cities. Annually, these institutions spend millions of dollar on a variety of goods services. If these dollars were redirected to purchasing local and to minority-owned firms, the anchors' purchasing power could have enormous impacts on the local and regional economies. The thesis examines two case studies of anchor institutions, the University of Pennsylvania and University Hospitals, which engaged in community and economic development in their cities. It particularly examines the strategies developed to successfully implement procurement programs that enabled the growth of local and minority-owned firms. The thesis seeks to understand how cities like Springfield, Massachusetts, with high unemployment and poverty rates, could utilize anchor institutions to stimulate local economic development.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• De La O, Iris Marlene

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Karl F. Seidman.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/73848

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/73848