FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAYOR HELFRICH ANNOUNCES THE FORMATION OF THE YORK CONNECTOR PARTNERSHIP
(July 1, 2022) York, PA – Mayor Michael Helfrich is pleased to announce the formation of the York Connector partnership, a group of York’s anchor institutions committed to implementing a local sourcing strategy. The York Connector partnership comprises Wellspan Health, UPMC Health Systems, York College of Pennsylvania, the York Revolution, York County, and the City of York. The local sourcing strategy is a place-based and voluntary initiative focused on stimulating neighborhood economies by connecting our local businesses to partnership opportunities for sales of their goods and services to our locally-based anchor institutions.
Mayor Helfrich expressed his satisfaction and appreciation for the efforts of all of the partners, “Local sourcing not only helps grow our existing local businesses, but gives a roadmap to entrepreneurs that lays out the market demands that can be filled by new businesses. It’s not only a buy local initiative, but a develop local strategy for decades to come.”
Speaking about local sourcing strategies on a recent panel at the U.S. Conference of Mayors, international urban planning and economic development expert Bruce Katz stated, “There are some great initiatives that have been underway in the country for the past decade or so in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Miami, and beyond. …This is the gift that keeps on giving.”
As part of the local sourcing strategy, the York Connector has been established to develop the process to track and aggregate anchors’ local spending through a dry-run of a local sourcing simulation. Each of our partners has demonstrated an exceptional level of civic-mindedness by committing executive-level points-of-contact who engage regularly and openly in the co-design of the simulation. The York Connector represents billions of dollars of annual spending and an extraordinary degree of cross-organizational cooperation. The City of York is blessed to have such support from our community’s anchor institutions and financial support from York City Council, WellSpan Health, Better York, and the York County Economic Alliance.
The York Connector members have agreed to the following goal, actions, and initial outcome.
York Connector Partnership Agreement
Goal
Create a well-used pathway for neighborhood businesses to grow in scale, expand their sales, and support their communities by fulfilling local anchor institutions’ procurement needs through local sourcing.
Commitment
We are committed to conducting a local sourcing simulation as a means for developing a process to evaluate the collective impact of our procurement spending in the local community. We will work collaboratively and deliberately to ensure that this process is not burdensome for our partners, both current and future, buyers, and suppliers. We will meet monthly with the Local Sourcing Initiative Project Team to fulfill these goals. All our actions will be with the Goal in mind.
Milestone
At the conclusion of this simulation in Q3 2022, the York Connector will release a final feasibility and opportunity report for establishing a local sourcing program.
Media Contacts
Mayor Michael Helfrich Eric Kirkland
(717) 817-7975 Principal and Senior Planner
mhelfrich@yorkcity.org eManagement Solutions
(717) 640-1476
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