Fayetteville’s public utility and city government want to do business locally.
The Public Works Commission and city officials are reaching out to area businesses through the Industry Day Business Networking forum scheduled Thursday.
The event is scheduled from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at the PWC Operations Center campus, 955 Old Wilmington Road.
According to PWC, Industry Day will give representatives of local businesses the chance to meet with representatives of the PWC and city purchasing departments and officials from other city agencies. It’s part of ongoing efforts to engage with local companies on how to do business with PWC and the city.
Elaina Ball, CEO and general manager of PWC, said during Wednesday’s commission meeting that all local suppliers are invited.
The goal is to promote opportunities for local businesses to help boost the local economy.
Specific areas of need include electric and water system construction and repair; building construction and repair; and fleet vehicles, PWC said in a news release.
Admission is free. Preregistration is encouraged by not required.
The forum is open to suppliers, professional service providers, prime contractors, and subcontractors. Businesses will be able to become a registered supplier for PWC and the city, the news release said.
Representatives of the Small Business Technology Development Center, which is a partner for the forum, will attend to support suppliers with management counseling and educational opportunities to help build their businesses, the release said.
In other business at Wednesday’s meeting, PWC members received an update on the results of a Gallup employee survey.
It was presented by Bobby Russell, human resources officer for PWC, and Patrick Mieritz, a workplace consultant for Gallup.
Gallup is a Washington-based analytics organization known for its public-opinion polls.
Mieritz said Gallup survey results for PWC indicate that “the majority of people in this organization are engaged.”
Engagement, he noted, improves business outcomes.
A second Gallup survey, Russell said, was conducted for PWC in late June and early July. All managers and officers at the utility have those results and will be developing job-evaluation objectives in coming months.
“We’re confident that you’re going to see the engagement in this organization increase over time,” Mieritz added.
Gallup is scheduled to do another employee survey in February or March, Russell said.
Michael Futch covers Fayetteville and education for CityView TODAY. He can be reached at mfutch@cityviewnc.com. Have a news tip? Email news@CityViewTODAY.com.
