With an annual spend of $500 million on goods and services, Logan City Council says supporting local businesses is a priority.
It has adopted an improved Buy Logan procurement policy to ensure opportunities for the city’s businesses are maximised when bidding for Council contracts.
Procurement and Appropriations Special Committee Chair, Councillor Jacob Heremaia said Council was a significant buyer of goods and took its responsibility to support City of Logan businesses very seriously.
“When Council purchases goods and services from local suppliers or those that have strong links to the city, we help create jobs and stimulate the local economy,” Cr Heremaia said.
“Council adopted a Buy Local policy two years ago and was one of the first in Australia to do so.
“We’ve now taken the opportunity to review and further refine the policy to ensure we continue to support suppliers that are part of the Logan community.”
Council has set a target of having 45% of its annual procurement spend sourced locally.
Cr Heremaia said he hoped that figure would increase as Council’s procurement model matured.
“And we’re already surpassing that – in January 2021, Council spent $85 million or 47 per cent of the monthly spend with local suppliers,” he said.
To provide comparison, in the 2019/2020 financial year, Council spent 18% with local suppliers.
“The improved Buy Logan policy will help us exceed that target, but we’re also looking at other initiatives such as supplier engagement sessions for upcoming tenders and identifying gaps in areas where we don’t currently spend money locally to try to increase it.”
Meadowbrook business JET Excavators and Trucks established in City of Logan more than 20 years ago and supplies earthmoving services to Council.
Director, Gabby Murphy said the company was also committed to supporting local businesses.
“From the early beginnings, we have had a focus on getting the best people for the job,” she said.
“We’ve been fortunate to hire locally and have focused on generating a list of quality local suppliers throughout our business.
“Our commitment to Logan has seen us heavily invest in infrastructure that ensures plant and equipment reliability; innovation and technology that improves safety; access to quality local plant operators; and environmental outcomes – and these investments are being made right here in Logan.”
Cr Heremaia said Council was meeting its Local Government Act requirements while also giving local industries every opportunity to compete for Council business.
“We focus on best value to balance value for money – which is not just the ‘cheapest price’ as people might expect – with the potential investment in local businesses and genuine employment opportunities,” he said.
“This includes creating new jobs, ensuring sustainability of existing local jobs or upskilling local workforces and creating new opportunities.”
