This month’s featured corporation is Office Depot. www.officedepot.com

Our featured Office Depot member is Shari Francis .

Shari Francis

Manager,
Vendor Development

What are your duties as Manager of Vendor Development?

•  Recruiting qualified Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs)

•  Reviewing Certified Historically Underutilized Businesses and their

    products for resale for inclusion in Office Depot reselling channels.

•  Mentoring HUBs to empower them and make them the best source

    from which to buy.

•  Creating and Update Procurement Processes.

•  Preparing program materials for print distribution and web distribution

Office Depot Business Resource Center has special resources for small businessowners:

•  Employee Resources

•  Copy, Print, Shop Online

•  Employer Infomation

•  And much, much more...

Go to www.officedepot.com select Buyer’s Edge link.

What’s the best thing about your job?

Creating opportunities for historically underutilized businesses at Office Depot and being the person to find the matches that benefit the HUB and Office Depot.

How long have you worked with Office Depot?

Over 5 years.

How can WBEs get noticed by Office Depot?

Have innovative products that are competitively priced that will add value to Office Depot’s assortment. WBEs need to understand why their products will be a great fit for Office Depot, not just provide a cookie cutter presentation and expect it to go through.

How do you become a vendor/supplier to Office Depot?

For Vendors (Companies with Products for resale in our stores, catalogs, or e-commerce), you visit http://partner.officedepot.com , complete the company profile (all areas). Send that profile along with your certification(s) and a statement as to the value each product or product group (whether it’s a brand new product to the market or it’s priced more competitively than the competition) would provide to Office Depot. Let us know what you feel the sales will be and who the market is for the product. The key is to know Office Depot and as much as possible compare your product offering to our current assortment (online, catalog, and in our stores).

What does Office Depot spend with women-owned businesses? What trends do you see?

WBE Sales are over $255 Million. Trends – WBE start-ups are growing tremendously. We have more and more opportunities to choose from in terms of product offering.

Does Office Depot provide special resources for small business owners?

Office Depot Business Resource   Center  at www.officedepot.com  has information on how businesses can take care of themselves. Resources include: For Start-ups - Balance Sheet Templates, Employee Time Sheet Templates; For all business - A link to our Copy, Print, Ship online area (you can have business cards or other products created online). Information on recruiting & hiring, and much more.

There is also a section called Buyer's Edge. It includes information on How to buy certain items at Office Depot (paper, ink and toner, chairs, etc).

WBDC/Florida Affiliate of WBENC wholeheartedly thanks Office Depot for its many years of support.

Don’t forget to attend the Office Depot Success Strategies Conference