IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecdequ/v17y2003i2p148-164.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Contracting In: How a Business Intermediary Sought to Create Supplier Networks and Jobs in the Inner City

Author

Listed:
  • Rachel Weber
  • Susanne Schnell

Abstract

This article evaluates a unique economic development program that sought to help small suppliers in high-poverty neighborhoods increase their sales and create jobs for local residents. The Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago introduced these firms to the large corporate customers that constitute its membership. After 2 years, member corporations had signed about $6.6 million in new contracts with the small firms, but few jobs had materialized. Analysis reveals that customers were going through a period of significant retrenchment: reducing their supply base, consolidating their purchasing departments, and using advanced technologies to create a smaller yet more dispersed pool of “preferred†vendors. Moreover, small suppliers were unwilling to make necessary capital investments without assurances from their customers that they would survive the supply chain consolidation. Such trends were not conducive to the establishment of procurement relationships, and the excess capacity of the suppliers diminished the job creation impact of additional sales.

Suggested Citation

  • Rachel Weber & Susanne Schnell, 2003. "Contracting In: How a Business Intermediary Sought to Create Supplier Networks and Jobs in the Inner City," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 17(2), pages 148-164, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:17:y:2003:i:2:p:148-164
    DOI: 10.1177/0891242403017002003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0891242403017002003
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0891242403017002003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Timothy Bates, 1988. "Do black-owned businesses employ minority workers? new evidence," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 16(4), pages 51-64, March.
    2. Daniel Immergluck, 1998. "Neighborhood Economic Development and Local Working: The Effect of Nearby Jobs on Where Residents Work," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 74(2), pages 170-187, April.
    3. Erickson, Rodney A. & Wasylenko, Michael, 1980. "Firm relocation and site selection in suburban municipalities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 69-85, July.
    4. Timothy J. Bartik, 2001. "Jobs for the Poor: Can Labor Demand Policies Help?," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number tjb2001, August.
    5. Timothy J. Bartik, 1991. "Who Benefits from State and Local Economic Development Policies?," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number wbsle, August.
    6. Ronald S. Jarmin, 1999. "Evaluating the impact of manufacturing extension on productivity growth," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(1), pages 99-119.
    7. Peter S. Fisher & Alan H. Peters, 1998. "Industrial Incentives: Competition among American Cities and States," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number ii, August.
    8. Daniel Luria, 1996. "Why Markets Tolerate Mediocre Manufacturing," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 11-16, July.
    9. Harry J. Holzer & Keith R. Ihlanfeldt, 1996. "Spatial factors and the employment of blacks at the firm level," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue May, pages 65-86.
    10. Jeffre Y. S. Bracker & John N. Pearson, 1986. "Planning and financial performance of small, mature firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(6), pages 503-522, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Timothy J. Bartik, 2009. "The Revitalization of Older Industrial Cities: A Review Essay of Retooling for Growth," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 1-29, March.
    2. Linda Lobao & P. Wilner Jeanty & Mark Partridge & David Kraybill, 2012. "Poverty and Place across the United States," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 35(2), pages 158-187, April.
    3. Timothy J. Bartik, 2003. "Local Economic Development Policies," Upjohn Working Papers 03-91, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    4. Timothy J. Bartik & George A. Erickcek, 2012. "Simulating the Effects of Michigan's MEGA Tax Credit Program on Job Creation and Fiscal Benefits," Upjohn Working Papers 12-185, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    5. Tim Bartik, 2023. "Seize the Time: Needed Research on Local Economic Development in an Era of Increased Attention to Problems of Place," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 37(1), pages 7-13, February.
    6. Timothy J. Bartik, "undated". "Increasing the Economic Development Benefits of Higher Education in Michigan," Upjohn Working Papers tjb2005jwd, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    7. G. Jason Jolley & Mandee Foushee Lancaster & Jiang Gao, 2015. "Tax Incentives and Business Climate," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 29(2), pages 180-186, May.
    8. Timothy J. Bartik, 2020. "Using Place-Based Jobs Policies to Help Distressed Communities," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 99-127, Summer.
    9. Mark D. Partridge & Dan S. Rickman & M. Rose Olfert & Ying Tan, 2015. "When Spatial Equilibrium Fails: Is Place-Based Policy Second Best?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(8), pages 1303-1325, August.
    10. Timothy J. Bartik, 2004. "Evaluating the Impacts of Local Economic Development Policies on Local Economic Outcomes: What Has Been Done and What Is Doable?," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Evaluating Local Economic and Employment Development: How to Access Waht Works Among Programmes and Policies, pages 113-142, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    11. Anna Alberini, 2007. "Determinants And Effects On Property Values Of Participation In Voluntary Cleanup Programs: The Case Of Colorado," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 25(3), pages 415-432, July.
    12. Brian E. Whitacre & David Shideler & Randi Williams, 2016. "Do Incentive Programs Cause Growth? The Case of the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program and Community-Level Economic Growth," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 30(1), pages 62-74, February.
    13. David Neumark & Diego Grijalva, 2017. "The Employment Effects of State Hiring Credits," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 70(5), pages 1111-1145, October.
    14. Anna Alberini & Dennis Guignet, 2008. "Voluntary Cleanups and Redevelopment Potential: Lessons from Baltimore, Maryland," Working Papers 2008.87, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    15. Mark Partridge & Dan Rickman, 2010. "Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Modelling for Regional Economic Development Analysis," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(10), pages 1311-1328.
    16. Timothy J. Bartik, 2007. "Solving the Problems of Economic Development Incentives," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Ann Markusen (ed.), Reining in the Competition for Capital, chapter 5, pages 103-139, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    17. Robert S. Chirinko & Daniel J. Wilson, 2023. "Job Creation Tax Credits, Fiscal Foresight, and Job Growth: Evidence from US States," National Tax Journal, University of Chicago Press, vol. 76(3), pages 481-523.
    18. Chang Woon Nam & Doina Radulescu & Doina Maria Radulescu, 2004. "Types of Tax Concessions for Attracting Foreign Direct Investment in Free Economic Zones," CESifo Working Paper Series 1175, CESifo.
    19. Timothy J. Bartik & George Erickcek, 2014. "Simulating the Effects of the Tax Credit Program of the Michigan Economic Growth Authority on Job Creation and Fiscal Benefits," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 28(4), pages 314-327, November.
    20. Timothy J. Bartik, 2020. "Targeting Jobs Toward The People Who Need Them," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(3), pages 854-857, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:17:y:2003:i:2:p:148-164. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.