Local Procurement

Program Overview

West Side United’s Local Procurement strategy is an intentional effort to redirect institutional purchasing power—especially from hospitals—toward West Side, community-rooted businesses. The initiative is grounded in the understanding that large healthcare institutions spend billions on goods and services, yet much of that spending historically bypasses the neighborhoods in which they operate. By realigning this spending to support local vendors, the program aims to catalyze economic opportunity, reduce wealth disparities, and foster business growth in West Side communities.

The Fillmore Center Laundry Linen project is the flagship example of this local procurement strategy in action: a practical, high-volume service (hospital linen cleaning) that was previously outsourced is now being performed locally, turning a routine expense into a tool for community investment and job creation.

Key Partners and Impacts

Key partners in the Local Procurement initiative include:

• Healthcare anchor institutions which are shifting procurement to community vendors.

• West Side businesses, ready to partner with the anchors as vendors to deliver services and goods.

• Business development organizations like Allies for Community Business, which help identify key vendors who can fit hospital needs.

Impacts from this strategy are already materializing:

• Local spend: our anchor partners spent over $237M with West Side businesses between 2018 and 2024.

• Direct connections made between West Side vendors and WSU anchors via our vendor registration events and vendor spotlights.

• Increased institutional confidence in sourcing from community businesses.

Long-Term Vision

The long-term vision for West Side United’s Local Procurement initiative is to institutionalize community investment as part of hospital and large anchor spending. This means:

• Scaling place-based models like Fillmore Linen Service across multiple service lines.

• Building local business capacity to meet institutional standards through mentorship, technical assistance, and capital access.

• Encouraging policy and purchasing shifts within anchor institutions so local sourcing becomes default practice, not the exception.

Ultimately, the goal is to create a self-reinforcing economic engine where hospital procurement becomes a tool for building wealth in historically disinvested West Side neighborhoods. By aligning everyday institutional needs with local capabilities, West Side United aims to embed equity into the very fabric of regional economic systems.