CMPC’s second Local Supplier Development Program trained 100 companies from 7 regions of Chile
In order to promote local development in the various regions of Chile, CMPC created the Local Supplier Development program, an initiative that uses training and personalized mentoring to enable the growth and consolidation of companies of various sizes.
The second installment of the initiative was able to train and positively impact a total of 100 micro-, small- and medium-sized companies that work in different areas and provide services to the company in the Metropolitan, Maule, Ñuble, Biobío, La Araucanía, Los Ríos and Los Lagos regions in Chile.
“I started as an operator and as often happens, you start noticing which things are lacking, like funds for your children’s education. That’s when we began to save money to buy a crane, which was back in 2013. We’d pay for one machine and then buy another. That’s how we grew. In 2019, we’d already applied to load and ship for CMPC, and we started out there running two machines for transport and a crane, all newer equipment. Later on we started updating the other equipment, and now we already have a lot more. You can achieve this kind of thing when there’s work to do,” said Alex Vergara Beltrán of the Serfover company in Angol.
Regarding the Local Supplier Development Program, Alex said that the initiative helped him take on new challenges. “The program was very important because it gave me a perspective I didn’t have. I have learned a lot of things in this course. I always had a dream of having my own company. Today I own a small company that works at a large one.”
A ceremony was held to acknowledge the companies and provide them with certification to accredit their participation in the program with five stages that was led by the Technoserve Chile Foundation. The event took place at the CMPC corporate building in the city of Los Angeles in south-central Chile.
CMPC Companies Chairman Francisco Ruiz-Tagle praised the program that has successfully trained local companies. “Sustainability is one of the pillars of CMPC’s strategy. That is where we have decided to be a change agent in the communities where we operate. One hundred new suppliers who are micro-, small- and medium-sized entrepreneurs have had the opportunity for training in order to build shared value in long-term relationships. This is tremendously important and a priority for CMPC. We hope to keep building a future with each of them as we develop our communities together.”
The ability to start a business and not be defeated by the setbacks involved in starting a new venture is the common basis that most people who create companies share, as confirmed by Victor Contreras, part of the team of the Ríos y Flores company offering electrical maintenance and assembly services in the Laja district. “Our company was created in 2017, after which we started doing the usual customer search. In 2021 we achieved accreditation to be able to provide services to CMPC, which has become a before and after milestone. Since then we’ve been focused on working with the Laja Plant and opening markets with the timber business. We keep growing by giving it our all.”
In addition, Contreras said, “Thanks to the program we were able to advance in terms of accounting by adding accounting software to our internal operation department, which was our proposed goal for the project. We very much appreciate the fact that CMPC prefers working with local suppliers since it demonstrates its corporate social responsibility, which means providing opportunities to local enterprises and helps enhance the local economy and job market.”
CMPC seeks to make a real contribution to the sustainable socio-economic development of the surrounding communities under a management model based on creating shared value.
As in the first edition of the program, the trainings addressed a series of topics like new business, finance, accounting, operations, sales, security, marketing, sustainability, and others.
With a focus on local development
Based on this model of support for the local economy, CMPC works permanently with more than 1,700 local suppliers of different sizes and business lines that reside in district and regions where the company has forestry and industrial operations.
