Every time Jason Bonaparte drives by UChicago Medicine’s Center for Care and Discovery (CCD), he says, “I look up at that tall, shiny masterpiece and think: There’s my work.”
The people in charge of buying supplies for large institutions can be a tough group to reach, according to Jackie Dyess, owner of Inter-City Supply, a Chatham-based distributor of janitorial and office supplies and a certified minority- and women-owned business enterprise (MWBE).
Taylor Electric, a South Shore–based, black-owned electrical contracting firm founded in 1922, has grown significantly since it began working on UChicago construction projects. Kendra Dinkins, Taylor Electric president and CEO and the firm’s fourth-generation leader, says that part of the credit goes to the University.