Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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12 UCW JANUARY 15-21, 2020 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Organizations collaborate for Building Business Rally by DARSWEIL ROGERS The Rally is a unique opportunity as a "one-stop" shop for local businesses where they connect to organizations that have money to spend and are looking for local busi- nesses to spend it with. EVENTS DARSWEIL ROGERS, Chairman of the PWC board. COMMENTS? Editor@upand- comingweekly.com 910-484-6200. Medical center safety a priority by JEFF THOMPSON Cape Fear Valley Health is a 950-bed health system serving a region of more than 800,000 people in southeastern North Carolina. The not-for-profit system is the state's eighth-largest health system made up of 7,000 team mem- bers and 850 physicians, eight hospitals and more than 60 primary care and specialty clinics. HEALTH Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville is likely one of the safest institutions in Cumberland County. It has facilities and proce- dures designed to keep patients, staff and visitors safe at all times. e local hospital is the flagship of a system of area health facilities to include Cape Fear Valley Healthplex, Fayetteville's most comprehensive fitness and wellness center. A couple of weeks ago, health system facilities were placed on lockdown for a day because of a non- specific threat made to law enforcement against a Fayetteville-area hospital. Cape Fear Valley Health System maintains more than 700 continuously monitored security cam- eras at its campuses. e system also has a com- prehensive visitor management system, a security team with 24-hour internal and external patrols, metal detectors and screening at emergency room entrances as well as additional safety mechanisms for use in emergency situations. Law enforcement officers combed medical center offices after a man called the National Sui- cide Hotline, threatening to kill himself and first responders employed by the hospital. e lock- down was ordered as police officers descended on the Owen Drive hospital, a sprawling set of inpatient and outpatient facilities. Police used cellphone technology to determine the caller's location. He originally said he was on Interstate 95 in Fayetteville before then saying he was outside Cape Fear Valley's Fayetteville campus. e situ- ation prompted authorities to restrict admission to Cape Fear Valley except for the emergency de- partment. Police found no one on medical center property. e health system also restricted access to Highsmith-Rainey Specialty Hospital, Hoke Hospital and Bladen County Hospital. It was the second incident of concern at the medical center in the last two months. Cape Fear Valley Health is a 950-bed health sys- tem serving a region of more than 800,000 people in southeastern North Carolina. e not-for-profit system is the state's eighth-largest health system made up of 7,000 team members and 850 physi- cians, eight hospitals and more than 60 primary care and specialty clinics. Cape Fear Valley Health offers residencies in emergency medicine, inter- nal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, psychia- try and general surgery, as well as a transitional year internship in affiliation with the Jerry M. Wal- lace School of Osteopathic Medicine at Campbell University. Several years ago, the Public Works Commission set as a strategic goal increasing our local vendor capacity and engaging local vendors on the many op- portunities available to them to provide services and goods to PWC. is came after both hearing concerns of local businesses and many incidents where PWC had to re-bid opportunities because of low or no response. Among our many initiatives was starting an event to invite local businesses to learn about the millions of dollars we spend on goods and services and future plans and capital projects that businesses could posi- tion themselves to be a part of. PWC held a "Building Business Rally" in 2016 and 2017. Because of its success, in 2018, we coordinated an expanded Regional Building Business Rally, part- nering with nearly 30 organizations and agencies on the event with the hopes of increasing local spending and encouraging local economic development. e Rally is a unique opportunity as a "one-stop" shop for local businesses where they connect to organizations that have money to spend and are looking for local businesses to spend it with. Since May of 2018, the momentum of this effort has continued. Our Building Local Vendor Capacity Committee set our vision to "maximize local pur- chasing and procurement opportunities from within our region, thereby enhancing the wealth and health of the community" and our mission to use commu- nity collaboration to enhance our local supplier base. Collaboration and education are key to our suc- cess, and with the support of the Cumberland Coun- ty's Mayor's Coalition, January has been proclaimed as Building Local Business month, with the month culminating with the fourth annual Building Business Rally on ursday, Jan. 30. Organizations participating in the Rally are Cumberland County and Fayetteville's largest buyers, representing over $1 billion in opportunities. ey in- clude Cape Fear Valley Hospital System; Cumberland County; Cumberland County Schools; the city of Fayetteville, including FAST and Community Devel- opment; Fayetteville State University; Fayetteville Technical Community college; the town of Hope Mills; the town of Spring Lake; North Carolina De- partment of Transportation; Prince Charles Holdings; PWC; and Vector Fleet Maintenance, which manages the city of Fayetteville fleet. Some of the opportunities that will be presented at the rally are PWC's ongoing needs installing water and sewer services, maintaining our current system and annual repairs and maintenance and upgrades of our electric system. Cumberland County Schools estimates spending $10 million a year on instruction- al custodial supplies, information technology, and construction, while the town of Hope Mills projects it will spend over $34 million on facilities, public works, transportation, public safety and stormwater and recreation projects. e Jan. 30 event utilizes the local business resources of the Greater Fayetteville Chamber, the Small Business and Technology Development Center, and Cumberland County N.C. Works to help busi- nesses find opportunities, structure their business for success and find a qualified workforce. To register for the event, which will be held at the Ramada Plaza on Owen Drive from 2-6 p.m., visit www. faybids.com. Bookmark that site as it is a one-stop-shop for local contracting opportunities and local classes and workshops that can benefit your business.