As
a member development representative, Charles
both supports existing Corporate United
members in his region and introduces
prospective members to all that Corporate
United has to offer. He sums up his
responsibilities to the Mid-Atlantic members
in three points. He engages his member
companies by learning about their
priorities, especially in areas where
Corporate United can add value. He supports
them throughout the complete lifecycle of
the member’s experience with Corporate
United – from choosing and implementing a
Corporate United category offering to later
ensuring the agreement is meeting their
needs. Finally, Charles strives to help his
members gain best practice knowledge by
supporting them with their initiatives and
facilitating networking and holding regional
events.
Charles joined Corporate
United in 2006, bringing with him a
background in direct procurement and also
marketing and product development. Prior to
Corporate United, he spent seven years
living in Asia and working globally. His
most recent position was with Johnson
Controls (JCI) as the Director of Strategic
Sourcing with the Building Efficiency
Division. While with York International
(which was later acquired by JCI), Charles
was responsible for researching and
introducing new spend management initiatives
to the procurement department. Along with
launching projects for e-sourcing, low-cost
country sourcing and spend analysis, Charles
also discovered Corporate United. In 2002,
he led the effort to partner York
International with Corporate United and
served as the key contact.
Four years later, Charles
decided to join Corporate United. "My
favorite part of the job is connecting the
dots between member companies and suppliers
to create beneficial relationships," Charles
explains. He thoroughly enjoys the diversity
of his membership, both in the people and
the companies. The Mid-Atlantic region
boasts Corporate United members from nearly
every industry, including retail, chemicals,
finance, business services and high tech
among others.
In addition to Corporate
United’s national SYNERGY conference, The
Mid-Atlantic members meet once or twice a
year for regional networking. "We hold
different types of meetings," says Charles,
"some are member-led, others feature
industry experts, and occasionally we’ll
invite a supplier to present. Regardless of
the format, our regional meetings provide an
excellent opportunity for members to create
new relationships." Recent topics include:
negotiation skills, member presentations on
functional alignment, green procurement, a
facilities overview led by select Corporate
United suppliers and also roundtable
discussions on best practices in
procurement.
"Charles has a unique perspective with
his solid foundation in procurement," states
Marc Rosen, president of Corporate United.
Because Charles served as the executive
sponsor to Corporate United within a member
company, "he has a distinct understanding of
how to convey our value proposition to
stakeholders." Marc also maintains that
Charles personifies the most important
element of Corporate United’s value
proposition; "he’s a great collaborator, and
that shows through in all of his
interactions, whether with current members,
prospective members or suppliers."
