As Genworth’s Director of Support Services Sourcing, Ed Benevides directs a team of commodity leaders who source training, benefits, human resources services, facilities, temporary employees, legal services, subscriptions and travel, including hotels, meeting space, airlines and rental cars.  He is also responsible for fulfilling and managing the company’s supplier diversity initiatives.  

Benevides began pursuing a relationship with Corporate United in 2004 after first hearing the value proposition.  From that point on, he approached the human resources department every time the yearly prescription drugs contract came due to explain the benefits of Corporate United’s Medco agreement. After three years of discussions with Genworth’s corporate human resources team, he realigned the Medco relationship to the Corporate United agreement at the end of 2007. Just a few months later, Genworth signed and implemented the OfficeMax contract. Impending price increases from their current office products and pharmacy benefits suppliers were the catalyst for both transitions to Corporate United contracts. Says Benevides, “the office products and pharmacy benefits contracts leverage the size of the membership to achieve better rates, improved SLA’s, and most importantly for pharmacy benefits, protection from a very inflationary environment.”  

Environmental sustainability is one of Genworth’s top priorities. In 2007, the company created an environmental policy that covers areas from print production to travel to human resources. Genworth recently calculated its carbon footprint and is in the process of having the number externally verified. To help decrease that footprint, the company partnered with a waste management supplier and instituted a recycling program at the headquarters in Richmond, Virginia. “Recycling is great for branding to the employees,” he declares; “they love it, and they’re glad to work for a company that shares their values.” A complete renovation of the Genworth Development Center at the beginning of 2008 enhanced video conferencing capability connecting six Genworth sites, including Virginia, North Carolina, Connecticut and England. With the new system, employees can avoid costly and time-consuming trips while also reducing carbon emissions.

As Genworth’s main liaison to Corporate United, Benevides cites the ability to network with other procurement professionals at events like SYNERGY and the Mid-Atlantic member meetings as an extremely valuable element of membership.  He notes the message board as a good place to receive supplier suggestions, but one-on-one networking with members has provided the beneficial opportunity to discuss strategic direction and benchmark against other successful companies.
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Corporate United extends our appreciation to Genworth Financial for being such a dynamic new member and to Ed Benevides for his time and insight. We commend Genworth for its successful green initiatives and are proud to share the company’s results with others.