Advancing UC’s economic impact goals
In a major step toward advancing UC’s economic impact goals, Systemwide Procurement (SWP) and UC Berkeley launched a pioneering purchasing integration between Fisher Scientific and Possible Missions that will be duplicated at other campuses.
This collaboration, led by SWP procurement systems manager, Terese Merrell, and supported by teams from UC Berkeley, SWP, Fisher, and Possible Missions, is part of UC’s broader economic impact strategy. Possible Missions is a certified Small Business founded by Paula Mendoza in 2001.
This strategic move supports the UC system’s 25% economic impact spend target while keeping pricing stable for end-users and preserving patronage fees.
But this isn’t just about dollars. It’s about smarter systems. A new technology enhancement allows campus shoppers to seamlessly create multiple purchase orders from a single punchout session—no extra clicks, no extra work. This not only streamlines the process but also ensures purchases are routed directly to our economic impact partner.
Valuable outcomes from this project:
- A new and simple ordering pathway for products from Life Technology and Thermo-Fisher Asheville via the Fisher punchout catalog.
- New functionality integrations into campus eProcurement systems tailored to each ERP.
- Effective change management and communication plans to drive awareness and adoption.
- A scalable model that other campuses and suppliers can easily adopt and follow.
And this is just the beginning! Thanks to the success at UC Berkeley, UC Davis is gearing up to launch its own version within Oracle using a new technology solution, and other large supplier/small business partnerships are in the works across the system.
This project is a win for expanding UC’s economic impact, a win for inventive procurement solutions, and a powerful example of how innovation and inclusion go hand in hand at UC.