Supplier Network Co-Presidents' Letter
2020 is officially – and thankfully - in our rear view mirror and we have moved into 2021 with cautious optimism as the COVID Vaccine continues to roll out on a nationwide basis. We choose to embrace the knowledge we acquired and move forward acting on the opportunities that are in front of us.
Building on the momentum that the Supplier Network achieved last year (we celebrated our five year anniversary and welcomed our 500th member), we started the year strong with a packed calendar of exciting events and webinars that helped our members stay connected. There‘s a definite thirst for knowledge as we are averaging over 200 attendees at each of our events. Our committees are working hard to satisfy the needs of our members and to that end we added our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee specifically focused on celebrating System diversity across all three legs of the stool.
- We opened the year with a presentation detailing plans to reopen MHQ and the changes that will be implemented to ensure Safer Ways of Working
- In February, Bud Lord, McDonald‘s Senior Director of Off Premise Operations, highlighted the strong efforts that McDonald‘s has put forth as they‘ve worked to redefine convenience when it comes to McDelivery, Drive-Thru and Mobile Order Pay
- This was followed up with a presentation by Armada regarding their efforts in the field of Refrigeration Sustainability and how they were able to achieve significant savings
- Daniel Henry, McDonald‘s Global CIO, took part in a virtual Executive Meet & Greet where he shared how they are using technology in all aspects of the business to Accelerate the Arches
- And the spotlight was on Chris Heppe, McDonald‘s Director of Global Menu Strategy, as he discussed the Global Menu Strategy and the role that menu plays as the Markets and Global work together.
- And we pulled together a panel of energetic female leaders in our webinar Celebrating Dynamic Women in Leadership. Angela Cauley - Coalescense, Jennifer Lundgren Salerno - True Group, Ira Prifti - Acrelec, Adrienne Tipton - Novolex and Erin Tolefree - Baldwin Richardson Foods nimbly answered audience questions. Each expounded on topics such as their individual leadership style, unique challenges that they‘ve faced and the impact of COVID on their business and life.
You can find recordings of each of these events by going to the Past Events page on our website. We have a complete archive of ALL events posted there.
Our Events Committee has a full year of exciting webinars still ahead, with presentations and Executive Meet & Greets already on the drawing board. Stay tuned in April as we will be hosting a Post-Summit Event at the conclusion of the Supplier Summit. And the following week, Hope Bentley, Darcy Gilbert and Ray Vargocko will do a deeper dive as they talk about their Strategic Sourcing key priorities.
You can be sure that we are constantly looking for new ways to keep you informed. We will soon launch an app that will truly give you access to needed System information at your fingertips. And you can help us continue to provide value - let us know what we‘re missing! Send us your ideas for future webinar topics and presenters you‘d like to hear from.
Jan Perrino and Shari Antonissen – Supplier Network Co-Presidents
Jeanne Gannon - Emerita
All members must be current suppliers to the McDonald‘s system in North America. A supplier is defined as those suppliers who have a signed Business Relationship Agreement with McDonald‘s, and who have been approved by McDonald's to offer products and/or services to the McDonald‘s system or whose pricing is nationally managed by McDonald‘s North American Supply Chain. Other suppliers or service providers who don‘t meet the above definition but would like to participate in the SN may be granted membership at the discretion of the SN‘s Board of Directors and with McDonald‘s approval.
To read archived Letters from the Presidents, click here 
