The “Juntos Emprendemos de Local” program closed its first stage with 17 graduates. The initiative, which is promoted by Codelco at the corporate level, is executed together with the Simón de Cirene Corporation and allowed the copper company to identify local suppliers, develop their skills and invite them to participate in its bidding processes.

“Although Codelco has been working for years on the local supplier scheme, this program allowed us to generate this closeness and get to know the reality of each of the companies, detect gaps with each of them in terms of knowledge and explain to them how to apply for tenders,” said Cristián Sanhueza, Community Development Director of Codelco El Teniente Division.

Felipe Moraga, a supplier development engineer at Codelco, explained that the company's goal is to increase, at the corporate level, by 60% the amount spent by the company on suppliers from the locations where its divisions are located.

"We will continue to enhance the capabilities of companies, getting closer to the territories, increasing purchases made from suppliers and the contribution we generate in the communities neighboring our operations," Moraga said.

The experience of receiving training

Margarita Osorio participated in the entire process of the Program and valued this initiative: “In our company we changed certain ways of managing the company thanks to, let’s say, the training they gave us. And we were able to learn that there were certain things in which we were quite deficient. We are trying to work on everything we learned in order to continue growing.”

Her classmate, who gave the final speech at the graduation ceremony, Priscila Cortés, said that “the workshops were very enriching, especially those on management, human resources, and finance. They helped us clarify the panorama and weaknesses that one has when starting out in the business world.”

“Today we can say that we have our first contract as a local supplier in inclusive business with Codelco. This makes us very proud as a company, because little by little the possibilities are opening up for us and we know that this does not stop here, we will continue to reach the sky,” said Viviana Núñez, enthusiastically.

Macarena Troncoso, Director of Community Strengthening at the Simón de Cirene Corporation, explained that more than 300 hours of training were provided focused on business growth and psychological support to align the personal goals of those who lead companies with their corporate goals.