Occupations, Inc. Finds Savings With a Smile
at HVTDC's Manufacturers Mall
“We are very happy with our savings, and the quality of service we receive is wonderful.”
Jeannette Godfrey
Purchasing Specialist
Occupations, Inc.
When Jeannette Godfrey changed jobs last year, she took more with her than just her purchasing skills. She took along the Manufacturers Mall. As a Purchasing Specialist for Occupations, Inc., a rehabilitation agency in Middletown, NY, Jeannette’s job is to provide the agency with equipment and supplies, quickly, efficiently, and at the best possible prices.
With over 500 employees at multiple locations throughout Orange County, NY, Occupations, Inc. is a community-based rehabilitation agency and one of Orange County’s largest human services providers. The agency currently provides care and treatment for over 14,500 children, adults and families each year, and is growing fast.
When Jeanette arrived last year, she already had ideas about how to meet the needs of her new employer. “When I got to Occupations, Inc.,” Jeannette explains, “no one had heard of Manufacturers Mall. But I had been working with the Mall since 2002 and was very happy with their pricing and their customer service.” So she recommended to her boss that they click onto www.mfrmall.com and give it a try.
A subsidiary of the Hudson Valley Technology Development Center (HVTDC), Manufacturers Mall is an online community of small to medium-sized companies that uses the combined purchasing power of its members to negotiate low prices for business-related products and services. There is no cost to join the Mall, and members enjoy discounts on a variety of items, including over 25,000 office products on the Mall’s online store.
Based on Jeannette’s recommendation, Occupations, Inc. decided to order office supplies through the Mall, and they were delighted with the result. Consequently, Occupations, Inc. now orders about 50 percent of its office supplies through the Mall, and Jeannette believes that their Mall business will increase.
“We are very happy with our savings,” she says, “and the quality of service we receive is wonderful.” “Also,” says Jeannette, “Manufacturers Mall is very easy to use. We have multiple locations, and ordering can all be set up on line for each of our locations.”
“But what really stands out,” Jeannette explains, “is the customer service I get from the Mall. It is excellent.” And she has specific praise for Donna Rossner, Customer Relations Manager at the Mall. “Donna goes out of her way to help with whatever she can,” says Jeannette. “If we have a special need, she’ll try to fill it. And she handles rush shipments really well.”
As for Donna, she sees customer service as the most important part of her job. “We design our accounts to each customer, individually. If there is something that we don’t sell, and a customer wants it, I’ll stop what I’m doing and try to find it for them.”
For Occupations, Inc., this individualized approach - along with the savings - seems to be the magic formula. “They’re just wonderful with everything,” Jeannette says about Manufacturers Mall. “They really go out of their way to make the customer happy.”
Headquartered in Middletown , NY , Occupations, Inc. is a not-for-profit human services agency that provides residential, day treatment, clinical, vocational, social and other comprehensive rehabilitation services to people throughout the mid-Hudson region with emotional, developmental and/or physical disabilities and special needs. In addition, the organization’s Mobile Mental Health Services Team provides clinician-staffed telephone support and 24-hour on-site crisis intervention. All of Occupations, Inc.’s services can be accessed 24-hours a day, seven days a week. You may find more information about the agency on their website at: www.occupations.org.