The Virginia Business Excellence Consortium (VBEC) is a membership-based group of Virginia businesses and manufacturers that share best practices and network with one another to become more competitive. The mission of the Virginia Business Excellence Consortium is to provide a vehicle to help companies identify and obtain support in implementing advanced business practices to improve processes, operations and worker skill levels in Virginia.
VBEC achieves its mission through:
- Site visits at member companies to see first hand how they are implementing a particular improvement initiative;
- Training workshops or round-table discussions on topics of interest to members;
- Speaker events; and
- Sharing ideas, resources, and information on training and educational opportunities and to assist with member problem-solving.
The first regional consortium is the Virginia Business Excellence Consortium - Southeast, which includes companies from the Richmond and Tidewater regions. (Please click on the link for more detailed information on how VBEC - Southeast operates, who its members are, the benefits and requirements of membership and how to join.) VBEC expects to create other regional consortia within Virginia as the consortium matures.
Background
A Best Practices Consortium is a proven approach used to assist companies who may not have the means or resources to identify and implement advanced business practices. In 2007, an Industry Study was commissioned by the Virginia's Philpott Manufacturing Extension Partnership, with assistance from the Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade, to investigate the needs of advanced manufacturers in Virginia. The study indicated that Virginia companies have needs in areas such as business growth, innovation, product development, and quality management systems. Many of those companies have difficulty in finding the right assistance through traditional methods. Other states, including Florida and South Carolina have, in recent years, been successful in applying a group consortium approach to sharing best practices among businesses and industries on a regional basis.
Subsequently, several companies in the Greater Richmond to Tidewater area proposed the formation of a southeast Virginia Business Excellence Consortium (VBEC - Southeast) to be established as a new entity governed by members with the goal of increasing business competitiveness through mutual sharing and support. During 2007, founding members met to discuss the feasibility of a consortium and to create a framework for organization. The overarching purpose of the consortium is to leverage resources to provide services for improving processes, operations, people, and management. The Virginia Business Excellence Consortium - Southeast is intended to provide a regional model that can be replicated in other areas of the Commonwealth of Virginia under the umbrella of a statewide Virginia Business Excellence Consortium.
The inaugural meeting of the Virginia Business Excellence Consortium was held on January 11, 2008 in Williamsburg, VA. At this meeting, founding members were recognized, by-laws were adopted, an advisory board was elected and a director for the consortium was introduced. Monthly meetings will be planned which may include site visits, workshops, speakers, training, networking and benchmarking. Committees have been formed to work on tours/programs/events; assessing and addressing training needs; and marketing the consortium to prospective members.
