Detroit’s DTE Energy Spent Nearly $1.7B With Michigan Businesses in 2017

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DTE Energy in Detroit today announced it spent nearly $1.7 billion with Michigan businesses in 2017 and created or sustained 5,100 jobs across the state. The company says it has spent more than $7.5 billion with local suppliers and created 16,000 jobs in the past eight years.

“In 2010, our chairman and CEO Gerry Anderson challenged DTE’s leadership team to rethink the way we did business and asked us to do more to support the state,” says Anthony Tomczak, DTE Energy chief procurement officer. “We looked at how Michigan-based businesses could help us achieve our goals. We changed the way we purchased goods and services and significantly impacted the state we work and live in, too. We’re proud of the difference we’ve made in the communities we serve.”

More than 70 percent of the funds that DTE spends with suppliers go to Michigan businesses.

DTE reported it spent more than $1 billion in southeast Michigan and metro Detroit, nearly $59 million in west Michigan, more than $33 million in northeast and northwest Michigan, nearly $169 million in south Michigan, nearly $19 million in central Michigan, more than $87 million in the thumb region and nearly $11 million in the Upper Peninsula.

The company is a founding member of Pure Michigan Business Connect, an initiative that encourages companies to buy from Michigan vendors and connects local companies.

DTE also encourages suppliers to buy and hire locally and provides networking opportunities for Michigan companies.

“We host yearly seminars to teach business owners how to connect with our supply chain,” says Tomczak. “We invite our largest suppliers to those seminars so that locally-owned small businesses can connect with them. Today, many of our suppliers are doing business with one another.”

DTE Energy is a diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. It provides electricity to 2.2 million customers in southeastern Michigan and natural gas to 1.3 million customers in Michigan.