Hydro's Supplier Development Program reaches its third edition renewed and with even more content. The initiative, carried out in partnership with the Federation of Industries of the State of Pará (FIEPA), through REDES, aims to train companies in the territories where Hydro operates and stimulate the economic development of Pará. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this edition will be 100% online, allowing even more representatives of the chosen companies to participate in the program. In all, 28 companies from Barcarena, Paragominas and the metropolitan region of Belém were invited to this edition.

With online activities, it was also possible to put suppliers from different regions together in the training, favoring the exchange of experiences between companies. Another novelty of the program is the inclusion of lives during the program on specific subjects, such as “Diversity & Inclusion” and “Business Opportunities”, which will serve as a bonus for learning. And, in addition, the third edition will function as a specialization for suppliers that were certified in previous editions, due to new contents on Environmental Management, Diversity and Inclusion, Project Management, Human Rights, Risk Management and Supplier Management.

“One of Hydro's goals is to contribute to the development of Pará, where most of our operations in Brazil are located. Projects like this are essential for us to achieve our goal. This edition is a specialization, a continuation of previous editions, with more strategic topics and in line with the recent maturation process these companies have gone through. Our expectation is to help companies mature”, says Eduardo Kaiser, Senior Manager of Governance and Supplier Development at Hydro.

In addition to expanding the classes, the online format will allow it to be recorded and made available to participants, allowing them to return to the material if there are any questions. Classes will be held until December 2nd and, by mid 2022, suppliers will put into practice what they have learned in modules and disciplines, presenting self-assessment reports, and being accompanied by REDES consultants and Hydro employees in sections of mentoring. As part of the evaluation of their performance in the program, participants will present an action plan at the end with a focus on improving the quality of services provided, which will contribute to increasing the competitiveness of companies. At the end, companies that manage to meet the program's evaluation criteria will receive their certificates.

“We wish success in this new edition of the program, which is already a reference for other companies in Pará. We are happy with this partnership between Hydro and REDES Fiepa and we hope that entrepreneurs will be able to optimize their time, mainly because it is in an online format. We look forward to improving and supporting the management of these companies. Therefore, they can count on us for future editions”, said Marcel Moraes de Souza, REDES FIEPA management executive, during the Program's opening event.

About the Program - Since 2017, Hydro has been working with several local supplier development initiatives. Hydro's Supplier Development Program underwent a restructuring in 2018, which resulted in an integrated corporate qualification program for the Company's partner companies. The first two editions in the new format promoted the certification of 32 companies. There were more than 160 class hours, around 300 people were directly reached and hundreds of improvement actions and investments by suppliers. The objective was to encourage local suppliers through technical training, practices and applied assessments, generating improvements in their performance and fostering new business opportunities in large projects installed in Pará.