Business
Consulting Firm Focuses on Procurement Cost Optimization
Insight Sourcing Group celebrates 20 years of serving clients and preserving history.
Unless they are part of a company looking to trim operating costs, most people probably don’t quite know what a business focused on strategic sourcing, cost optimization and procurement operational transformation does. That’s what Insight Sourcing Group has done for more than 20 years from its headquarters in Peachtree Corners.
“We go into companies and look at what they spend money on other than payroll, and we determine ways to take out the cost, often through supplier negotiations,” said Tom Beaty, Insight Sourcing Group founder and CEO.
“We have a couple of different businesses, but the main one is a consulting firm, and we’re the largest consulting firm of this kind of specialized procurement,” he explained. “Strategic sourcing is that process where we get bids from suppliers and negotiate and establish contracts for customers. …We did over 1,000 projects last year.”
Among the company’s clients are major corporations like Genuine Parts, Meta (formerly Facebook), Under Armour, Freddie Mac and Cox Media. Besides being the biggest company of its kind, Insight Sourcing Group is one of the best. It has garnered numerous accolades since its founding.
“We have … tons of customers and almost all of them would be name brands like lulemon and large manufacturers,” Beaty said. “Normally a big part of their revenue goes back out the doors to vendors — something they haven’t focused on in the past. When you’re growing a lot, it’s something you may neglect and then that growth is a little harder.”
Insight Sourcing Group announced 20% firmwide growth in 2022, with 84 new team members added, of whom 23 joined as part of an acquisition. The team drove more than $1.2 billion in contracted savings for the 243 clients served firmwide over the course of the year, completing 1,199 procurement and sourcing projects in 2022, according to information provided by the company.
Insight Sourcing Group has registered growth every year since its founding in 2002, resulting in recognition by Consulting Magazine, which included the firm as No. 24 on its list of Fastest-Growing Private Companies for 2022. Other notable awards for the year include Insight Sourcing Group’s seventh consecutive year on Forbes’s list of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms and its 15th consecutive year on Atlanta Business Chronicle’s list of Best Places to Work in Atlanta.
Good for environment, good for diversity
Perhaps the cherry on top is the Insight Energy initiative that delivers customized energy and sustainability solutions to reduce costs, manage risk and improve competitive position. It realized an $8 billion client energy spend under management for 245 energy and sustainability clients and an impressive 94% client retention rate.
The year also marked Insight Sourcing Group’s public commitment to a goal of 100% renewable energy by 2030.
“Through our energy management business …we go into companies and …help them actively manage gas and electricity, and then we have a green sustainability practice. We go in and we help convert carbon energy spend to green spend,” Beaty said. “A lot of our clients have [Environmental Social and Governance] goals that relate to green energy.”
Besides helping its clients become more ecologically friendly, Insight helps them work with more women-based and minority-based vendors. The company recently helped a large private equity firm that owns many other companies achieve $2 billion in diverse spending. And Insight was the engine that made the accomplishment possible.
In 2022, the firm’s supplier diversity practice achieved an $18 billion spend prioritized for diversity impact, supported 78 corporate supplier diversity programs and increased each client’s supplier diversity investment by an average of 2.4 times.
Giving back through history
With all those major achievements that enhance businesses, Insight also works hard to give back to the community. Perhaps its greatest philanthropic achievement is the project that records oral history of combat veterans called the Witness to War Foundation.
A year before launching Insight Sourcing Group, Beaty discovered a group of 150 veterans called the Atlanta World War II Roundtable who met monthly to share their war experiences.
Growing up with a fascination for WWII, and later for combat in general, Beaty couldn’t believe that all this rich history wasn’t being preserved. He bought a video camera and launched the Witness to War Foundation in his spare time, despite having no video or audio expertise.
“In 2001, I started interviewing combat veterans …to capture their stories to preserve them for the history as well as for their families and for them,” said Beaty, who is not a veteran himself. “We have a website with over 1,000 war stories on it now.”
The footage will eventually be part of a collection in the Library of Congress. The organization also supplies footage for documentaries and museums as well as other projects. It’s the largest oral history preservation organization of its kind in this country, attending about 20 different military unit reunions a year.
“We’ve done over 3000 interviews, including Senator Bob Dole,” said Beaty. “But we mainly focus on everyday heroes, and we’ve done a bunch of Peachtree Corners veterans.”
Insight was also a major contributor the Peachtree Corners Veterans Memorial in Town Center. It sponsored one of the six statues in the structure.
“There’s a proverb …that says, “When an old person dies, a library burns.” Losing the stories of veterans is kind of the same thing,” said Beaty. “That’s why this is so important.”
Learn more about Insight Sourcing Group at insightsourcing.com.
Leroy Hite, founder of Cutting Edge Firewood, was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from Berry College in August
Berry College recently awarded its annual Distinguished Alumni Award for Entrepreneurial Spirit to Leroy Hite, founder of Cutting Edge Firewood (and Berry College graduate, class of 2008). The annual award recognizes and honors alumni who have demonstrated a range of positive entrepreneurial skills — including a commitment to turning a dream into a reality, the vision to create an enterprise, the courage to assume risks and the ability to make changes and take advantage of new opportunities.
“This award holds a special place in my heart, maybe more than any other I’ve ever received,” said Hite. “Being recognized by my alma mater is incredibly meaningful to me.
My entrepreneurial journey began at Berry College. It’s where that initial spark was ignited, and honestly, I’m not sure I’d be where I am today without it. Berry nurtured my curiosity, drive and resilience — the key ingredients to entrepreneurship.”
Innovative entrepreneurship
Berry College professor and leader of the school’s Entrepreneurship Program, Dr. Paula Englis, said that Hite took every class she offered. And when those ran out, he did directed studies with her.
“He always knew he wanted to run his own business, and the growth and success of his firewood enterprise has been a wonder to watch,” she said.
Hite was nominated by Berry alumni Alison Ritter, class of 1994. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp also supported Hite’s nomination.
“As a small business owner myself, I have strong appreciation for and recognize the perseverance it takes to build a business from the ground up,” said Kemp. “Leroy’s innovative approach to the firewood industry, focusing on product quality and customer service, mirrors the entrepreneurial spirit that has long driven Georgia’s economic success.”
The company
When Hite founded Cutting Edge Firewood in 2013, he created the world’s first luxury firewood and cooking wood company. He reinvented everything about the firewood industry, from how firewood is dried and stored to how it’s packaged, shipped and delivered. When the company began, it was just Leroy with a one truck and a trailer. Now Cutting Edge Firewood employs 40, stocks enough inventory to fill its 40,000-square-foot Peachtree Corners warehouse and ships wood to all 50 states.
The wide variety of wood from Cutting Edge undergoes a special drying process to ensure that it’s free from unwanted pests, mold or fungus and provides an unmatched clean and bright burn with pleasant aroma. Their focus on process and the use of hardwoods such as oak, hickory, cherry, apple, pecan and maple ensures their customers receive the highest quality firewood, cooking wood and pizza wood possible.
For more information about Cutting Edge Firewood, visit cuttingedgefirewood.com.
To learn more about the Entrepreneurship Program at Berry College, visit berry.edu/academics/majors/entrepreneurship.
Cornerstone Christian Academy was recently awarded a Top Workplaces 2024 honor by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Recipients of this annual award are chosen solely from employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by Energage, LLC. The anonymous survey uniquely measures multiple culture drivers that are critical to the success of any organization, including alignment, execution and connection.
In addition to their place on the 2024 list, Cornerstone was also ranked number one among small businesses and won a special award for company “Communication.”
“We were extremely humbled to hear that we were not only named on the list, but ranked first among small companies,” shared Colin Creel, headmaster at Cornerstone. “I am very thankful our staff has received this public validation of the amazing work that occurs here at Cornerstone. Our staff deserves all of the accolades they are receiving; Cornerstone is a very special place because of them.”
2024 marks the 14th year the AJC has recognized metro Atlanta businesses with the Top Workplaces award. And it’s the third time that Cornerstone has been named to the top spot in their category. This year’s recipients were selected from over 9,000 nominated companies and honored at an awards ceremony held at the Georgia Aquarium on August 14.
For more information about Cornerstone Christian Academy, visit cornerstonecougars.org.
To learn more about Top Workplaces, visit topworkplaces.com.
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