University of Puget Sound

Founded in 1888, the University of Puget Sound is a liberal arts college with nearly 3,000 students and 750 employees, making it the 27^th largest employer in Pierce County.  With an operating budget of $138 million, the University procures $7 million a year from local vendors.  In developing a new dining facility in 2014, the University partnered with the City to install industrial-grade food waste disposers, enabling the waste to be transformed into TAGRO— organic soil products that the city sells to residential and commercial users.  Creating a “full circle,” the University buys TAGRO products, which it uses on its student-run garden that grows produce for campus dining facilities.