By Heather Cirre, LEED AP, Small Business Contracting and Outreach, McCarthy Building Companies
There may never be a better time than now for women-owned trade contractors to take advantage of the opportunities created by favorable marketplace circumstances. Amidst real challenges due to the ongoing pandemic and a national focus on improving racial and social equity, large companies increasingly seek female-led firms. In addition to helping to meet specific goals for hiring small business trade contractors, these firms also help to grow the industry’s base of qualified craft workers by contributing a diverse workforce during an industry-wide shortage of qualified construction workers.
A very real example is Next NGA West construction program, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) new $1.7 billion campus being built on a 97-acre site in St. Louis, Missouri. Active construction began in January 2020 and is expected to complete in 2023. As Federal Government investment, the project is required to comply with Department of Labor affirmative action goals for 6.9 percent female participation by trade and 14.7 percent minority participation by trade, alongside subcontracting enterprise participation goals of 28% small business and 5% women-owned small business.
The joint venture design builder team of McCarthy HITT aims to extend those requirements with a Project Specific Inclusion Plan (PSIP) that establishes specific maximum achievable opportunities for qualified minority and female participation on all aspects of construction. PSIP goals build on Federal goals by setting benchmarks for diverse business enterprise participation of 25% minority-owned and 5% woman-owned companies of any size.
“When it comes to competing on large construction projects where the bidding process is complicated, demanding and extraordinarily time-consuming, there are no short-cuts or back-doors to winning a contract award, but the effort is worth it,” says Julia Yank, president of roofing company Jim Taylor, Inc., located just outside of St. Louis in Belleville, Illinois.
Taylor Roofing worked diligently to win contracts for the roof of the 212,000-square-foot main office building, as well as a contract for two large parking garages on the Next NGA West campus. Part of their winning strategy to achieve the large volume of contracts included engaging a minority-owned company to perform a portion of the work and further expanding the diverse labor workforce to the project.
“Preparing for and submitting a bid is far from a ‘cut and paste’ process,” says Yank. “For example, Taylor Roofing has had a long-standing relationship and is very familiar with McCarthy Building Companies’ processes, however we had not worked before with all of the team members from the joint venture for the Next NGA West project.”
“Due to this, we not only attended every ‘opportunity fair’ event (three so far) and every pre-bid qualification meeting, including virtual programs, we went out of our way to introduce ourselves, ask smart questions that showed we understood the scope, and express our sincere interest in working on the project.” Yank added.
On any project, the construction bidding process offers all subcontractors a chance to show off strengths they can bring to a project in a preview of their expertise and organization style. Research shows that some common characteristics of women-owned companies make them especially suited to capitalize on this pre-construction phase.
According to an article in Psychology Today published in 2015, women approach work (and life) with a collaborative mindset and empathetic viewpoint. This ability to empathize allows for accurate listening, attention to subtle details, and the capability to pick up on nonverbal cues.
In construction, successful projects are built through intricate teamwork that depends on clear communication and trust. When female-led enterprises take part in a job, levels of collaboration on the jobsite often increase.
Prime contractors look at companies that have good communication skills and the confidence to ask questions to gain a deep understanding of project documents during the bid phase to gauge how these companies will operate in the field. In addition, the bid process also creates pathways for companies to establish solid relationships that can translate to working together on future projects.
For the Next NGA West project, the McCarthy HITT JV team reached out through various databases and sources to nearly 5,000 small, minority, women-owned and veteran-owned businesses, providing a level field of the same opportunities to access requirements, attend opportunity fairs and pre-bid events, and detailed contact information and contacts for additional information.
In addition to seeking diversity of ownership in solicited contractors, McCarthy HITT’s bid criteria call for firms to commit to “boots on the ground” workforce participation goals that women-owned businesses are often best-positioned to attain. Women who have overcome barriers themselves can appreciate the importance of removing obstacles to success for other women and underrepresented groups and their firms often represent a wide diversity of personnel.
Contracts on the project are still being awarded. As of February 18, 2021, 11 of the first 68 project contracts have been awarded to women-owned business enterprises for work including electrical, HVAC, roofing, rebar, fencing and other goods and services, ranging from a contract size of $5,000 to over $5,000,000.
Tips for trade contractors to keep in mind include:
- Register in the general contractors’ bid solicitation database to receive notices of bid opportunities, outreach events, and pre-bid meetings.
- Submit a prequalification application, which typically provides detailed information about your company’s areas of expertise (NAICS codes), safety record, project references, bonding and credit capacity and other business classification information.
- Register your company at SAM.gov and enter as much data as possible, including any special status or certifications held by your company.
- Prioritize your company’s internet presence. If your business model allows, use website monitoring to understand how your company appears in search results and supports your business development and marketing efforts. The website does not need to be elaborate, but it needs to reflect the high quality of your company’s work and be user-friendly to navigate.
- Submit everything on time and pay attention to every small detail.
- Contact the person(s) responsible for running the bid process to express your interest in working on the project. In addition to sending a well-written email that includes an organized capability statement, follow-up with a quick phone call to introduce yourself and make sure your email was seen and did not land in a spam folder.
- Attend ALL outreach events, industry days and seminars hosted or attended by the general contractors who will be choosing trade contractors and introduce yourself and your company.
- Understand that low bids are not the only factor in winning a job. While a competitive price matters, it is equally (and perhaps more) important to demonstrate that you have taken the time to carefully review contract documents and proposed a complete scope of work; have accounted for adequate supervision, safety and quality assurance practices, training or commissioning, and any other special requirements; and are responsive to any pre-bid requirements for information.
- Answer questions directly and accurately. Whether responding to a prequalification application or a bid invitation, provide information that addresses the question or scope of work presented and then stop. Admit when you don’t have an answer – but offer to follow-up.
About the author:
Heather Cirre, LEED AP, is responsible for small business contracting and outreach for St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. and is part of McCarthy HITT joint venture for Next NGA West, which includes HITT Contracting, Falls Church, Va.; Black & Veatch Special Projects Corp., Overland Park, Kan.; Gensler, San Francisco; and Akima, LLC, Herndon, Va. The Black & Veatch + Gensler Joint Venture serves as the Architect-Engineer of Record for the project. She can be reached at hcirre@mccarthy.com
