Executive Director's Focus

       Triunity Engineering & Management, Inc.

ARRA Technical Assistance Program was developed to build knowledge and capacity so companies can successfully bid and compete for contracts. Using a one stop model, the program provides education and training for minority or women owned businesses to enhance growth and development through best practices, partnerships and training opportunities. World-class training, consultation, business coaching as well as access to capital will be provided for these businesses.

Next Street has extensive experience working with minority- and women-led businesses and are pleased to be working with the Supplier Diversity Office as an ARRA Technical Assistance Provider. SDO initiated this program specifically to help high-potential certified businesses grow their companies and ultimately secure and service large contracts. Companies currently participating in the program include Security Construction Services, causemedia, Frontline, Bryant Associates, Banneker Industries, All Time Service, CQ Personnel, and J & J Contractors. Participants will leave the program with a deeper understanding of the critical aspects of their business necessary for sustainable, profitable growth and successful fulfillment of larger contracts, as well as guidance on the identification of upcoming procurement opportunities.

Next Street Capacity Building Program

The program kicked off last month with much anticipation and a lively discussion and look into the issues impacting business owners participating in the program. The Next Street program consists of a four-part CEO-level Capacity Building Workshop Series covering key aspects of running a business, including strategic, financial, and organizational topics, as well as information and lessons on preparing for and bidding on contracts. Next Street, a merchant bank, founded in 2005 was selected to carry out this series, because of their commitment to transform how financing and advisory services are provided to high-potential urban small businesses and entrepreneurs. Next Street serves the whole client, offering a full range of financial products and advisory services. Through four practice areas – Capital, Strategy, Agency, and Talent – Next Street provides businesses with the customized, flexible financing and services they need to grow and succeed.

Jason King is a graduate of Howard University School of Law where he received a joint JD/MBA. After graduation, Jason moved to the District of Columbia Superior Court clerking for the Honorable Robert Tignor and Ellen Arbrecht. At the completion of his clerkship, Jason took on an attorney advisory role to Calendar 18, within the District’s court system, which deals exclusively with foreclosed properties. Jason next moved back home to Boston where he clerked at Prince, Lobel, Glovsky & Tye. Jason was born in Mclean, Va, and moved to Boston for high school. Jason attended Rutgers University for college and is married with one child, a French bulldog named Bootz. Jason King is a welcomed additional to the SDO, UCP certification Team.

Michelle Morin has over seventeen years of experience in the legal support and eDiscovery industry where she has performed as an individual contributor, department manager, project manager, and consultant. She has enjoyed a broad spectrum of positions and engagements with both local, national and global law firms; a public utility; a municipal authority; and state and federal agencies. The projects, litigations and matters she has supported involved alien labor certification, insurance defense, tort actions, construction, the rights of the state in juvenile detention facilities, merchant wholesale power, state and federal regulatory approval for a utility, use of the internet as an open business forum, shareholder derivative suits, corporate restructuring, hostile taker-overs and data issues for global corporations in the US, UK, and the EU. Michelle is in her tenth year teaching at Northeastern University in the Professional Paralegal program where she teaches litigation and ethics; additionally she is the technology coordinator for the online program. She earned her MBA from Suffolk University in 2005. With her vast experience and extensive knowledge, Michelle well be a valued asset to the SDO, state certification team.

SDO welcomes Mrs. Mary Richmond as the DBE Supportive Services Project Manager. Mrs. Richmond brings over 20 years of Contract Administration and Construction experience in both the public and private sectors. Previous responsibilities for Mrs. Richmond included management of training programs on two multi-million dollar public projects and the contractual and financial management of a multi-billion dollar airport renovation program at an open and operating international airport. In her new role on the DBE SS team, Mrs. Richmond will be responsible for reporting, DBE recruitment, coordination of consultants, fiscal accountability, and ensuring that quality deliverables and follow-up are achieved for SDO's portfolio of clients.

Margaux Whitney is a recent Boston College graduate with a degree in Music and English. Originally from Detroit, Michigan, she has settled in New England, having lived in both New Hampshire and Boston. As she aspires to develop a small hand made jewelry business herself, working with the Supplier Diversity Office is the perfect opportunity for her to learn about the process of cultivating a business and assist others in their endeavors. Margaux is an active violist and violinist, and both performs and records in the Boston area. She recently performed with the Trans Siberian Orchestra and at colleges in Boston and New York. She's a proficient Spanish speaker who loves to dance, blog, and dabble in cooking. We welcome Margaux to the DBE-SS program.

Nazli Saka was born in Istanbul, Turkey. After finishing high school, her adventurous personality led her on a journey to the United States, where she finished Yale University with a double major in Biology and German in 2005. She obtained a master's in educational policy and child development at Harvard University in 2007.Before coming to law school, she was a project associate at Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University where she compiled a comprehensive database of early childhood interventions in health and education. Presently, she is in her third year at Suffolk University Law School where she is concentrating on intellectual property law. She has also participated in the Saul Lefkowitz Trademark Moot Court Competition during her second and third years of law school. She has been assisting Professor McJohn in summarizing case law and writing memoranda about intellectual property law for three semesters. Her other diverse legal experiences include hands-on civil litigation experience in various law firms as well as conducting due diligence for minority and women owned business enterprises at the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office. Lastly, she has been working with the law firm Nutter McClennen and Fish, LLP in researching and summarizing state laws on transportation, health and elderly services in order to help Independent Transportation Network of America, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free transportation services to senior citizens. She will be graduating in May 2011 and plans to sit for the Massachusetts Bar at the end of July, 2011.

Marc Veneziano is a second year law student at New England Law Boston (NELB). Originally from Scituate Ma, Marc spent his undergraduate days at Arizona State University where he majored in economics and minored in Theatre. Marc was attracted to the Supplier Diversity Office because of his passion for entrepreneurial pursuits and avid love of small business ventures. In addition to law Marc is also a licensed real estate agent who enjoys playing hockey and is an Student Bar Association Representative at NELB.

The DBE SS Program is an initiative funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration and administered through the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). The DBE SS Program is administered by SDO and includes the DBE SS Advisory Board, the Opportunity Database, Get Connected events, Matching Making events, and the "Doing Business with MassDOT" brochure. The program also includes a business development tract which features classroom-style curriculum geared towards the individual business as well as specialized development. SDO has recruited 15 ready, willing, and able DBEs to participate in the 2011 DBE SS Business Development Tract Program. If you are a RWA DBE and are interested in the business tract portion of the program, please contact Brian Ross at 617-973-8574 or Mary Richmond at 617-973-8696.

DBE Supportive Services Program Update

Reggie: What was the start date for this year's version of the program?
Brian: The program started in July 2010.
An assessment of need was conducted while interviewing and surveying current ready, willing, and able (RWA) DBEs. Business characteristics such as revenue, company size, ownership structure, years in business, and trades were analyzed and the newly formed DBE/SS Advisory Board convened to articulate barriers that RWA DBEs are currently facing. The assessment identified business deficiencies that have the potential of affecting the DBEs' ability to sustain and conduct business, and increase their capacity to attract more business.

Some of the needs identified include: accessing bonding, increasing the availability of credit, the DBE's ability to cultivate and grow sustained business relationships with potential clients or resource partners, and assistance with bidding and estimating. The majority of certified DBEs that are RWA firms compete at a disadvantage with limited growth opportunities. For those firms that do show signs of growth, these hurdles and deficiencies impede meaningful business development and achievement of contracting opportunities.

Reggie: What barriers were identified as a result of the needs assessment?
Brian: The key barriers identified were:
             • Difficulty establishing new business relationships to enable growth.
             • Limited access to Credit/Working Capital
             • Financial and other issues related to Bonding
             • Regional Contracting
             • Prompt Payment

             And the Top Three Barriers Identified in Survey:
             1. Properly addressing HR needs
             2. Ability to effectively manage employee performance
             3. How to make an efficient case for additional funding to foster growth opportunities

Reggie: What has been done with this information?
Brian: Information pertaining to surmounting barriers to DBEs meaningful participation in federal highway
             construction opportunities has been used to develop a curriculum of business development courses that will
             enable DBEs to improve their proficiency in core business areas. Business forums were designed with these
             needs in mind to provide companies with a network of subject matter experts for example legal services,
             doing business with MassDOT, accounting, and human resources.

Reggie: What program components were developed to address these barriers?
Brian: A number of new program components have been developed and are being implemented to address the
             barriers to DBE participation, including:
             • Establishing an Advisory Board consisting of stakeholders within the highway construction field. The Board
                 includes representation from among prime contractors, graduated DBE firms, economic justice groups and
                 community organizations. Each member contributes valuable perspectives with regard to the participation
                 of DBEs in federally funded highway projects.
             • SDO scheduled seven GetConnected Business forums to provide DBEs greater visibility and an opportunity
                 for DBEs to network with each other. The topics include Access to MassDOT contracting opportunities,
                 Sales and Marketing, Legal Services, Human Resources, Accessing Credit, Financial Understanding,
                 Leadership and Strategy.
             • Matchmaking events for Primes and Subs.
             • A MassDOT workplan was developed to address prompt payment issue.

Reggie: How successful were these program components in eliminating/reducing those barriers?
Brian: The relationship between prime contractors and participating DBEs is improving. Reports indicate that DBE
             subcontractors are calling on a more regular basis requesting available work opportunities.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Expands Program to Help Small Businesses Participate in Transportation Programs

This rule improves the administration of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program by increasing accountability for recipients with respect to meeting overall goals, modifying and updating certification requirements, adjusting the personal net worth (PNW) threshold for inflation, providing for expedited interstate certification, adding provisions to foster small business participation, improving post-award oversight, and addressing other issues. For the full Federal Register notice Download .