Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)

DBE PROGRESS STATUS UPDATE JUNE 2005

Well, the summer heat came early this year but it has its advantages: a great deal of work can be accomplished to keep State Hwy 130 on schedule. And when it comes to heat, the DBE program on SH 130 is on fire!

This updated report describes the DBE program’s current accomplishments for both the engineering and construction phases of the SH 130 Project and the efforts taken to date by LSI can be ensure DBE inclusion.  This report includes a list of DBEs used on the project and the corresponding DBE primary locations. LSI’s community outreach efforts undertaken to assist minority-owned businesses are also quantified in this report. LSI’s continued philosophy is to “Reach Out and Touch” the DBE minority/ women business communities with face to face interaction, sincerity and mutual respect.   

Part I. Design / Engineering Phase:

LSI signed the Comprehensive Development Agreement for the development of SH 130 on June 19, 2002. The design effort began immediately in LSI’s temporary project office while awaiting build-out of the primary Pflugerville office.  The design staff was relocated to the Pflugerville office in late August allowing the design effort to proceed unimpeded.  By December 2002, LSI had 10 DBE design/engineering firms under contract and by March 2003, LSI’s outreach efforts resulted in more than 30 DBE firms under contract to perform design and preconstruction services. LSI’s current design contract amount of approximately $149.4 million includes a DBE goal percentage of 12.77% or approximately $19.1 million.  To date, over $21.9 million has been paid to DBE design firms which results in exceeding the stated goal with 14.6%. 

To date, 31 DBE design firms used on the project include:

ADVANCED CONSULTING ENGINEERS

MACIAS & ASSOCIATES

AIA ENGINEERS

MARTINEZ, WRIGHT & MENDEZ

ATRIUM REAL ESTATE SERVICES

MAS-TEK

BLGY ARCHITECTS

MELITA ELMORE

CADD STUDIO

MENON CONSORTIUM

CIVILTECH ENGINEERING

GSW OTHON

CORE TECH DRILLING

P.E. STRUCTURAL

FLORES MBE TECHNICAL SERVICES

RAYMOND CHAN

GORRONDONA & ASSOCIATES

RODRIGUEZ TRANSPORTATION GROUP

GRAM TRAFFIC COUNTING

SPOTLESS CLEANING

HICKS & COMPANY

T&T ENGINEERING

INLAND CIVIL

UNINTECH CONSULTING ENGINEERING

ITSI

WALKER SURVEY

JOSE GUERRA

WINTEROWD & ASSOCIATES

LANDTECH CONSULTANTS

YVONNE NEWMAN ENGINEERING

LONGHORN OFFICE PRODUCTS

Part II. Construction Phase:

Highway construction is highly specialized and typically very capital intensive.  This combined with the fact that the SH 130 project is being constructed in the 4th largest city in Texas (which has over $3 billion dollars in federally assisted highway projects going on simultaneously), one can understand that the availability of DBE firms capable of working on SH 130 was an area of concern for LSI’s project management. However, with LSI’s unshaken confidence in its DBE program and the desire to ensure the inclusion of the DBE businesses, LSI is proving to overcome these obstacles. The first DBE construction firm was contracted in June 2003, and since that timeframe, LSI has successfully contracted with 53 DBE construction firms.

LSI’s current construction contract amount of $807.8 million includes a DBE goal percentage of 12.77% or approximately $103.2 million.  To date, LSI’s estimate of construction related commitments to the 53 DBE firms listed below is $98.7million, 12.2%. 

Additionally, as construction now approaches 33% complete, LSI remains confident that the DBE construction goal of $103.2 million will most likely be exceeded. In fact, the calculations above do not include the following construction activities currently under planning by LSI:

• The majority of future subcontracted work planned for Segments 3 and 4 are not yet recognized in the figures above

• LSI has achieved a very high DBE participation rate for trucking, and the commitment value above does not include forecast amounts for future trucking 

When considering these two large activities, LSI believes that we can achieve approximately $115 million in DBE construction participation, thus exceeding the goal by over 11.4%.

To date, the 55 DBE construction firms used on the project include:

AARON CONCRETE

ABC EROSION CONTROL

ACTION ELECTRIC

ALLPOINTS INSPECTION

ALVIN WASHINGTON TRUCKING

AMERITEX G.S.

ARROW OIL

ASD CONSULTANTS

AUSTIN TRAFFIC & SIGNAL

AUSTIN LUMBER COMPANY

ATS DRILLING

AZTEC TRUCKING

BADECO

BREDA

BEDO

BMW TRUCKING

CADIT Co. INC.

CHOCTAW ERECTORS

COMMUNICARD INC.

CPM CONSULTANTS

D & A WIRE AND ROPE

DAVCAR

EASY DRIVE

ENCOTECH

FLORES TECHNICAL SERVICES

G. CARTER CONSTRUCTION

HEY DISTRIBUTING CORP.

HICKS & COMPANY

HST GROUP

INDUSTRIAL ASPHALT

JOURNEYMAN

J&J ELECTRIC

K.FRIESE & ASSOCIATES

LANDTECH

LEE-ANN CLEANING SVC.

LONE STAR READY MIX

LONE STAR SUPPLIES

M.D. MILLER TRUCKING & TOPSOIL

MCRYAN HAULING

MELENDREZ BROTHERS TRUCKING

METALINK CORPORATION

NSYNC

R.K. BASS

RENAISSANCE

ROADWAY SPECIALITIES

RICHOCHET FUELS

S.J. ELECTRICAL

SAFETY SUPPLY

SERVICELINE TRANSPORTS

TEXAS TRUCKING

THERESA ROBERTS INC.

UNINTECH

UNIQUEST

VERA CONSTRUCTION

Part III. Current DBE Companies by City

The following list indicates the location of the current DBE companies used on the project.

Part IV.  LSI’s Efforts Undertaken for Outreach Assistance

LSI has and continues to perform outreach assistance for minority and women-owned businesses – both certified DBE and non-certified DBE firms. Excluding telephone and electronic interactions, LSI has performed the following activities:

• Supported and attended minority/women business conferences/expos.
• Supported and attended minority/women business workshops.
• Attended minority/women trade/business association meetings or events.
• Act as speaker or panelist, at minority/women business forums.
• Facilate meeting between banks and bonding/insurance providers and DBE firms.
• Coordinated meeting with DBE certifying agency personnel when assisting minority/women business enterprise firms applying for certification.
• One-on-one meetings with DBE or minority/women-owned businesses.
• Simplified scopes of work to make it more feasible for DBE firms to bid on the projects.
• Assisted DBEs with obtaining fundamental business training.
• Conducted DBE certification workshops for minority/women business enterprises
• Coordinated one-on-one meetings between DBE firms and prime contractors
• Considering identifying a DBE for a mentor/protégé program

Note: Of the 28 firms that have received assistance from DBE certification by LSI, 14 have or had contracts with LSI. 

Additionally, LSI provided special assistance to contracted DBE firms by:

• Providing advance payments to cover cost of new insurance coverage
• Accelerating payments to a weekly basis
• Providing training on how to properly prepare and submit certified payroll reports
• Developiong log sheets for invoicing
• Extending grace periods for submitting required reports
• Releasing payments in advance of contractual payment terms to help the firms' cash flow
• Accompanying DBEs to local banks when they attempted to obtain a loan
• Waiving bonding requirements

LSI continues to tailor its DBE outreach strategies as contract opportunities arise.  Upcoming events and informational excerpts will be featured in the near future regarding LSI's DBE program.

 

What is a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)?
DBE Background
What is the Texas Unified Certification Program (TUCP)?
How does DBE fit in with LSI?

For additional information please contact Phillip Burks
DBE/HUB Program Manager, Lone Star Infrastructure
Phillip.Burks@lsijv.com
Phone: (512) 681-6166