Minority/Women Business Enterprise 2020 Annual Report

MINORITY/WOMEN BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

Minority/Women Business Enterprise Program 2 0 2 0 A N N U A L R E P O R T

J A N U A R Y 1 - D E C E M B E R 3 1 , 2 0 2 0

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Eligibility & Participation To participate in the M/WBE Program, a firm must have been deemed underutilized in the City’s most recent Disparity Study. To qualify, business owners must be certified by the NC Department of Administration’s Historically Underutilized Business Office (HUB) or NC Department of Transportation. The Greensboro M/WBE Program Plan also requires a firm certify its business is at least 51 percent owned, managed and controlled by one or more minority group members or a non-minority woman. The business must be headquartered or have a significant business presence for at least one year in the Greensboro relevant marketplace. The M/WBE Coordinating Committee, a volunteer advisory group of local business owners appointed by the City Manager’s Office, monitors the M/ WBE Program accomplishments and offers recommendations for improvements. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the committee met virtually.

2020 Annual Report

MINORITY/WOMEN BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

About this Report The City of Greensboro’s goal is to provide equal opportunities for all businesses to participate in City contracting and procurement. Greensboro’s Minority/Women Business Enterprise Office is committed to helping minority- and women-owned businesses thrive. In 1986, City Council adopted the M/WBE Program to ensure there were no underlying discriminatory practices occurring in how the City let contracts. Council established aggressive goals to increase how often the City purchases goods and services from minority- and women-owned businesses. The M/WBE Office staff run a wide range of initiatives to help M/WBE business owners in the Greensboro relevant market with bidding opportunities and ensure the City is meeting its inclusion goals. This report provides an overview and updates of the office’s work and data on City spending in 2020. It also highlights success stories from local businesses. About the Program The M/WBE Program Plan covers contracts awarded by or on behalf of the City for construction, construction-related services, professional services, goods, economic development projects, renovation, maintenance, and other services. Contracts that are funded with federal and state dollars fall under policies for the federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program. The program plan establishes clear City policies against discrimination in business transactions on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry or national origin, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation or on the basis of disability or any otherwise unlawful use of characteristics. It also directs staff to create procedures to combat the ongoing effects of marketplace discrimination that adversely affects creation, growth, and competitiveness of small, minority, and women-owned business enterprises. Approximately every five years, the City has a Disparity Study conducted to thoroughly review the program, analyze City practices and market data, and recommend modifications for program changes.

COORDINATING COMMITTEE MEMBERS Dawayne Crite, CriTek Engineering Group Gerry McCants, McCants LLC Juhann Waller, JC Waller and Associates Niveen Kattan Hanna, Atlantic Contracting Company Inc. Rebecca Phillips, Professional Lighting and Supply Sondra Wright, J. W. Wright and Associates Virgil Cobb, Cinda Corporation

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2020 Highlights

May 6 | 11 am - Noon Online ZoomMeeting Registration required In the aftermath of Covid-19, many businesses are closed or operating with minimal employees. Join this webinar to learn about available Covid-19 funding for Minority andWomen-Owned Businesses. Also learn how to thrive in this ever-changing environment. Presenters: Antonio McCoy, President/CEO of McHoward Business Coaching and Wilson Lester, Executive Director of Piedmont Business Capital Building Relationships Thriving in the Aftermath of Covid-19 WEDNESDAY

MINORITY/WOMEN BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

Building

Funding Relief Options for Small Businesses Relationships

Outreach Continues Despite Pandemic Faced with the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, City staff shifted business development activities to accommodate and respond to the crisis. M/WBE partnered with the Office of Equity and Inclusion to sponsor a virtual Building Relationships series. Two sessions were geared toward helping businesses understand federal COVID-19 relief funding options and how to thrive in this difficult environment. The annual Minority/Women Enterprise Development (MED) Week also went digital, with a Zoom networking event and workshops. The week of events ended with a televised presentation of the Outstanding Firm of the Year awards. Three hundred people attended these outreach sessions in 2020.

THURSDAY

April 30 | 10-11 am Online ZoomMeeting Registration required In the aftermath of Covid-19, many businesses are closed or operating with minimal employees. Join this webinar to learn about:

• Business Assessment • Overview of CARES • Overview of SCORE

Building

RSVP REQUIRED

Register here by May 5. Minority/Women Enterprise Development

RSVP REQUIRED Relationships Register here by April 29. Questions? Call the City’s Office of Equity and Inclusion at 336-430-5661. 2020 Overview of Forecasted City Projects

(MED) Week 20 20 O C T O B E R 2 6 - 3 0

MINORITY/WOMEN BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

Questions? Call the City’s Office of Equity and Inclusion at 336-430-5661.

We’re going virtual!

THURSDAY

August 27 | 6-7:30 pm Virtual ZoomMeeting

Join us for the sixth annual MEDWeek celebration to recognize and honor the accomplishments of minority and women businesses and their supporters. This year’s activities will be held virtually on Zoom.

• Overview of contracting opportunities

• Participant networking via Zoom • Spanish interpreters available

Facilitated by the City’s Office of Equity and Inclusion. Register at bit.ly/34PjoHt to receive the Zoom link. MONDAY OCTOBER 26 Zoom-a-Palooza Networking Event 6-7 pm

For email link to meeting, register here by August 26.

RSVP REQUIRED

Questions? Call the City’s Office of Equity & Inclusion at 336- 373-7980 MINORITY/WOMEN BUSINESS ENTERPRISE MINORITY/WOMEN BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

Questions? Call the City’s Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise at 336-373-2674.

2020 Award Winners

Construction: All Systems Restored HVAC & Electrical LLC

Professional Services: A1 Consulting Group Inc.

Other Services: Century & Associates Group Inc.

Supplier: Archie Services LLC

Compliance and Support Roles Introduced The M/WBE Office evolved in 2020 to better assist the City in meeting its goals. This year, the office added a compliance officer position. This staff member is responsible for monitoring and ensuring that M/WBE policies are being met. To assist City departments in engaging minority- and women-owned firms, the office also created a new role for M/WBE Liaisons. Forty staff members across the City have been trained and charged with being the go-to person within their departments on M/WBE issues.

Online Request Form and Department Report Card The office made it easier for City staff to seek M/WBE firms for contracting opportunities with a new online system. City departments fill out an online request form about their contracting needs, and in return are provided a list of certified firms to solicit and other information to help them comply with City M/WBE policy. After they solicit bids, staff report back on their results. Staff can check the status of their request at any time. The online system also tracks goal setting requests. At the end of each month, departments submit a report card of all executed contacts that fall under the M/WBE Program Plan. This assists City departments and the M/WBE Office in reviewing monthly M/WBE participation.

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Success Stories

MINORITY/WOMEN BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

It was an innovative idea meant to increase City engagement with minority-owned businesses: hire an on call construction manager. That request for qualifications (RFQ) led to millions of dollars worth of City work for C2 Contractors, a certified minority-owned (MBE) and historically underutilized business (HUB). It also spurred a new joint venture for the firm, that President and CEO CC Lamberth expects to dramatically expand the business. “The real story is the City made one decision – to put an RFQ on the street that C2 could respond to – but the impact was exponential,” Lamberth says. In 2020, the City sought to hire its first on call construction manager, knowing that having a ready contractor in that role would save City departments time on projects and that many local M/WBEs were capable of doing the work. The five-person RFQ evaluation panel considered a wide range of criteria, including each firm’s past performances and its history of hiring M/WBE subcontractors. “It was a competitive process,” Assistant City Manager Kimberly Sowell says. C2 outranked seven competitors, including big names in the NC construction market. After C2 won the contract, competitors started calling. “When we lost out, we said, ‘We need to be talking to CC. Obviously he is doing something right,’” said Peyton Fairbank, vice president of HICAPS, a Greensboro-based One Decision, Exponential Impact

project management company with offices and field locations in the southeast and midwest. Lamberth, a NC A&T State University alumnus, started the construction and cabling company with his father 25 years ago. Today you can see the small business’ work across the state, including locally at the Union Square Campus and the new NC A&T Engineering Research and Innovation Center. The two firms formally launched HICAPS/C2, a joint venture for which Lamberth has 51 percent ownership. In December, it was formally state-certified as a HUB. They’ve already started bidding on work. “We are excited about the opportunities,” Fairbank says. “Doors seem to be opening for us.” “We now have bonding capacity of $56 million,” Lamberth said. “The City, in one single opportunity, with one single decision, changed diversity in one city and across this state.” Lamberth credits City Manager David Parrish and Sowell. “There has been a huge shift in how the City does business, and that is as a result of (their) leadership,” Lamberth says.

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Being Seen, Heard and Respected are Key to Business Success

In 2005, Niveen Kattan Hanna was a young owner of a new general contracting company, Atlantic Contracting Company Inc., nervous about going through the certification process of being designated a minority-, woman-owned business (MWBE). But the encouragement and motivation she received from more established peers statewide are something she will never forget. “They taught me the importance of being seen, being heard and being acknowledged,” she says, adding that then you have to prove yourself. “You have to be ready, willing and able to do a job according to specs, on time and within budget.” Since then, Atlantic Contracting has consistently done just that, being awarded City, state and federal general contracting jobs. For the City, she works often with the Engineering and Inspections Department, currently on two large improvement projects: Battleground Avenue and Westridge Road and Pisgah Church Road-Lees Chapel Road and Yanceyville Street. “Being a business owner is challenging. It’s a balancing act,” Hanna says. “It’s a cliché but you have to work on the business, not just in the business.” Through “trial and error,” she learned the importance of having a qualified, well-trained, diverse staff; listening to and respecting employees; providing leadership opportunities; and championing open communications.

“In today’s world, we have to make every effort to keep asking what’s working, what’s not, and then adjust accordingly.”

Every Monday morning, the entire staff gets together (virtually since the COVID-19 pandemic) to discuss the week’s jobs, assignments and materials needed. “We literally make an effort to ask what’s working, what’s not and then we adjust,” says Hanna. “And we really feel it if we miss a Monday meeting.” The most rewarding part of running a business, Hanna says, is knowing Atlantic Contracting is providing people a good living, a chance to take care of their families, have health insurance, and a 401K plan. “We strive to do what’s in the best interest of the company’s employees, our community and society.”

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Company’s Performance Record ‘Keeps it in the Game’

Becoming state-certified as a minority-owned (MBE) business gets small businesses invited to the table to learn what jobs are available in their local area. After that, how well a company performs is what keeps it in the game and growing more successful, says Kelvin Currie, owner of All Systems Restored HVAC & Electrical LLC. For almost 10 years, All Systems has been awarded contracts by the City, mostly from the Water Resources Department. The company is finishing drainage system work at Eugene Street Parking Deck downtown, installing HVAC in newly constructed areas of Mitchell Water Treatment Plant, and will soon be installing new water meters for residential customers.

“We were proud to be awarded the Construction Services Firm of 2019 at last fall’s MEDWeek Outstanding Firm of the Year program.”

The company provides installation, maintenance, repair and construction services for commercial and residential customers. “Being in the business for more than 30 years, I know my company performs extremely well,” Currie says. “And doing a good job allows us to generate revenue for the company, our staff and the City.” Working with the M/WBE Office also affords small minority businesses like All Systems to be able to employ local people; for Currie’s company that totals about 50 employees between its Greensboro and Charlotte area offices. Providing and improving upon his employees’ insurance, paid time off and other benefits is invaluable to the staff and business overall, he adds. “At the end of the day, when we bring revenue back to the city, we grow businesses here, and that’s what it’s all about.”

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TOP PERFORMERS

Program Compliance

MINORITY/WOMEN BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

C2 Contractors LLC General Contractor

$2,362,413

B

All Systems Restored HVAC & Electrical LLC HVAC/Electrical Contractor Carolina Management Team LLC Coatings/Concrete Contractor Mayes Landscaping and Concrete General Contractor Triad Road Maintenance Co. Inc. Pavement Marking Contractor

$1,881,778

Construction Services Contracts in this category cover construction-related services including heavy construction, such as highways and streets, building construction, and light maintenance services such as plumbing and renovation. It also covers other services, such as water-lining and maintenance, asbestos abatement, drainage, dredging, grading, hauling, paving, roofing and toxic waste clean-up.

B

$1,154,598

W

$891,773

B

$600,000

W

CONTRACTS AWARDED

MV Electric LLC Electrical Contractor P & S Grading LLC Grading Contractor Forsyth Redi Mix Inc. Concrete Contractor

$485,000

W

15.56 % 6.55 % 9.01 %

M/WBE WBE MBE $14.9 MILLION $6.3 MILLION $8.6 MILLION

$476,050

W

$ 95.7 MILLION

$409,734

W

Cooper Electrical Construction Co. Electrical Contractor

$358,500

Total contracts awarded

W

8.51% African American .50% Hispanic

Atlantic Contracting Co. Inc. General Contractor

$357,648

W

WBE

B Black

W

CONSTRUCTION - PRIME & SUBCONTRACTOR Disparity Study 2019 2020 Prime & Subcontractor

CONSTRUCTION - PRIME UTILIZATION Disparity Study 2019 2020 Prime Utilization

27.40%

12.82%

15.56%

7.53%

14.10%

13.30%

6.16%

11.40%

5.29%

5.08%

9.01%

3.94%

8.02%

6.55%

2.82%

3.38%

1.12%

1.09%

Total Minority

Nonminority Female

CONSTRUCTION - SUBCONTRACTOR UTILIZATION Disparity Study 2019 2020 Total Minority Subcontractor Utilization Total M/WBE

Nonminority Female

Total M/WBE

14.58%

11.61%

8.01%

6.57%

6.18%

5.43%

5.25%

CONSTRUCTION - PRIME & SUBCONTRA Disparity Study 2019 2020

2.95%

2.30%

Total Minority

Nonminority Female

Total M/WBE

27

13.30% Disparity Study data represents average M/WBE utilization in fiscal years 2012-2016. The M/WBE Program Plan was revised beginning July 1, 2019 based upon Disparity Study recommendations. 14.10%

11.40%

9.01%

8.02%

6.55%

7

3.38%

Professional Services Contracts in this category cover services that require special licensing, educational degrees, or specialized expertise. These include engineering, architectural, accounting, advertising, surveying, legal, information technology, human resources and inspection services.

CONTRACTS AWARDED

$ 21.6 MILLION Total contracts awarded

M/WBE 24.19 % $5.2 MILLION

WBE MBE $1.8 MILLION $3.4 MILLION

8.40 % 15.79 %

11.72% African American 3.38% Hispanic .69% Asian

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES - PRIME UTILIZATION Disparity Study 2019 2020

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES - PRIME & SUBCONTRACTOR Disparity Study 2019 2020 Prime & Subcontractor

Prime Utilization

14.86%

24.19%

11.32%

21.90%

17.80%

7.81%

15.79%

5.73%

5.54%

8.74%

8.40%

3.54%

2.95%

5.73%

2.59%

2.08%

4.10%

3.01%

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES - SUBCONTRACTOR UTILIZATION Disparity Study 2019 2020 Total Minority Subcontractor Utilization Total M/WBE

Total Minority

Nonminority Female

Nonminority Female

Total M/WBE

16.37%

10.06%

7.04%

6.48%

6.31%

CONSTRUCTION - PRIME & SUBCONTRA Disparity Study 2019 2020

3.20%

3.14%

0.56%

0.06%

Total Minority

Nonminority Female

Total M/WBE

2

14.10%

13.30%

TOP PERFORMERS BB Foster Consulting PC Engineering B

11.40%

9.01%

8.02%

6.55%

Vines Architecture Architecture

JCWaller & Associates PC Engineering

$967,286

$667,330

$368,613

3.38% B

B

CITI LLC Controls and Instrumentation

$465,341

H

Total Minority

Nonminority Female

Total M

Westcott, Small & Associates Engineering CriTek Engineering Group PC Engineering

SAMR PLLC Engineering

$721,060

$356,900

W

B

Stewart Engineering Engineering Taylor Engineering Engineering

Falcon Engineering Engineering

$440,510

$298,450

W

H

$695,890

B

$414,050

W

WBE

B Black

Hispanic

W

H

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CONTRACTS AWARDED

Other Services Contracts in this category cover services

M/WBE 11.14 % $3.6 MILLION

that are labor intensive and not professional or construction-related, such as janitorial, printing, graphic, photographic, landscaping, and automobile maintenance and repair services. INCLUDES: • janitorial and maintenance services • printing services, graphics and photographic services • landscaping • automobile maintenance and repair OTHER SERVICES - PRIME & SUBCONTRACTOR Disparity Study 2019 2020 Prime & Subcontractor

$ 32.1

MILLION

WBE MBE $900,604

2.80 % 8.34 %

Total contracts awarded

$2.7 MILLION African American 8.00% Hispanic .34%

OTHER SERVICES - PRIME UTILIZATION Disparity Study 2019 2020

Prime Utilization

11.14%

10.75%

8.87%

8.34%

8.10%

7.95%

7.36%

7.42%

7.36%

6.65%

6.08%

6.08%

2.80%

2.80%

0.77%

1.28%

1.28%

0.77%

OTHER SERVICES - SUBCONTRACTOR UTILIZATION Disparity Study 2019 2020 Total Minority Subcontractor Utilization Total M/WBE

Nonminority Female

Total M/WBE

Total Minority

Nonminority Female

1.45%

1.45%

0.38%

0.38%

0.00%

0.00%

0.00%

0.00%

0.00%

CONSTRUCTION - PRIME & SUBCONTRA Disparity Study 2019 2020

Total Minority

Nonminority Female

Total M/WBE

9

2

Goods Contracts in this category are for purchases of equipment and consumable items purchased in bulk, or deliverable products. These include automobiles, equipment, construction materials, fuel, janitorial supplies and uniforms.

$ 35.5

CONTRACTS AWARDED

MILLION

M/WBE .38 % $136,328

INCLUDES: • materials • supplies

WBE MBE $64,770

.18 % .20 %

Total contracts awarded

$71,558 African American .20%

GOODS - PRIME & SUBCONTRACTOR Disparity Study 2019 2020 Prime & Subcontractor

GOODS - PRIME UTILIZATION Disparity Study 2019 2020 Prime Utilization

1.18%

1.18%

0.89%

0.89%

0.38%

0.00%

0.00%

0.00%

0.29%

0.29%

0.00%

0.00%

0.00%

0.20%

0.18%

0.19%

0.18%

0.01%

Total Minority

Nonminority Female

Total M/WBE

Total Minority

Nonminority Female

Total M/WBE

GOODS - SUBCONTRACTOR UTILIZATION Disparity Study 2019 2020 Subcontractor Utilization

0.19%

0.19%

CONSTRUCTION - PRIME & SUBCONTRA Disparity Study 2019 2020

0.00%

0.00%

0.00%

0.00%

0.00%

0.00%

0.00%

Total Minority

Nonminority Female

Total M/WBE

2

14.10%

13.30%

11.40%

9.01%

8.02%

6.55%

3.38%

10

Total Minority

Nonminority Female

Total M

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going to fall through the crack. “

Historically we have been alienated, discriminated against. If you aren’t a part of the (M/WBE) program, you are ” CC Lamberth, president and CEO of C2 Contractors, on why businesses should become M/WBE certified

MINORITY/WOMEN BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

www.greensboro-nc.gov/mwbe PO Box 3136 • Greensboro, NC 27402-3136