Published October 2001

Business enterprise office, WSDOT team up to assist disadvantaged companies

By John Wolcott
Herald Business Journal Editor

"Have we got a deal for you! And it's free!" In a nutshell, that's the message Washington state's Office of Minority & Women's Business Enterprises (OMWBE) is sending to businesses owned by minorities and women in the Puget Sound area and statewide.

OMWBE's mission is to "create and ensure an equitable public contracting and procurement environment in which all qualified and available businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, including minorities and women, are able to participate without preference or discrimination based on race or gender."

The statewide program provides assistance to certified socially and economically disadvantaged businesses in identifying state and other contracting opportunities and helps the federal government and the private sector to identify businesses that match particular projects or procurement needs.

Now, OMWBE has taken its services one step further. It's administering the Washington State Department of Transportation's Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Supportive Services Program, funded by the Federal Highway Administration. The program is designed to provide socially and economically disadvantaged businesses with technical assistance and training to enable them to compete on an equal basis for prime and subcontracts.

Juan Huey-Ray, Acting Director of OMWBE, said the new partnership with WSDOT will leverage "our joint capabilities and experience (to) … provide added resources to empower our local businesses to reach their maximum capacity."

To help disadvantaged businesses with technical training, OMWBE has gathered a team of consultants from a variety of disciplines, including: Pacific Communication Consultants, to assist the agency with communication strategies; Valley Plan Center in Kent, which provides a full-service construction plan library; and Project Management Associates, handling project control, procurement planning, contract administration, bid preparation and analysis.

Also, Comprehensive Language Services Inc. can be called in for translation and interpretation services; Community Capital Development will handle general business management, financing and bonding assistance, financial planning and human resources skills; and Management Systems & Services Inc. will provide marketing, human resources, feasibility analysis, record-keeping and employee reporting, plus audits, surveys and reports.

The program, begun in May, provides group training and one-on-one counseling at no charge from those consultants and others in such areas as management, record keeping and accounting; estimating and bidding; proposal preparation; contract administration; human resources staffing; Disadvantaged Business Enterprises certification; financing and bonding; and long-term development.

"For the first time, we're able to help the Federal Highway Administration grow the pool of businesses participating on road projects by training certified enterprises with a tangible asset, training services that get them ready for opportunities to participate in federal projects," Huey-Ray said.

Before, he said, his office's services had been limited to a regulatory focus, concentrating on determining if a firm was eligible and qualified for assistance.

"Now, we have resources for folks to contact. We help them know what they need to get up to speed and then provide assistance to address those needs, something we haven't done in the past," he said. "We're really excited about that because the state Department of Transportation program is an extension of our efforts to be more customer and service oriented."

Business owners who want to be involved in the program, or find out more details, can contact the OMWBE office. After an interview, clients are assigned to a consultant at no cost for a predetermined minimum number of hours.

"The OMWBE staff ... offers ... training that should help businesses grow. What it does not do is guarantee an increase in revenues or contracts; it just levels the playing field so that qualified firms can compete more fairly," said Regina Glenn of Pacific Communications Consultants in Bellevue.

For more information, contact the Olympia-based Washington State Office of Minority and Women's Business Enterprises at its Seattle office, 1200 Sixth Ave., Ste. 1700, Seattle, WA 98101; call 206-553-7356; send e-mail to omwbe@connectexpress.com; or visit OMWBE's Web site, www.omwbe.wa.gov.

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