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By Chuck Slothower
[email protected]

Since starting聽3 Diamond Construction, a small Portland company, in 2014, owners Ofelia Lara and Dionicio Fernandez grew interested in bidding for public projects.

The company at first had tackled mostly small residential projects. That changed when 3 Diamond joined the city鈥檚聽Prime Contractor Development Program, which coordinator Stacey Drake Edwards got off the ground in 2013. Since joining the program, 3 Diamond has won several city contracts, including work on Lents Park and the Springwater Trail.

鈥淭his program helped us,鈥� Lara said. 鈥淲e had no clue. Thanks to Stacey鈥檚 program, we were able to get into those projects.鈥�
The program works to help women-owned, minority-owned and emerging small businesses bid on city contracts valued at $5,000 to $1 million. In fiscal year 2017-18, via the program, 42 contracts totaling $29.3 million were awarded to such firms. That was an increase of $2.3 million from the previous fiscal year.

The PCDP, part of the city鈥檚聽Procurement Services聽office, aims to create a roster of contractors with capacity to bid on public projects. Once part of the program, contractors are encouraged to grow so that when they graduate, they can go on to bid on progressively larger contracts.

鈥淭he market right now is really hard,鈥� Edwards said. 鈥淓verybody is really busy, and because there鈥檚 a lot of public projects going on, you鈥檙e competing for these small contractors to bid on your projects.鈥�

The PCDP provides ongoing technical assistance to the small, emerging contractors that take part. As obstacles crop up during projects, the city helps contractors work through the issues. That can involve anything such as invoices, project forecasting or foreman certification. A technical assistance officer will visit project sites and sit in on progress meetings.

鈥淥ne of the things I always say is I鈥檓 not teaching the contractors how to do the work; they know how to do that,鈥� Edwards said. 鈥淭he key is to get them to understand how the city works and how we do things on our end.鈥�

More agencies are turning to alternative contracting methods that don鈥檛 simply accept the lowest bid, said Nate McCoy, executive director of the聽National Association of Minority Contractors-Oregon.

鈥淎gencies are starting to lean more into these conversations, and look at new and innovative procurement policies for (minority-owned business enterprises) at the sub- and (general contractor) level,鈥� he said.

McCoy praised the program鈥檚 emphasis on providing on-site technical assistance.

鈥淎s a contractor, who has the time to be in workshops instead of running their businesses?鈥� he said.

City projects larger than $1 million are bid in the open market. Some minority-owned contractors have made significant strides in getting those, too.

A $27 million project to renovate the entries and interiors at the聽Oregon Convention Center聽isn鈥檛 one of the city鈥檚. But it is a public project, and Metro chose a team of聽Colas Construction聽and聽Raimore Construction聽over聽Hoffman Construction, a larger and more established firm.

鈥淪ome of our members who have worked alongside some of the bigger (general contractors) now are beating them out on projects,鈥� McCoy said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not a new trend, but the fact that a Colas and Raimore (team) is capable of beating out one of our partners in Hoffman is kind of exciting.鈥�

McCoy said the convention center contract was a particularly poignant example because the site was once home to a largely African-American neighborhood that was cleared to make way for the development.

Women-owned firms are also playing increasingly visible roles in programs such as the PCDP and groups like NAMC-Oregon. Examples include聽Chick of All Trades, a company owned by Valerie Solorzano that provides flagging and traffic-control services, and聽T Edge Construction, owned by Tammy Edgerly.

鈥淲e do really look at ourselves as a program that supports building in the current climate with increasing the number of certified firms,鈥� Edwards said.