For part one of this article, which appeared in the 91ÊÓÆ” on Dec. 18, 2024, I interviewed Amy James Neel of Portland Community College about PCC’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) criteria for proposals. This time, I interviewed Hanna Emerson-Steed, the director and chief procurement officer at Oregon State University (OSU).

Unlike PCC, OSU does not have set percentage requirements for utilization of MWESB (minority-owned, woman-owned, emerging small business, and service-disabled veteran business enterprise) or COBID (Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity) certified firms on its project teams, but it does encourage proposers to be as inclusive as possible. Within an RFP, proposers can expect to answer questions about who these MWESB and/or COBID firms are and how they meet the criteria, a firm’s description of nondiscrimination practices, a narrative of a firm’s current workforce diversity plan, and a description of how the team will work according to the means and methods described in that workforce diversity plan.

OSU accepts both certified and self-certified firms. COBID is not more advantageous than MWESB, according to OSU. “If you are a small entity, you must pick where your time and effort is spent,” Emerson-Steed said, adding that OSU understands the significant cost and rigorous process to become COBID certified.

To successfully meet OSU’s DEI expectations, Emerson-Steed encourages firms to look at the school’s website, which has information within its construction and design standards for inclusivity, covering a host of requirements for creating a welcoming environment where all can participate equally. In addition, the university has an Equity Data Insight Portal that’s worth exploring to get a sense of what it tracks as well as its demographics and commitment to DEI both on campus and with its staff.

Besides researching online, Emerson-Steed suggests AEC firms ask questions at pre-proposal meetings, adding that OSU doesn’t penalize people for this. In addition, firms are welcome to reach out to the department anytime (even if there isn’t an RFP) if it is looking to strengthen its workforce diversity plan.

MWESB inclusion & workforce diversity plan responses

Since OSU does not have a targeted percentage that must be met for project teams, I asked if, all things being equal, it would still go with the team that had the most diversity. “Our selection committee evaluates everything in a proposal but the workforce diversity section; that is scored by a separate committee,” Emerson-Steed said. Although 10 MWESB team members are better than eight, she said there’s a lot more to that section’s scoring. The review team wants to see growth in that area — not just with team members but with in-house workforce plans. The team wants to see the data and how a firm has changed and developed over the years.

Emerson-Steed also explained that different people may be evaluating proposals on different RFPs. Therefore, some evaluators may not know that a company has 50 percent more participation than in its last project. Because of this, OSU asks for a three-year track record, so firms are evaluated fairly. “I firmly believe that no one should get a perfect score in this section — there’s always work to be done,” she added.

Responding to how firms work with MWESB communities

OSU is interested in the methodologies each firm uses to meet these communities and add them to its team. Is a firm simply posting opportunities in one place and hoping someone will see them, or is it hosting events to get to know these MWESB firms in earnest? It’s the difference between checking the compliance box or moving to the next level where a firm is looking at meaningful, actionable change.

“Maybe you took a massive electrical package and brought in an MWESB firm to build their skill set so that they can work with OSU in a larger capacity,” Emerson-Steed said. She also

recommended alternatives to on-the-job training. Firms can consider training MWESBs in marketing or helping them implement billing systems — assisting with any technical barriers these firms might have.

As for large subcontractors designating a percentage of the work to small firms, Emerson-Steed said there are alternate ways to put a team together. “We want our design professionals and general contractors to build the best team,” she said. “But you can mentor them by subcontracting a portion of the job as a learning experience.”

Statement of nondiscrimination practices

Although it helps to be familiar with federal and state practices, OSU has nondiscrimination policies and practices for the institution. They are on the front page of every solicitation and Emerson-Steed said it’s a good idea to understand them. These statements are good, but OSU is looking for something more forward-thinking and she said it’s important to shy away from boilerplate information. OSU would like to see specifics within that policy that demonstrate active engagement. This can include annual staff trainings, DEI workshop attendance, and/or specific initiatives in the workplace to combat disparities.

There are retention issues when women and people of color are underrepresented in the workplace. In those circumstances, such employees tend to leave because they feel uncomfortable and without peers. OSU wants to know what firms are doing to keep them on staff and to attract their peers. What offers and opportunities are you creating? Have you enabled them to connect with other communities they are interested in? What are you actively doing versus just hiring someone? “There’s a pivot where people talk about DEI, but there’s another letter on the end of that and it’s a ‘B’ for belonging,” Emerson-Steed said. “So, we get the diversity, we get the equity, we get the inclusion, but we all know what it feels like to belong, because if you don’t, you know it.”

One example Emerson-Steed has is to bring in an architect of color within your firm for design reviews. She notes that the person will see the project with different eyes and be able to advise the team on areas within the design that aren’t inclusive of their culture.

Does including specialized subs bolster a proposal?

Emerson-Steed said OSU is asking firms to use their knowledge, skills, and expertise to put the best team together for the job. If a firm doesn’t have the required expertise, it’s wise to bring in a sub for that. She also noted that if it’s a sub you haven’t teamed with, you have the extra challenge of demonstrating how that relationship will work. However, she said she doesn’t think it’s necessarily a deal-breaker. “They partnered somewhere, and it was very successful somewhere, so you just have to show us what you’re going to do to make it work,” she said. Emerson-Steed emphasized that OSU selection committees can “sniff from a mile away” when team members have just met for the first time in the lobby before the interview.

OSU can also spot if the team relationships are genuine. “I have seen more junior members of teams, more women and people of color brought in on teams, that are dominated in a conversation by someone,” she said. “I can tell you it matters 100 percent. You may have come in as the number one proposing firm, and that interview will make the difference.”

Debriefs

Emerson-Steed stresses the importance of debriefs, even for successful proposers. “If I could emphasize that more than anything, there’s always something you can learn.” On the flip side, she said that OSU likes to learn what it can do better. What wasn’t clear in the RFP? Was it too wordy? Was a goal or outcome omitted that would have been helpful when preparing a response? “This is of great importance and significance to us,” she said. “We want to know this so that we can also improve.”

Julie Flattery has worked in the architecture, engineering and construction industries for more than 30 years and uses this knowledge to help firms improve their verbal and visual communications. She also teaches workshops on the art of proposal creation through a co-owned business: Deconstructed Workshops (www.deconstructedworkshops.com). Contact her at jflatteryco@gmail.com.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91ÊÓÆ” guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post How firms can better respond to DEI questions (part two) | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

When clients are struggling to get short-listed, one of their weaknesses is responding to questions regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). “We don’t know what they’re looking for!” they tell me. Reading through the responses, I confess I find them lacking. Typically, I see a regurgitation of in-house DEI policies, a nondiscrimination statement, perhaps in-house diversity percentages, and a paragraph or two on the proposed project team’s diversity. Project team diversity can be a real head-scratcher for firms that struggle with recruiting diverse team members to meet some public entities’ stringent requirements.

Both Oregon and Washington have MWESB (minority-owned, woman-owned, emerging small business, and service-disabled veteran business enterprise) certification criteria. The state of Oregon also established COBID (Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity) certification to certify that a firm is owned by a person of color, a woman or a veteran, or is an emerging small business.

Many primes responding to RFPs believe that finding these certified businesses can be difficult. Because they are small, their availability can be maxed out at just one job or two. Also, firms that could be certified but aren’t often don’t have the resources to attain certification or aren’t interested in it.

I interviewed two public entities for this two-part article: Amy James Neel, the workforce and contracting equity manager for Portland Community College (PCC) and Hanna Emerson-Steed, the director and chief procurement officer for Oregon State University (OSU).

This article is based on my interview with Neel, who has years of experience as a journey-level carpenter and was formerly training director with Oregon Tradeswomen. In part two, which will appear in the 91ÊÓÆ” on Jan. 6, I’ll go over my interview with Emerson-Steed.

COBID and MWESB history

PCC requires 20 percent MWESB and COBID utilization on proposals. The college’s overarching goals are to participate in contracting equity and workforce equity. The goal of contracting equity is to create and sustain a competitive and fair business environment for contracting, procurement, and consulting opportunities that include small businesses owned by minorities, women, and socially and economically disadvantaged people. Workforce equity focuses on eliminating racial and other gaps in employment and income and ensuring that the workforce is representative of the general population. This includes ensuring opportunities exist for career advancement.

Oregon recently conducted a study that showed wide disparities between the availability of minority-owned businesses and the utilization of those same businesses.

“We’re looking to correct that,” Neel said. “We want to set a target. We want to offer equitable opportunities for access to PCC construction projects. Then we want to measure each demographic against that goal.”

Neel believes in being transparent about the way PCC utilizes disadvantaged firms. To that end, PCC has developed and migrated all its data for utilization. This tool is on the PCC website and includes four dashboards: contractor equity, contractor workforce, architect equity, and architect workforce.

Because statistically most emerging small businesses (ESBs) are owned by white males, PCC’s 20 percent inclusion requirement cannot be solely ESB firms. Neel said PCC wants to support small businesses. “But if the entire 20 percent of the MWESB goal is met by ESBs, then it excludes those other demographics in the community that tend to be historically marginalized, and we want to elevate those businesses as well,” she said.

Respectful workforce programs

Responders to PCC RFPs know that the selected design team may be required to participate in an approved respectful workplace program such as Green Dot or RISE Up. Initially, only construction workers were required to comply. After hearing a need to extend it to other trades, PCC is slowly introducing this into architecture proposals. For PCC, a respectful workplace is one that is “appropriate, productive, safe, and free from behaviors that may undermine workers’ job performance, physical safety, psychological safety, productivity, inclusion, retention, the equitable access to meaningful work, and/or efficiency.” Neel notes that firms that come into the selection process with one of these programs (or a similar one) already in place demonstrates that they are fully invested in PCC’s policies.

Critical race theory

Another criterion often included in PCC RFPs is critical race theory. Its purpose is to acknowledge the building users.

“When you put up a building, it has a culture and tradition attached to it,” Neel said. “So, the more voices we have at the table, the more lived experience we have to reflect our incredibly diverse users.”

The lesson for proposal submitters here is to have a deep understanding of who these people are — and they can vary from project to project. PCC serves people for whom English isn’t their first language, people of color, and people with disabilities. They have campus locations that are not accessible by everyone and serve different gender identities.

“All those things are important if you’re going to build a building for us,” Neel said. “Every single person that wants to take a class at PCC needs to feel like they belong there.”

There is a downloadable on the PCC website titled Critical Race Theory developed in partnership with critical race educator, researcher, and strategist Amara H. PĂ©rez.

“Part of what I’d be doing in preparation for a proposal response is to understand why PCC subscribed to her approach to design not being neutral, and then I think you’re on track,” Neel said.

The look of a successful response

Some of the most successful proposals came with firms that leaned into workforce and contracting equity, Neel said. Specifically, firms set goals, put them in the RFP, and didn’t just talk about how they were going to meet them but showed excitement and an understanding of why they are philosophically aligned with PCC. They’ve developed relationships with pre-apprenticeship programs. They have an idea for developing an internship for a small minority contracting firm they’re excited about. They’ve created a unique teaming arrangement that they would like to pilot on a PCC project.

“What we cannot do is inspire buy-in,” Neel said. “So, if they come with buy-in, we get excited, and we understand that we have a community partner that we’re going to literally build the future with.”

Neel noted that architecture can be a less diverse community. She said if those firms can acknowledge that, and demonstrate an effort to change, that can go a long way. For example, a firm may say, ‘Here’s what we’re doing to foster the next generation of design professionals, and here’s a long list of places we’ve reached out to, and we have a couple of paid interns coming on board.’ She also suggested that putting interns into leadership spaces so they can watch and learn and aren’t being relegated to menial tasks is important. “We want to cultivate their leadership,” Neel said. “We get excited about that.”

MWESB availability

For primes that have difficulty recruiting COBID or MWESB firms because of availability, Neel said she would like to see them be more innovative.

“There’s a whole bunch of them out there,” she said. “Maybe they’re not certified yet, or maybe they have not been asked to the table yet. So that is where, again, PCC gets really excited about innovation.”

If a prime is willing to reach out to a firm that is eligible for certification or is certified but doesn’t yet have the exposure, she said she would love to support it. If a certification is in the works, and the prime is facilitating that certification, that would be a selling point.

Debriefings and other meetings

PCC is willing to meet with firms beforehand.

“My goal is to set people up for success, not trick them,” Neel said.

It’s common for PCC to have pre-proposal meetings to go over the details of what it’s looking for. Oftentimes, separate information sessions take place. She highly recommends watching for these meetings, which can be found on Bid Locker.

Neel said PCC also does scads of debriefs, takes copious notes on all proposals, and is fully invested in the candid sharing of information. She said she is happy to sit down with any firm after the fact and talk about ways in which its proposal would have been stronger, adding that she’s seen tremendous progress among firms that have leaned into PCC’s critique.

Julie Flattery has worked in the architecture, engineering and construction industries for more than 30 years and uses this knowledge to help firms improve their verbal and visual communications. She also teaches workshops on the art of proposal creation through a co-owned business: Deconstructed Workshops (www.deconstructedworkshops.com). Contact her at jflatteryco@gmail.com.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91ÊÓÆ” guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post How firms can better respond to DEI questions (part one) | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

“We are pleased to present this proposal 
”

I’ve spent many exhausting years changing this opening sentence to cover letters. It started when I attended a roundtable with selection committee members and one of them said that if he read another cover letter that started this way he would scream.

I concur. This sentence makes me want to scream too. In fact, I’m so against it, I teach a workshop on how to write an effective cover letter that cautions against using this sentence.

This is the kind of feedback people need to hear. What grabs selection committees and what turns them off? What sets one firm apart from another? How important are graphics and photography? Do selection committees notice boilerplate proposals?

To answer these questions and more, I interviewed three people who have played an active role in proposal short-listing for many years: Susan Steinbrenner, former (recently retired) executive director of facilities at Evergreen Public Schools (EPS) in Vancouver, Washington; Rob Fix, executive director of the Port of Bellingham (POB); and Libby Ramirez, university architect/director of capital resources for Oregon State University (OSU). As representatives of public entities, they must participate in an equitable selection process.

So, about that cover letter 


Mr. Fix and Ms. Ramirez agree that firms should avoid openings that sound more like a cold call than a customized letter. Instead, they encourage firms to use this space as an opportunity to show an understanding of their organization, their project, and its place in the community. Passion for the project is also valued.

“I want to hear what’s exciting about our project and what first intrigued you,” Ms. Ramirez said. “When someone says they have been dying for this project to be posted for years, that’s the kind of thing we appreciate.”

This kind of customization extends beyond the cover letter. All three directors can immediately spot boilerplate writing.

“The teams who understand our priorities and have done the kind of work and have the kind of enthusiasm we’re looking for are apparent. We can tell what proposals are custom-made to respond to the RFP and which ones are cut and pasted from another proposal,” Mr. Fix said.

Other proposal writing

Do selection committees really read proposals? These directors unanimously do.

“I read every word,” Ms. Steinbrenner said, adding that she appreciates conciseness.

Selection committees receive numerous responses to RFPs/RFQs, so it’s important to respect their time by being concise.

For Ms. Ramirez, the most successful proposals are specifically crafted for the RFP/RFQ.

“When you see a firm give a fresh take that is directed to OSU – they’ve looked at a different project on our campus or maybe they’ve looked at some other work that we’ve done in the past and they incorporate that information into their response – it really stands out.”

All three directors mentioned how easy it is to visit their websites and learn about their goals, guiding principles and strategic plans.

Graphics and photography

Selection committees value how a proposal is put together visually. When asked what stands out most as an excellent proposal, each director said that strong organization is key. This is in part based on the selection committee members’ experience. Oftentimes, members may have no experience with the process, so it’s helpful when the response is in the same order as the RFP/RFQ criteria.

Relevant, quality photos are also appreciated.

“We were doing a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) accelerator project that was a renovation of an existing school,” Ms. Steinbrenner said. “One firm put in all these CTE (Career and Technical Education) photos. I give them credit because they were trying to relate to our project, but it was really kind of a miss.”

The group also said that while firms don’t have to hire a professional to shoot photos, it’s a good idea to do so – or at least assign the task to an employee with an understanding of photography.

Resumes and team experience

Ms. Steinbrenner cautions against what has become known as the bait and switch.

“I want to see a proposal that includes the people who are really going to work on the project,” she said. “We’re more interested in people who are good designers and not polished presenters, and we caution our selection committee members to be on the lookout for that.”

Mr. Fix values a cohesive team spirit.

“Anytime someone comes together with a team that looks like a well-oiled machine, and they present a thoughtful concept, we’re going to be respectful of that and we’re going to make sure they at least get an interview.”

For OSU, seeing teams who have worked together is important.

“If we get a firm with great experience, but the team hasn’t worked together, that isn’t as strong as proposals from teams who have,” Ms. Ramirez said.

In addition, Ms. Ramirez prefers teams with relevant experience. OSU is an R1 research institution (one that offers at least 20 research or scholarship-based doctoral degrees and spends at least $5 million on research annually), and direct experience with that kind of lab design is essential to the university.

“If I look at a resume and it says that a person has eight years of laboratory design experience, and then they list out the labs that they’ve worked on and they’re all high school labs or all their lab experience was a community college or private industry, that’s different experience,” she said. “It’s good, but it’s different.”

The DEI response

Numerous firms struggle when presented with questions about diversity, equity and inclusion, and how best to respond.

OSU typically asks firms to discuss how they design for inclusiveness and for a description of a firm’s workforce diversity plan.

“These sections are extremely important to us,” Ms. Ramirez said, adding that the response is a quick way for the selection committee to discern if someone is “really interested or phoning it in.”

What OSU isn’t looking for is a response about how a firm has 40 percent women and a policy of being an equal opportunity employer.

“That’s all well and good, but what I want to hear is what you’re doing to help lift up the contractors, architects and others in the industry who qualify as MWESB (minority-owned, woman-owned, and emerging small businesses) or DSV (disabled-service veteran-owned) firms?”

Responses should focus on how firms create opportunities for these businesses by providing mentorship or bringing more diversity into project teams.

In addition, the university wants to understand how firms design for, and consider, the viewpoints of a diverse audience. The word “diverse” covers a broad base that includes race, gender, LGBTQ+, students from different cultures, students with food insecurities, people who require universal access, and others. There is a myriad of groups, and responses need to show an understanding of who the user groups are and demonstrate that within their proposal.

EPS also has a robust DEI initiative, according to Ms. Steinbrenner. The district values responses that discuss how firms engage with a variety of stakeholders to get more participation. Do firms understand the barriers that might prevent inclusion?

“I think it’s become a white culture thing to check a box and say that they have an MWESB partner when they didn’t actually engage with them and learn more about their culture or what they can bring to the design, or talk about what opportunities they provided them,” she said.

EPS is asking people to demonstrate in proposals how they would work with those stakeholder groups to make them feel included and how that would translate into the project’s design. They want to see experience or even representative projects that speak to that.

Final words

Ms. Steinbrenner, Mr. Fix, and Ms. Ramirez emphasized deep appreciation for the time and money that goes into each proposal.

“We would be nowhere without the interest of all these designers and construction firms,” Ms. Ramirez said. “So, I want to express my thanks to anyone that opens our advertisement for bid opportunities and shows interest.”

Julie Flattery has worked in the architecture, engineering and construction industries for 30 years and uses this knowledge to help firms improve their verbal communications. She also teaches workshops on the art of proposal creation through a co-owned business: Deconstructed Workshops (www.deconstructedworkshops.com). Contact her at jflatteryco@gmail.com.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91ÊÓÆ” guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post What distinguishes a winning proposal? Three evaluators weigh in | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.