PDF Mbe and Blueprint Division Fy 2017 Annual Report

MBE AND BLUEPRINT DIVISION FY 2017 ANNUAL REPORT

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Please accept my appreciation for the excellent job you and your staff have done over the past year in providing services to MWBEs, Parramore residents and the citizens of Orlando. The change in leadership and combining of two divisions was an enormous undertaking but went smoothly and efficiently. Thanks to your leadership and dedication combined with your staff's teamwork and energy, the dollars paid to MWBEs on city contracts was more than fifty percent higher than the previous year, and members of our target population continue to be placed in jobs paying living wages. Your commitment and excellent work help Orlando to continue to be an inclusive city that is representative of our diverse population and provides equal contract opportunities for our minority and women-owned enterprises to grow. You and your employees should take great pride in these accomplishments.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer

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MESSAGE FROM THE DIVISION MANAGER

To The City Beautiful:

This amount includes dollars paid to both

The MBE and BLUEPRINT Division continues to make lasting impacts for minority firms and the Orlando community as a whole. I come with years of experience in public service and a profound commitment to expanding what the division does for MWBEs and Orlando residents, particularly those from vulnerable communities. Our mission statement is "to increase the opportunities available to MWBEs in both governmental and private procurements as well as to place residents of the Community Redevelopment Area--and most especially its Parramore Neighborhood--in jobs."

Success requires working to meet our goals through integrated initiatives; ones that enable us to move forward on multiple fronts, resulting in an increase in the division's impact on its constituencies. In moving toward this ideal, we have combined the Minority Business Enterprise with the BLUEPRINT Employment Office to create the MBE and BLUEPRINT Division.

PERFORMANCE: During the most recent period, staff members in the new division were responsible for payments of $14.1M to MWBE subcontractors and $6.9M to MWBE prime contractors. These payments of $21M represent a 56% increase over payments made to MWBEs during the last fiscal year.

primes and subs on city projects inclusive of the BLUEPRINT Community Venues' ones; though, dollars paid on the latter only account for $681.6K of this amount. These staffers also provided economic and life benefits to hundreds of residents in the Downtown Community Redevelopment Area (CRA), where the Parramore Neighborhood is situated, too. The staff functions that made this possible were comprised of a myriad of training sessions calculated to provide soft skills to the clients to help them get jobs or move into better positions. Examples of topics from the sessions include r?sum? preparation, appropriate workplace communication skills, successful interview techniques, and OSHA 10 and 30.

This division's "Certification Board" is committed to changing its rules when it helps minority and women-owned businesses more fully participate in contracting opportunities, including both city and private contracts. The results of these changes undertaken by the Board stand as a testament to such commitment. To wit, Hispanics no longer have more steps to follow than other minority group members to gain certification. In addition, MWBEs can now gain city certification for their expanded business lines. Consequently, the Board's changes make for

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MESSAGE FROM THE DIVISION MANAGER (continued)

a program that proactively fosters business growth and allows MWBEs to react quickly to changes in the business environment with a certification process affecting each minority group member the same.

Evidence of our ambition to do better with MWBE and BLUEPRINT programming is our continual efforts to assess, evaluate, and redirect how we carry out our work to create more contracting opportunities, certified MWBEs, and jobs for qualifying residents. Illustrative of this ideal is the way the division now puts on events: Outreach and networking events alike must be collaborative and involve majority-owned companies, MWBEs, city departments, organizations that provide technical assistance, and information about specific upcoming contracting opportunities. If we need to staff another's event to ensure effective outcomes for our clients, that is what we will do (and have done). For example, the MBE and BLUEPRINT Division staff served as employment interviewers for Spectra Food Services and Hospitality during its marathon job fair to hire hundreds of workers to staff the Orlando City Stadium.

In closing, the division's long-standing commitment to community services continues as staff members volunteer to work with displaced business owners from storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, explaining how to do business with the city, highlighting the value of city certification, and walking them through the entire process. The members of the Orange Technical College's School Advisory Committee (SAC) elected me as chair, and another colleague nominated me for the African-American Chamber's prestigious Eagle Award as MBE Advocate of the year. We are proud to share with you information about our banner year, during which we made many needed changes that markedly improved our performance while continuing to invest in the community. This year's achievements bellwether what you can expect from us in FY 2017-2018.

My Best,

Janeiro R. Coulter MBE and BLUEPRINT Division Manager

MBE AND BLUEPRINT DIVISION STAFF

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HIGHLIGHTS

FY 2016-2017 afforded the opportunities for 577 city certified minority and women-owned business enterprises (M/WBEs) to participate in city projects. More than $37.7M was awarded to our city certified M/WBE subcontractors in all three categories combined (Construction, Professional Services and Goods and Services). In this report some of the city's M/WBE subcontractors, outstanding candidates and a champion of our Division will be highlighted for their stellar performances and support of the city's projects/goals.

ELECTRICAL DESIGN ASSOCIATES, INC.

Electrical Design Associates, Inc. is a consulting engineering firm specializing in electrical and instrumentation design for water and wastewater facilities providing consulting engineering services primarily to the public sector.

In September of 1998, Electrical Design Associates, Inc. (EDA) was formed. Their first contract was as a subconsultant for a City of Orlando project. The firm became a Certified Minority/Women Business entity with a corporate office located in Orlando. The M/WBE program allowed EDA the opportunity to work with many of the major consultants in the Orlando area on many exciting projects. Their history includes designs of multiple lift stations, 13 kV Power distribution at two of the city's facilities, process improvements at the Conserv 2 WRF, the Effluent Management project at Iron Bridge Waste Reclamation Facility and multiple studies. Studies included the Conserv 1 WRF, Filters at Conserv 2, master planning at multiple facilities and equipment assessments. EDA has grown their

firm to include five (5) registered electrical engineers, instrumentation designers, designer/cadd technicians, and field supervisors with expansion to three (3) office locations; Orlando, Lake Worth and Tampa.

The firm's experience includes electrical and instrumentation system designs for industrial plants, specifically Water and Wastewater Treatment Facilities located throughout the state of Florida. Electrical distribution systems covers the full range up to 13kVolt distribution systems as well as standby generator systems. Instrumentation systems design experience includes SCADA and PC based systems, as well as numerous traditional plant monitoring and control panel designs. Design experience encompasses computer/PLC controlled systems utilizing SCADA based systems for interfacing to remote locations, as well as hard wired relay controlled custom solutions.

In addition to managing multiple projects throughout the year, EDA actively supports various charitable organizations to raise money for scholarship funds that continually invest in the engineers of tomorrow.

The city's M/WBE program has allowed Electrical Design Associates to succeed by providing clients with the support they deserve while encouraging the next generations pursuit of their passion.

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