To all my DEI friends,

Thinking about our meeting last week, I wanted to pass on some of my thoughts or maybe I will call them my wishes/goals/ideas/hopes for DEI movement in 2024.

Here they be:

• Help to foster the type of welcoming jobsite culture that we talk about so frequently by raising the awareness and the importance of the term “EQUITY.”  I would love to see more of a “helpful” and “mentoring” attitude to making sure the MWBE firms that work on the major projects understand the process, scope of work, and make a profit when the dust settles.  Would it kill us to bend a few rules or lend a helping hand when these firms start to struggle in any way?

• Promote the awareness and visibility of the MWBE firms that work on our projects.  I envision a jobsite environment that would allow the owner (yes, owner) and General Contractor to meet and get to know the minority firms working on their project, regardless of the tier or the importance of their contract work.  This can be by giving these firms a seat at the jobsite meeting table (preferred) or scheduling performance meetings outside of the typical jobsite meeting and inviting all to freely participate.  At the end of the project, I would love for the owner and the GC to know all MWBE firms intimately to where they can recommend their participation on future projects–or not.  Let’s elevate the major second tier minority firms to “prime” status, whether they be contracted as prime or not.

• Would love to see each general contracting/construction management firm in our marketplace selecting one MWBE firm to mentor for one solid year and help show them the road to success.  (maybe we select ten firms and have multiple gc’s mentor them in some manner?)  Some GC’s are already doing this, but what if we could get fifty GC’s to commit to this?  Powerful.  A meeting once a month, helping them review their numbers, helping them select the right markets, the right projects, teaching them some estimating tips, maybe helping them secure some needed working capital through RISE CDFI or other markets.  (A respected GC and/or owner standing beside a MWBE firm would provide great comfort to the RISE lending committee)  This one item alone would be a game changer.  I would be happy to provide some names of good firms and to assist in setting up a process.  But heck, you guys have a great staff of people that would jump at the chance to help.  A simple move that could make a powerful impact.

• Let’s make some progress on this unworkable “pay when/if paid” mentality in our industry.  It does not work for all subcontracted trades, especially the second and third tier MWBE community.  We have convinced ourselves somehow that “within thirty days” is “GOOD” and “ACCEPTABLE” but we never say within thirty days of “what?”  What triggers the start of the thirty day clock?  (Within thirty days means different things to different owners and GC’s) Plus, thirty days turns into thirty-five, maybe forty and then that is to simply pay the GC.  The GC then takes ten days to pay the trade contractors and the trade contractors take ten days (or more) to pay the second tier subs—which is my gang.  Note to all gc’s and owners reading this:  THIS TIMING DOES NOT WORK and is the cause for so much chaos, harm and paralysis and is the leading factor in the failure of so many MWBE firms.  (Sorry for the capital letters, I always get excited when talking about this subject)  I give up on convincing owners to pay differently–I think we need to look to others for help.  There is no acceptable explainable business reason for taking thirty, forty-five, sixty, ninety days to pay a monthly construction bill to a GC.  I am requesting that all GC’s respond to this foolishness by operating like Millstone Weber and pay your subs timely, within ten days after the end of the month, or even sooner if needed—regardless of whether you have been paid.  Let’s go back to the way our industry used to work.  If we care at all about minority participation, this would be a done deal.  Include the added interest costs in your estimate and make the owners pay for the added cost of capital. (side note:  ever wonder why so many minority firms do not bid on major projects?  They simply cannot afford to do so as they have no way to fund payroll, taxes, material costs, and union benefits.  Yet we (owners, GC’s, City, County, NAACP, MOKAN) continue to ask MWBE firms to participate and hope for the best)

If we want to make a difference in DEI in our marketplace in this twentytwentyfour year, focusing on these four points above would move the needle.  I think we all would like to look back on the year and count five or six firms that truly blossomed in 2024 and are well on their way to enter the mainstream of our industry. This group has the power to make that happen.

I say we meet again in mid-April and see how we are doing.  I will arrange a date and time in a few weeks.  Anyone game to host?  Or we can meet at Delmar Divine or the AGC Training Center.

I welcome all thoughts and additional ideas.  Are we trying to do too much?  Are we offering too much hand-holding help to MWBE firms?  Is all this really necessary?  Should we forget this whole minority participation movement and let everyone fend for themselves?  Are we doing a good enough job of convincing the naysayers in our industry that including a percentage of minority and women owned firms on our major projects is good for our industry and for our marketplace?

Maybe that is our biggest challenge in 2024–convincing the major buyers of construction services in our marketplace that minority participation should be embraced and embodied in the culture of their organizations.  If everyone truly believed in the DEI cause, owners and GC’s would not ask minority and woman-owned firms to help finance their construction projects–they would be bending over backwards to make their projects equitable for all participants.

Lots to think about.  Thanks to all on this list for their dedication to the MWBE contracting community.

PEOPLE of Construction

Ron