The poster hanging on the wall in Teresa Maxwell's home office shows an empty stretch of land with the faint spires of a fairytale castle rising like a ghost from the otherwise desolate locale. Printed underneath the image is a single word: "Vision."
Yes, Teresa is a longtime Disney fan—who may or may not own an embarrassing collection of Small World pins—but she also admires the meaning of the poster's message. It takes a certain kind of imagination to look at what is and see what could be. To see groves of walnut trees and imagine a fantastic theme park. To see a bare span of the LA River and imagine a ribbon of light.
Creativity and curiosity continue to motivate Teresa in her role as Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Compliance Manager for Skanska USA. She currently works on three transportation construction projects in Los Angeles, including the Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement Project. Teresa works with Modern Times, Inc. (MTI) to help DBE firms bid on work and secure contracts. So far on the Project, 49 DBE firms have been awarded contracts totaling $62 million.
Once a DBE firm joins the Project, Teresa educates them about the Project Labor Agreement (PLA) to help them stay in compliance and be successful as they complete their scope of work. Teresa led 8-week small business boot camps and conducted regular onboarding to review everything from invoice processing to Commercially Useful Function (CUF) trainings.
Encouraging smaller firms to bid on mega construction projects sometimes takes a bit of creative thinking. For example, Teresa and SSW may break larger bid packages into smaller portions that a DBE firm might feel more comfortable tackling. She also matches 1st-tier non-DBE firms with DBE subcontractors to help the smaller firms grow their capabilities.
Teresa recommends that all DBE firms reach out to large contractors like Skanska Stacy and Witbeck and introduce themselves. If the contractor does not have work available on a specific project, they are likely involved in others that may have a need. When a firm accepts new work, Teresa also advises, they should prepare their back office and pay close attention to all of the paperwork.
A small DBE firm might not consider being part of a huge construction project. Fortunately, there are people like Teresa to help show them they can. All it takes is a little vision.
