OCT. 26, 2021 – After the success of a similar event in March, GoTriangle is sponsoring another free online webinar to help business owners learn how to become certified as Disadvantaged Business Enterprises and how to navigate the procurement process for capital contracts.
The webinar is Friday, Nov. 5, from 10 a.m. to noon. Sign up to attend here. The last 30 minutes will be reserved for questions.
“At GoTriangle, it’s important to us that we identify opportunities to work with small businesses and help them understand the benefits of getting certified as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise,” says GoTriangle CEO and President Charles Lattuca. “At the webinar, we’ll also go over the details of the procurement process, tips for delivering a project and an overview of the e-Builder software that many government agencies use to manage construction projects.”
The event speakers are Benny F. Sloan Jr., DBE certification manager at the NC Department of Transportation, and Robert Lancaster, president of BREE & Associates, Inc. in Durham. Sloan will talk about the importance of becoming DBE-certified and help attendees understand the process. Lancaster will be available to answer questions and offer tips about his experience as a DBE-certified business owner and how his company pivoted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, GoTriangle staff members will share:
- The process for bidding on bus stop improvements.
- What opportunities might arise from the Greater Triangle Commuter Rail Project.
- How the procurement process works.
- How GoTriangle uses e-Builder software to track capital projects.
- How other DBE businesses have navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic.
As an entity that receives federal transportation funds, GoTriangle sets goals each year regarding the percentage of its spending that goes to Disadvantaged Business Enterprises. The main goals of the DBE program are to ensure nondiscrimination in the awarding and administering of contracts and to create a level playing field by providing small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals an opportunity to compete for contracts that receive local, state or federal funding.
“We want DBE businesses to understand that we care and that we want to connect with you,” says Sylvester Goodwin, director of Equal Employment Opportunity and manager of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program at GoTriangle. “We also hope that our webinar will give people a chance to make connections with one another.”
For fiscal year 2019 through fiscal year 2021, GoTriangle led the construction or improvements for 65 bus stops for GoTriangle and GoDurham, with 85 percent of the value of the contracts going to DBE-certified businesses.
Find a video of the previous event here.
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