July 2020 Newsletter

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”
~Milton Berle~

Next PBDG Meeting

Wednesday July 22, 2020
4PM – 5:30PM

We invite you to join us for our monthly membership meeting!

If you are not on our mailing list and you’d like to attend, please email us at information@pbdgweb.com to get the Zoom Meeting information.

If you are still having issues using Zoom, please let us know so we can assist you.

Upcoming Events

Click here to register for the Oregon Corporate Activity Tax (CAT) Seminar!

From the Desk of the Executive Director

Kenechi Onyeagusi, PBDG Executive Director

Hello,

This month, PBDG will be focused on resources. We will be rolling out more long term resource options for our members as you continue to grow your business during and after the pandemic. Please ensure that you are following us on LinkedIn and Facebook to get updates on resources as they become available. We know emails can get flooded and so we are also providing updates using our social media platforms. There are some new statewide grants that have been made available and we are here to help you apply.

Partners, you will also receive correspondence on how you can plug into available resources to help meet your project utilization goals and better engage with members of our community. This month, I would like to officially welcome two new Partners to the PBDG family, Wishcamper Development Partners and Emerald Cities Collaborative. These organizations are pushing the envelope in our industry in innovative ways and we are excited to be partnering with them.

We are in the middle of our annual membership drive. If you have renewed as a partner or member, we are deeply grateful for your continued support and trust. If you are in the process of renewing, please let us know if you have any issues completing your renewal by emailing information@pbdgweb.com. Our website is still very new and we know there might be a kink or two to work through.

Until we can safely re-open, all of our training classes will remain virtual. Our July membership meeting is scheduled for July 22, 2020. This month we will have a very special guest appearance so I hope you can make it. We will also have presentations on available job opportunities and early information on projects in the pipeline.

Welcome to July, I wish you good health, safety and abundance.

Member of The Month

Partner of The Month

New Member Spotlight

Industry News

Event & Meeting Details

Invitations to Bid

Member of the Month

Franklin Smith, Owner
Phone: (503) 869-8161

Website: https://alliedsystemsnw.com
Email: Service@AlliedSystemsNW.com

Allied Systems Northwest has 4 main lines of business; Electrical, Information Technology, Video Surveillance and General Construction. I bring 25 years of infrastructure design, building and maintenance and my role in the organization is to establish our direction and ensure our personnel have an environment of support to be successful in achieving desired objectives. ASN also offers commercial and residential building repair and remodeling services. Our general construction services include painting, flooring, door installation, countertops, and finish carpentry. We are planning on expanding our general construction services over the next few years.

ASN has worked on several notable projects; one the most exciting projects was the active directory and wireless network deployment with the Federal Aviation Administration. It involved evaluating, implementing and managing security and communications services across the U.S. Another notable project was the network, security and data communication for Portland Community College. Other projects include Clark College, Clark County, Oregon Judicial Department, Providence Medical Center and KBOO radio. During these projects our most significant contributions were in identifying opportunities and providing solutions for our customers. Solutions ranged from the installation of power, backup power, servers, firewalls, project management, training, and a broad range of communication systems. A few of our upcoming projects include the Dahlke Manor apartment building with Walsh Construction where we will be providing video surveillance installation, the Supreme Court building in Salem with Fortis Construction providing door installations and access control and Habitat for Humanity project to provide finish carpentry services for affordable housing units in North Portland.

The construction landscape is changing in a number of key directions. Technologies used in building structures continue to provide opportunities to reduce costs and time required in developing structures. Black owned businesses are seeing a substantial increase in opportunities because of the value we bring to the industry and recognition of that value. The combination of these two set a tone of perpetual success in the construction industry. A success that other industries and we as a country will realize; through inclusion we achieve our potential.

For ASN, in the next five to ten years project exponential growth. As technologies are further integrated into the construction industry, our combination of technical, electrical and general construction expertise will position us to deliver a unique set of services. Fire Safety, Access Controls, Alarms, Video Surveillance, Power Management & Monitoring, Backup Power, Lighting Controls, and Communications are all moving toward smart systems. We are well positioned to deliver this set of services, services which bring brick and mortar to life. There are a number of key people that make what we do possible, Gabriel Rogers, Mark Holman, Ms. Foster, Mac Mintz, Henry Penselin, and Ayollo Otika have made significant contribution and sacrifices in our development and successes. Design and implementation without them would be impossible. Each of our team members bring key skill sets and complement one another like runners in a relay race.

ASN has been a part of PBDG for a little over a year. As a result, we have grown in that year more than our previous five years. The contribution of and our participation in PBDG provides, most importantly, a community for us to belong to. In this community we have found big sisters and a little brother to mentor and be mentored by. As a part of a community where everyone around you is succeeding, it is difficult not to succeed. Hand – in – hand, we face old and new challenges, whether presented by society or by our industries. Half the game is having the courage to take the shot, knowing that you have someone under the basket to rebound makes shooting a must. We’ve had several opportunities to work with other members of PBDG; whether as service provider, partners or clients it’s always been a successful learning experience and increased our capacity to take on new challenges.

In this environment we feel as if we could put a man on the moon, under the right contract. Getting back, however, is going to be one heck of a change order.

Allied Systems Northwest is currently DBE, ESB, and MBE certified.

Project Capacity: $75,000

Bonding Capacity: $500,000, $1 million aggregate

Partner of the Month

Michael Burch, Community Relations and Outreach
Phone: (503)-261-1862

Website: https://www.nwcarpenters.org
Email: mburch@nwcarpenters.org

The NW Carpenters Union covers six states and over 29,000 members. Evelyn Shapiro is the Executive Secretary-Treasurer, which is the principal officer overseeing our operations. We represent several crafts: General Carpenter, Pile Driver, Millwright, Scaffold Erector, Exterior Interior Carpenter, Millworker, and Tradeshow Carpenter. Our work is to be safe, organized, educated, and the best trained workforce in the industry; evolving with changing industry standards through training and leadership training. Last but not least, we strive to diversify our workforce by intentionally reaching out to community partners who specialize in working with traditionally underutilized groups.

I am a native Oregonian who attended school in inner NE Portland, Highland Elementary and Benson Tech. I joined the Air Force Reserves and then attended the University of Oregon. I have been the head of Community Relations & Outreach at NW Carpenters for the last 10 years. My passion is working with our youth and young adults, especially Black youth and young adults, in the hope of helping them avoid some of the pitfalls I experienced, encourage them to understand the importance of education, and expose them to careers in the trades.

The NW Carpenters Union is very optimistic about the changing landscape. We believe we are starting to see the product of years of community coalition work and recruitment efforts. Our union has been advocating to diversify the construction industry for many years. We are thankful for the people we have met and the partnerships we have formed that we feel took the work to the next level. Our mutual goals are becoming a reality in the community, and we look forward to continuing this important work.

The NW Carpenters Union is committed to continuing the work to diversify the construction industry and create meaningful work opportunity for women, minorities, and the BIPOC community. In the next five to ten years, the NW Carpenters Union plans to increase recruitment efforts and build stronger coalitions with community partners. Through strong partnerships we feel we can create positive change through public policy work and advocacy work which, in turn, will have a lasting effect on our city and community.

I would like to shout out Faye Burch, Maurice Rahming, James Faison, and Pat Daniels. Faye brought me to this organization in it’s earlier form. Maurice and Faye have mentored me over the years and a large part of my continued participation is because they care so much about the Industry and people of color having access to the same. James Faison has been a huge help in my understanding of minority contractor education. He has never deviated from his commitment to young people in the community. I’ve stood on the corner of NE Ainsworth and MLK holding a sign about trades careers for people driving by. That’s a commitment to our young people for certain. Daniels is one of the hardest working Executive Directors I’ve ever seen. She continues every year to serve our community with fewer staff and less resources. She’s doing amazing work for those in our community least likely to succeed without a champion. Pat is that champion.

The Carpenters relationship began in 2011. We also helped with the establishment of this nonprofit in 2014. PBDG’s work is important because of how they advocate for certified minority and women owned businesses, offering a wide range of services to contractors seeking to improve their business models. Without this advocacy, those historically left out of wealth creation would continue to be just that.

I have worked with several PBDG members over the years. Most often I am working with FM Burch & Associates, O’Neill Construction Group, and Faison Construction.

A fun fact about myself is that I have always loved cars with horsepower. I have an old school muscle car that I race at the drag strip whenever I am able. I also love to fish, clam and crab.

New Member Spotlight

Jeanie Braun, Majority Owner
Phone: (503) 638-3219

Website: www.braunconstruction.org
Email: Office@braunconstruction.org

Jeanie Braun is the majority owner of Braun Construction and has over 26 years of experience in the construction industry. Jeanie and her husband Jeff co-own their business; Jeff has a great love of building and Jeanie has a business degree from OSU, so they decided to combine their two passions and created Braun Construction in 2005. Braun Construction is an experienced excavating company located in Wilsonville, Oregon. Specializing in general construction, they self-perform the following services: excavation, stream restoration, water quality swales, concrete, demolition, deconstruction, underground utilities, and much more!

Braun Construction recently installed a new sewer system in Fanno Creek for the City of Tigard and self-performed 90% the work. They are currently working on a wildlife mitigation project for the US Army Core of Engineers (Portland District) on Cottonwood Island in the Columbia River. They also recently completed a parking lot with pervious asphalt for the National Parks Department at Fort Vancouver.

A significant moment for Braun Construction was when they obtained their 8A certification through the Small Business Association (SBA). This certification provided them the opportunity to acquire more contracts with the federal government. Working with the federal government has allowed Braun Construction to increase their internal capacities, resulting in significant growth.

Braun Construction is currently DBE, ESB, and WBE certified.

Project Capacity: $1.5 Million

Bonding Capacity: $3 million, $7 million aggregate

Industry News

IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE APPLYING FOR ANY GRANTS, PLEASE LET US KNOW

CBA for Broadway Corridor Project At Risk

Continuum Partners is a Denver-based company that was chosen to plan and develop the Broadway Corridor project, one of the most significant redevelopment projects Portland has ever seen.

Prosper Portland, Continuum Partners, and the community group consisting of 23 organizations officially named the Healthy Communities Coalition (HCC) have spent the better part of a year negotiating the community benefits agreement for the Broadway corridor project. Unfortunately, CBA negotiations seem to have disintegrated.

The CBA agreement would determine project worker’s benefits and wages; it would also determine the project area’s housing affordability and other community benefits. The three groups were on a path to finalizing an agreement until COVID-19 hit. Conversations have come to a stand-still so the groups want Portland City Council mediate negotiations.

Click here to read more.

Minority-Owned Construction Firms Heavily Impacted by COVID-19

Minority-owned firms face many challenges that their majority-owned counterparts do not. Even before the pandemic, compared to majority-owned firms, most DMWESB firms tend to pay higher interest rates on loans and are also required to have a SBA loan guarantee before being approved by lenders; more so than non-DMWESB firms. Many DMWESB firms do not have the ability to expand their businesses due to the difficulty of accessing capital and lack of funding.

The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the many challenges faced by minority firms. For example, on March 17 the Department of Labor renounced equal opportunity and affirmative action requirements for federally provided relief contracts for 90 days. This includes construction relief contracts as well.

Click here to read more.

Noose Discovered on Construction Site in Downtown Portland

Andersen Construction and Portland State University are currently investigating an incident involving a symbol of hatred that was found on their Fourth & Montgomery project downtown. On May 20, a noose was hung on the PSU jobsite and was found by a female apprentice of color who reported it immediately. The hate symbol was found just five days before the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

Both Andersen Construction and PSU have voiced their disgust and outrage over the incident.

Click here to read more.

Portland’s Small Business Program for Utility Relief (SPUR)

The Portland Water Bureau and the Bureau of Environmental Services have allocated one million dollars to provide financial support to Portland’s small businesses. The bureaus will provide one-time credits on qualifying businesses’ sewer/stormwater/water bills.

‣Credits will range from $1,000 – $10,000 per business.

‣Between 200-300 businesses will receive credits depending on need and application volume.

‣Applications will open Wednesday, July 8 and stay open for two weeks, closing on Wednesday, July 22.

The program will be implemented with an equity focus to help small businesses in greatest need of assistance. Priority for funding will be given to businesses owned by Black, Indigenous, and all People of Color and/or women, businesses that are currently open and identified in Governor Kate Brown’s Phase 1 Reopening plan, childcare businesses (both for-profit and nonprofit entities). The program is not first-come, first-served, and businesses can sign up to receive an email notification when the application opens on July 8.

Click for more information and to sign up to get an email notice when the application opens

eidl loans are available again

After shutting down the Disaster loan program due to funding running out, and then limiting recipients to agricultural businesses only, the SBA has reopened the EIDL Loans for all industries with a cap of $150,000.

The Emergency Grant program (which provides up to $10,000 based on a rate of $1,000 per employee) is also running again.

The deadline to apply for a COVID-related EIDL loan or grant is December 31, 2020. You can apply here.

Emergency Business Assistance grants

The Oregon Legislature, in partnership with the Governor, allocated $5 million from the State General Fund, which will be combined with $5 million redirected from existing programs at Oregon, for the purpose of providing financial assistance to small businesses adversely affected by economic conditions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic that have not received federal emergency assistance under the federal CARES Act or other federal program for emergency pandemic funding.

The program puts an emphasis on sole proprietors and historically disadvantaged businesses. Communities are working with culturally-focused organizations to promote the grant to BIPOC business owners, and Business Oregon provided template applications in multiple languages.

PBDG is offering technical assistance if you need help applying for this grant. If you need assistance, please let us know!

The grant application window is not yet open, but we would like to help you prepare a successful grant application.

Will you be working on City of Portland, Multnomah County, Metro, Washington County or Port of Portland Projects?

Adopted by these public agencies over the last year, the Clean Air Construction Standard will require lower emission dump trucks and construction equipment on most of their projects beginning in 2021.

• Are you ready?

• Do you know where your vehicles and equipment stand?

• Do you know what your options are?

The City of Portland is offering free, to COBID certified firms, assessments of their construction equipment against the Clean Air Construction Standard.

This free assessment includes on-site inspection of vehicles and equipment to verify where your fleet stands in regard to the Clean Air Construction Standard and a report to you including a list of options for how to shift noncompliant equipment and vehicles into lower pollution with benefits for your employees and the communities in which you workIt is up to you to decide what steps you will take but you need this information to plan and manage your business.

To arrange for an on-site assessment contact Kevin Downing at 503.539.0610 or kevin@skookumea.com

You Can Now get Tested for COVID-19 at East County Health Center!

The test will tell whether you currently have COVID-19. This is not the antibody test that tells whether you’ve had it in the past.

Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 can get tested. We focus on reaching Black, Indigenous and other People of Color communities, those without health insurance and those without a regular health care provider.

Click here for more information.

PCC – 2 Full-time, Casual Career Coaches for Construction Trades

Portland Community College, Willow Creek Center is seeking qualified individuals to fill up to two full-time casual positions for grants funded through Worksystems, Inc to deliver Career Coaching services for eligible low-income Washington County residents, and eligible residents interested in Construction Trades.

The successful candidate will deliver construction career exploration content, career and resource planning, training scholarships and support services for Washington County residents entering construction career pathways. Most participants will be receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and facing multiple barriers to employment.

Click here for more information.