As of June 2017,
over 301 companies have enrolled in the Small Business Mentoring Program or the Small Business Federal Program
SBDP has identified A look at the Manhattan side of MTA's East Side Access Project under Grand Central Terminal during construction. This area is now the Long Island Rail Road passenger concourse.
430 projects totaling
$501 million over the next five years to be contracted through the SBDP
Photo: MTA Capital Construction / Rehema Trimiew
After four years, Tier 1 firms are eligible to apply for Tier 2 of the Small Business Mentoring Program. Tier 2 firms are eligible to compete for designated projects up to $3 million, but they must be able to provide surety bonding to secure a contract. During Tier 2, firms are no longer mentored by TDX Construction, but continue to receive guidance and mentoring on issues related to their growth and success. Tier 2 of the Small Business Mentoring Program also lasts for four years. Firms with annual revenues exceeding $3 million— making them too large to participate in Tier 1 of the Small Business Mentoring Program—can apply to join the Small Business Federal Program. The Small Business Federal Program launched in 2013, and is the first small business development program approved by the Federal Transit Administration for use on projects funded with federal dollars. Companies admitted to the Small Business Federal Program must have bonding capacity up to $3 million and provide two references for commercial contracts exceeding $500,000 in value. As of June 2017, over 301 companies have enrolled in the Small Business Mentoring Program or the Small Business Federal Program. These firms work to win contract opportunities with the MTA anticipated to average more than $100 million per year through 2020. “We have already identified 430 projects totaling $501 million over the next five years to be contracted through the SBDP,” Garner said. “These are real opportunities for M/WBE firms to become prime contractors to the MTA.”
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// SUMMER 2017
Other major benefits of the SBDP for participants are the prompt payment of invoices, access to capital, and access to bonding. All contractors awarded a contract under the SBDP are paid for work completed within ten days of submitting an approved invoice. MTA also has partnered with Carver Savings Bank to work directly with firms receiving a contract from an MTA agency to offer loans to help finance the completion of the job. To date, Carver Savings Bank has extended 84 loans totaling $11.6 million to firms in the SBDP. Finally, Willis of New York has teamed with Centaur Insurance Services and Crum & Foster Surety to offer SBDP contractors exclusive access to bonding through its program model. Payment performance bonds have been required and supplied by SBDP contractors on 36 contracts, totaling $68 million. The SBDP has produced numerous success stories of firms completing their first prime contracts for MTA agencies through Tier 1 and Tier 2 of the Small Business Mentoring Program and the Small Business Federal Program. One of those firms is Zion Contracting LLC, located in Lynbrook, N.Y. on Long Island. Hely Duarte started his company as a painting subcontractor in 2009, just three years after his immigration to New York from the Dominican Republic. Duarte joined the Small Business Mentoring Program in 2011 and graduated to Tier 2 of the program in 2015. Zion Contracting has completed five contracts through the SBDP, totaling over $5 million. The company has since diversified from a painting subcontractor to a general contractor, offering a wide range of building restoration services. “The program has been great for us,” Duarte said. “We have been able to take on larger projects
