Lost A Project Today........

Blas

I lost a project today to a DBE company. It isn't the first time but it is annoying. $550,000.00 pipe and dirt. That would have been a nice contract for us. They were $15,000.00 higher than us but got the nod due to minority participation goals needed by the general contractor to stay in compliance with federal mandate. Anybody else running into this in their area's? Also, now that private commercial is going the way of residential how will we compete with this DBE, MBE, SBE bologna with all the money for construction coming from federal and state governments. It kind of seems like stealing work from one group of people to appease another group. I bid the job fair and square, have the equipment, man power, reputation and credentials to do the job at a savings to the American tax payer and I get the boot, because I don't have enough minority groups working for my company or we are not owned by a disadvantaged individual. What a ******* Joke. Oh well thought that I would vent. It only took me 3 days to put the bid together on to the next one.

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cexcavation

I personally don't agree with the minority preference either. I would think that a lot of minorities would feel the same way. I am your typical white male majority, but my wife is half owner in our company. This would qualify me for a fair amount of advantages when bidding on certain projects. I received some literature in regards to being able to bid with that angle-I decided that was not how I would want to win bids and threw it out. I figure bidding is bidding, and a job is a job. The laws should be written to create accountability so that discrimination does not occur, rather than up front preference on the assumption that discrimination will occur. In the end, quality of work,timeline and price should be the determining factors rather than warm fuzzy feelings. People are people in my book. Let our work ethics and character set us apart us rather than government determined characteristics. Keep your chin up Blas. Your attitude, character, and fruits of your life are what define you in the long run anyhow!!!

dayexco

i tried bidding some reservation projects....low everytime, they allow tribal members to meet your price, give it to them. i'm not racist, last yr, my labor force was 60% native american...what america's come to, if you're borderline caucasion, you're screwed like a housecat in govt. contracts.

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someday, i'll be as patient as Nick.

Cole

That is an understatement!

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tgeb

Sorry to hear about this Blas. I think honest competition would not judge a company on their race or gender, but on the content of their contract.

Do you think the rules will change when the white male becomes the minority in this country?

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BreyerConstruct

I honestly think that giving freebies and preferential treatment to certain ethnic groups creates additional tension from other groups that did not receive that treatment.

Say me as a white guy looses the contract for replacing say... a huge boardwalk (fictional story!) ... but I see a black man running a crew of Mexicans doing the job, and it's leaked to me that I was cheaper, and this fellow doesn't have the experience, and the work shows it!

Honestly, I think I'd really struggle inside to not feel frustrated or some kind of resentment. This would be the exact opposite of what should happen- lower standards were promoted (choice based on color/background, not skill/ability) while inappropriate feelings were fostered... I don't like it!

I don't think it's ever happened to me... but just trying to dream up a possible situation... I could see it as working against us, not helping.

FWIW, I don't think most of us mind getting beat out by a superior company, not if we're in it for the quality, anyway!
~Matt

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Blas

Sadly no. I think as long as we elect bleeding hearts (democrat and republicans) to run our country the weaker it will become. Bailouts, cafe standards for auto makers, Car Czars, Construction Czars, Health Care Czars, where does it stop. Promoting mediocrity is no way to promote growth and production. Taking from one group, to give to another, is in no way fair to any group. Most excavators start out as farmers and means, methods and work ethics are passed from one generation to another. Why should I hire inner city people (believe me I have tried) that can not show up to a job on time and have no work ethic to begin with? That is precisely the reason they are in the situation they are in. If I didn't wake up every day and go to work at 4am and stay as long as it took to get the job done, I wouldn't have a pot to piss in either. I didn't get any hand outs. I put myself through college, paid my bills, bought a house I could afford and saved money where I could. Where is my hand out? Where is my reward? It is in knowing that I did it on my own accord and I can survive by myself. We don't need the government for anything other than police and military protection. It should not be in the business of business. It's not like we all took a vote on what the minority participation percentage should be on projects. It was decided by some committee. If you are a hard worker in this world, It does not matter what gender race ethnicity etc. you are, You will be hired. Business's do not care about color they care about reliability, production, and profitability. Now I am on a rant. Anyways, I am sad for what is happening to this country. I am sad that the American dream is turning into appeasement and "fairness". I am sad that I will have to tell my kid someday about how it used to be before the government took over and decided what was "fair" for it's population. A country beholden to it's government. Not by the people, but in control of the people.

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tgeb

You've said it Blas.

Can I quote you, or have you copyrighted that?

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Driftwood

It'l only get better with omama

Leo G

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lynchy

Hi guy's,lucky you ain't in UK,quote from European Union official(large salary paid by our taxes) 'all european workers can go to Britain if they chose to'!problem is we're already deep in doo doo,work sooooo slow over here nd gonna get worse,but hey I was only born here,lived worked n paid tax all my life why would I not be happy for east european massive come nd undercut us,money,health n safety,standard of work,thing is I've plenty on 'FINGER'S CROSSED' @ the mo,but know a whole load v guy's startin to hurt,rant over!

denick

Hi Lynchy,

Sorry to hear things are also down in the UK. I hope for the best for you. Glad to see you on the site stop by any time.

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Nick

"Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving" Albert Einstein

jamestrd

when bidding state or federal jobs, choose the contracts that you wilmeet the requirements best, which are always spelled out.

when the RFP goes out, the contracting offcier will stae if they are seeking SDBs, women owned, minority, small biz etc.
they will mention if it is a set aside or if they are requiring small disadvantgaed businesses..dont waste your time otherwsie..you will be be bidding in vaion..

the only thing you have in your favor is to do 2 things.. Make wife or female family memebr a partenr in your biz,
or if you are a Veteran..Veterans are favored above all other groups.
Disabled Vets even more so..(disabled can be anthing you recieve a benefits check for..
Example, My Bor in Law gets a check from The marines every Month.. He is considered to have a loss of hearing in one ear(20%) therefore, he is disabled.
You can also qualify for monority contracts and Vet contracts if you hire them and they have a stake in your company.

Plenty of ways to do that...without losing control of your company.

You can also locate your company in a low income area, which will open up doors for you in govt contracting.
simple to do, just open a small office and have some mail go there..)

threaderman

Reverse discrimination in action,it's a shame.

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Blas

James,

I understand how the system works. I am simply saying how are we gonna survive when the government is the only entity doling out money for construction. Participation used to be 5% then it was 10% then it was raised to 15% and now it is 18%. Where does it stop. Used to be I could get in with trucking now Contractors can't get enough participation that way, so they are looking for more participation from minority contractors. How am I going to survive and feed my family and the families of the people that work for us. I don't know how it is out in your area, but here residential and private construction is done.

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jamestrd

Im in NJ..

Things have slowed down, but there are still many thing s going on.
problem is price war ..low bid wins..

People still looking to spend, but pricing gotta be right.

what is right? I dont know as it is all over the place right now. sometimes we are well over priced, and sometimes we are low.I cant seem to find that common ground that wins continuously.

You need to do what most of need to do right now..

get lean and mean..look for where you can trim the fat and ride it out until better days come.

duckdown

OK, I have to provide an alternative opinion for this thread. The laws regarding minority preference have been on the books for years and if you are stupid enough to not have found a solution and want to bitch and complain about it, then you deserve to lose business.

Use the system to your advantage. Is it really that difficult to sell a portion of your business to a minority such that they are co-owners? The only reason you probably wouldn't consider this is some high-brow value system or you are afraid to admit in public you are somewhat racist.

In case you haven't checked around, us white guys are soon to become the minority...

Burby

Government & the jessie jacksons of America keep rascsium alive and thriving well. It is a lucritive business for them.

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Blas

When DBE participation goals first came out it was about 5%. Now it is almost 20%. The solution to the problem was hire minority subcontractors trucking, waterproofing etc. and yea, I guess you could say I have "high brow value system", because I don't want to sell a portion of the business to somebody based on their race, gender, etc. as opposed to selling it to somebody who works for the company. Somebody that gives blood sweat and tears to make sure that everyone can put food on their families tables. To call me racist is flat out ridiculous. It's people like you that are ruining this country. Anytime anybody questions rules forced on them by committees, you call them racist, that's just laughable, why don't you call your pal Al Sharpton and the race gang, heaven forbid we have a discussion on DBE participation without being called racist. We don't hire people based on ethnicity or gender. We hire based on character content, work history, experience and reliability. This post was not meant to be a gripe about the system, but rather a discussion about the rules unfairly forced on us. Rules that we did not vote on. I don't always loose out on contracts because of DBE participation, but it sure pisses me off when I do. As far as "bitching and complaining", I was under the impression that this was forum for discussion which is what we are all doing here. Douche.

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Noodle

WELL PUT BLAS

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