EIP's coalition of public and private sector leaders has valuable experience that can assist colleagues nationwide in improving procurement and creating more opportunities in their communities. Eve Williams, President & CEO of Dikita, an award-winning engineering consulting firm, is one of EIP's most distinguished and active partners.
Championing Opportunity
Williams has over 45 years of industry experience, is a member of EIP’s Advisory Council, and is a vocal advocate for creating prime opportunities for smaller firms.
“I don’t think I would be successful if it wasn’t for the public strategy and the public projects,” Williams says, crediting the federal DBE and similar local programs for helping her business grow immensely. She cautioned, however, that such programs do have pitfalls.
“We’re often regulated by the unintentional consequence of having a program that says, ‘you have to give 20 percent of participation to a minority firm or small business,’ and that’s all you’re going to get. And if they try to bring in four small firms onto a large project, we’re relegated to a much smaller position than the 20 percent; maybe it’s now 5 percent, maybe it’s 8. I think when the minimum is presented, it becomes the maximum. It becomes, ‘You already got your 20 percent, and that 80 percent is for us.’”
“It’s about partnering and priming contracts,” Williams says about what it takes for an infrastructure firm to reach its full potential. The catch-22 is that joint-venture partnerships and prime opportunities are often restricted to firms with a long track record of similar projects. “‘I’m 45 years in, so I have a long sheet of what I’ve done right and a very small sheet of what I’ve done wrong, but I fear for other folks that don’t have that long qualification list.”
EIP is a “coalition of the committed,” and Williams said that the “mindset” of project owners is critical to growing historically underutilized businesses.
“Dallas Area Rapid Transit–DART–has been very vocal about what they’d like to see. And because of that, minority firms who have worked with DART have taken a step in the right direction, where now they could work for the Dallas airport, the city of Dallas, Fort Worth, or San Antonio because they’ve been given a chance. It only takes one good, positive owner to wave that flag and say, ‘I would like to see more partnering,’” Williams says. “A giant publicly traded company needs to have that mindset too. The leadership of a company must have certain values that they want to see and push them, which will trickle down. As a small company, you need to understand who has that mindset, and seek them out for opportunities.”
Upcoming Signing Ceremonies
We will be in Chicago on August 16 as the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), Metra, Turner Construction, Loop Capital, Parsons, WSP, and other industry leaders come together to sign the EIP Pledge. On August 29, we will be in Seattle, where Sound Transit and other stakeholders will sign the Pledge.
We look forward to celebrating these milestones with our partners and are eager to see the positive impact these commitments will bring.
Don't hesitate to contact us if you want to attend either event!
Coalition Updates
- HNTB Corporation was recently named “2024 Corporation of the Year” by the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) in recognition of the firm’s “dedication to excellence, innovation and its commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion within the industry.” We are proud that HNTB is a key member of the EIP coalition, and that its own Diana Mendes chairs our Advisory Council. Congratulations! To learn more, click here.
- EIP Advisory Council Member and Gannett Fleming CEO and President Bob Scaer recently participated in a “wetting down” ceremony of the newly rehabilitated Lake Williams Dam in York County, PA. Gannett Fleming served as the lead designer for the project to improve safety, functionality and longevity–the dam is key to the local drinking water supply. Instead of a ribbon cutting, Scaer and other leaders poured spring water over the dam. The water was sourced from where the York Water Company first obtained water in 1816. You can read more here.
Congratulations to EIP signatory and California Plan member Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA - Metro) on being awarded a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) $77.5 million FY24 Low or No Emission grant. This grant represents the second largest among 117 projects nationwide and will support battery electric bus purchases, new chargers and workforce development. The grant is part of the IIJA/BIL and furthers Metro’s goal of a 100% zero emissions fleet and a zero emissions transportation system for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which will be held in Los Angeles. Learn more here.
