The present economic crisis initiated the demise of some of the world?s biggest companies and is forcing other businesses to tighten their belts. The construction market has especially felt the pinch, as the home building mar...

Published Mar 12, 2009

When it comes to the government contracting market, it is often fruitful for prime contractors to build working relationships with small, disadvantaged, and disabled veteran-owned businesses (SBE/DBE/MBE/WBE/DVBE). Through th...

Published Jan 27, 2009

In order to bid or perform work on a government-funded project, prime contractors are required to provide guarantees to the contracting agency and the subcontractors participating on the project so that they are protected fro...

Published Jan 27, 2009

A construction site's ground cover is sometimes contaminated with toxic materials, posing a hazard to individuals working on the site and the environment in general. For many contractors, contaminated soil is a difficult prob...

Published Jan 27, 2009

In a year when the two leading candidates in the Democratic presidential primary race are a woman and a black man, we are reminded of how far the United States has come in terms of racial and gender equality in America. Half ...

Published Jan 27, 2009

Goals increased because Caltrans has failed to meet annual DVBE goals in each of the past 3 yearsThe California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has failed to meet the annual 3% Disabled Ve...

Published Jan 27, 2009

In today's society, there is an increasing awareness and concern regarding the consequences of human progress on the environment. For years, the federal and state governments have been trying to find a balance between the nee...

Published Jan 27, 2009

When prime contractors attempt to procure disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs), disabled veterans business enterprises (DVBEs) and small business enterprises (SBEs) as subcontractors to meet a contract's DBE/DVBE/SBE or ...

Published Jan 27, 2009

For decades, cold milling (also referred to as cold planing) has been a construction service in high demand with little supply of available contractors. With state and local governments searching for cost-effective and enviro...

Published Jan 27, 2009

There has been a lot of argument and confusion over the purpose of the good faith effort. Some of the DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) and DVBE (Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise) firms in California simply believe ...

Published Jan 27, 2009

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has failed to meet the annual 3% Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) participation goal for each of the past three years. In response to this shortfall, the Depar...

Published Jan 29, 2008

Sometimes, a construction site’s ground cover is contaminated with toxic materials that pose a hazard to individuals working on the site and the environment in general. For many contractors, contaminated soil is a difficult p...

Published Jan 29, 2008

Some state DOT agencies require firms to search the Federal CCR Database for Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) and for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business Enterprises (SDVOBE) or Disabled Veteran Business Enterpris...

Published Jan 07, 2008

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has finally released its long anticipated and highly influential Availability and Disparity Study. The report, required by the 9th Circuit Court’s 2005 decision in Wester...

Published Aug 16, 2007

The recently released California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Availability and Disparity Study will have wide ranging consequences for firms participating in federally funded contracts within the state for years to...

Published Aug 16, 2007