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PRIORITY ACTION # 3
MAKE ADOT CERTIFICATION PROGRAM WORK FOR DBEs & MWSBEs
Although having goals in place for government certification programs is a major priority, it is not
the only challenge small business have trying to become a part of the mainstream business
community; i.e. doing business with the big guys.
We know that our government has great intentions. But we also seem to forget that these
programs are run by employees, not business owners. These employees working under the
direction of the government help to run or create programs that begin with the intention of helping
small businesses. Unfortunately, the opposite often occurs. In all fairness to the government,
there is only so much they can do, especially when we are not telling them about our needs. If
small business is the backbone of this country, why is it that small businesses are getting the least
amount of the pie? Believe it or not, it is because we are accepting what people give us, instead
of asking for what we want or telling them what we need.
On the flip side, we must become more involved citizens and learn to also help our selves,
because the blame game is not working. The worst part is that no one is listening. Solutions and
collaboration will bring us the jobs and opportunities that we seek. We need to tell the government
(when they are trying to help us) what we need. If we don't make ourselves part of the plan, we
get excluded.
Aside from the ADOT goals issue, we discovered through the survey many issues (documented
below) that affect why small businesses receive few or no contracts. We will take this information
to request that next year ADOT include workarounds for the issues that we documented through
the survey and the issues that you submit by Nov. 30.
DBE/MWSBE Contributory No Contract Factors
 | Many DBEs/MWSBEs don’t know where to find bid opportunities | |
| No goals, percentages or requirements on the part of the Prime | |
| Can’t get past the Prime/GCs gate keepers | |
| Not sure where bid is going even if it is accepted by Prime | |
| Prime’s use of same subcontractors & DBEs over and over | |
| Prime’s creating their own subcontracting companies for contracts | |
| Contract insurance costs to bid are exorbitant | |
| Low bids to many DBEs/MWSBEs giving their work away | |
| Specific DBE/MWSBE categories not included in bid specs | |
| It appears that many DBEs/MWSBEs bid on same projects no diversity | |
| No transparency in the process, no one knows what’s going on | |
| No identified contract opportunities for specific DBE/MWSBE categories | |
| No response from Primes, project managers, no accountability | |
| Large companies advertise bids only to show good faith | |
| Projects too large for DBEs & MWSBEs to compete | |
| Primes have local presence no need to work with DBEs/MWSBEs | |
| DBEs/MWSBEs can not make a profit - giving work away just to get the job | |
