MESSAGE FROM THE PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR
In the first half of 2024 , Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services ( MWIS ) continued administering the Los Angeles Regional Contractor Development and Bonding Program ( CDABP ) on behalf of the City of Los Angeles , Los Angeles Metro , and the County of Los Angeles .
Our same team continued doing the same work with which we ’ ve consistently achieved significant impact . However , we are always exploring strategies to have even more impact , and in May of 2024 , a noteworthy transition began , which is addressed in more detail at the end of this message .
This issue of the Los Angeles Contractor Connection newsletter provides an overview of the CDABP ’ s activities from January 1 , 2024 , through June 30 , 2024 .
We conducted five outreach workshops with elected officials , including with the offices of LA County Supervisors Kathryn Barger , Holly J . Mitchell , and Lindsey Horvath , as well as LA City Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield and Monica Rodriguez . We highlight and recap two of those five workshops in this issue .
The MWIS team also assisted Los Angeles World Airports ( LAWA ) on several contractor outreach events , which included its 2024 Construction Forecast and a pre-proposal event on a request for proposals ( RFP ) for a variety of construction services .
Helping our CDABP contractors access infrastructure contracts is an important aspect of our work . We feature one of these contractors , L . A . native Guillermo Casillas , a former U . S . Army airborne infantry soldier who saw combat in the Iraq war . His firm , Rushmore Construction Company , is a disabled veteran business enterprise ( DVBE ) that benefited from CDABP trainings , webinars , and technical assistance .
Crucial for all of our CDABP contractors and their teams is the importance of safety in construction . As part of the CDABP ’ s continuing education , we ’ ve included two articles , “ Why Safety Matters in the Construction Industry ” and “ The High Cost of Non-Compliance in the Construction Industry ,” to dive more deeply into this subject .
Through the CDABP ’ s various training courses , MWIS provides contractors with the information and skills needed to successfully access infrastructure contracts . During the first half of 2024 , MWIS held training sessions on bonding , bidding and estimating , QuickBooks , marketing , our Contract Financing Assistance Program ( CFAP ), contract negotiation and review , certified payroll and compliance , and construction safety . We ’ ve recapped four of these ten sessions herein .
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