AN OVERVIEW OF COUNCIL DISTRICT OUTREACH WEBINARS
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman
On October 27 , 2022 , the “ Navigating City Contracting Opportunities ” webinar was co-hosted by Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya and Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services ( MWIS ). Attendees learned about certifications , bonding and technical assistance , small business programs , vendor portals , and financial assistance programs .
Councilmember Raman , who represents District 4 , warmly greeted the audience and introduced the program by touting its benefits . “ Working with government can be challenging in terms of the rules , the regulations , and the paperwork ,” said the councilmember . “’ But this program is really designed to help contractors to break through those barriers to understand what it takes to actually win that contract .”
“ Working with government can be challenging in terms of the rules , the regulations , and the paperwork , but this program is really designed to help contractors to break through those barriers to understand what it takes to actually win that contract .”
Nithya Raman , Los Angeles City Councilmember
A testimonial was provided by CDABP participant Ernie Moreno , owner and president of Marne Construction , who talked about how CDABP was integral to his success in procuring a contract with Los Angeles World Airports ( LAWA ). “ We didn ’ t have that trust with the bonding agencies or with the banks to get the bonding for the size that this project required ,” he said . “ The project was about a $ 10 million job , so we needed the bonding to cover that project , which was hard to get . Without CDABP ’ s help , we wouldn ’ t have gotten it , basically .” With CDABP ’ s assistance , Marne Construction was able to successfully bid for the LAWA project and grow the business !
MWIS Field Support Project Manager Robert Lowery then gave an overview of the CDABP . This was followed by presentations from city department representatives about the resources and opportunities available to small and diverse contractors in their departments . These departments were the Bureau of Contract Administration ( BCA ), the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power ( LADWP ), and the Port of Los Angeles ( POLA ).
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