CONTRACTOR SUCCESS STORY
Oakland Unified School District Central Kitchen , Instructional Farm , and Education Center , landscape construction by Native Soil , Inc .
Native Soil had the capacity to complete these projects , but didn ’ t feel that company had the financial resources and equipment to handle projects of that scale . Nevertheless , when Rafael sent over the specs for a Madison High School project anyway , Manny submitted a bid , not expecting anything to come of it . A few days later , Rafael called to announce that Native Soil had been awarded the contract . Although Manny had to scramble to borrow money for the materials , Native Soil was able to successfully complete its first public works contract .
Thanks to Rafael ’ s guidance and advice , Native Soil has embarked on many more public works projects . “[ He ] has been instrumental ,” notes Manny , “ He encouraged us to bid the Cherryland and Central Kitchen projects . We ’ re currently submitting a bid for a public housing project in Oakland called Ancora Place , as well as the Oakland Civic Center and City of Oakland irrigation repairs . He ’ s been very involved , motivating us to continue to bid on government projects despite difficult times . He ’ s always encouraging local minority-owned
businesses to start bidding for government work . Although on a larger scale , he faces the same challenges that we face , his outlook remains consistently positive . When we ask him what he is doing , he invariably replies ‘ Aqui en la batalla ( here in the battle ).’” Recently , Rafael teased them because the $ 300,000 projects which Manny and Angie used to call “ huge ,” they now consider “ small .”
Some of the most recent projects their company has worked on within Alameda County are the Cherryland Community Center and Madison Park Academy . For the Cherryland Community Center , Native Soils collaborated with the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District ( HARD ), installing efficient irrigation systems , native plants , planters and bioswales for on-site water treatment .
At Madison Park Academy , Native Soils installed artificial turf , efficient irrigation , native plants and bioswales for the Oakland Unified School District ( OUSD ). “ Bioswale drainage systems use native plants to help clean drainage water ,” explains Manny . “ They
SPRING CONTRACTOR REPORT - 19