AGENCY SPOTLIGHT Opportunities for Small Businesses at Alameda County Public Works Agency
Introducing Alameda County Public Works Agency ’ s ( ACPWA ) Small Business and Community Outreach Services Manager , Megan Leary , and the Building Opportunities for Businesses ( B . O . B .) Series .
Megan Leary
Megan Leary brings a wealth of community and public service-oriented experience to her position as Small Business and Community Outreach Services Manager for Alameda County Public Works Agency ( ACPWA ).
A Bay Area native , Megan was raised in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco . After graduating in 2013 from Overland College in Ohio , she worked for several years as a project assistant at consulting firm Luster National ( formerly Luster & Associates ) before enrolling in graduate school . She received her master ’ s degree in Global Environment , Politics and Society from the University of Edinburgh , Scotland , and completed a fellowship in Kenya . Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic , Megan worked in the Office of Climate Change Sustainability and Resiliency for the City and County of Honolulu .
Although educational and work opportunities took her to many interesting locations around the globe , the uncertainty of the pandemic brought her back home . “ At the start of the pandemic , I decided to return to the Bay Area to be close to my family , which led to my returning to Luster National in 2020 ,” she recalls . Her work with Luster National on behalf of ACPWA involves overseeing small business capacitybuilding for community and business outreach , which , she clarifies , “ includes small business outreach and direct outreach .”
ACPWA is responsible for the management and operations of a range of infrastructure – including streets , bridges , and flood control facilities ( such as pump stations and stormwater conveyance systems ). The agency manages the planning , design , construction and maintenance of these facilities ; it also reviews and issues permits for and conducts inspections of private developments .
In response to the pandemic , ACPWA had to change its manner of doing business . As with most public agencies , in-person pre-bid conferences have shifted to virtual meetings , which offer some advantages . “ We ’ ve seen an increase in attendance because people are now able to conference-in to pre-bid meetings and we are also able to provide more detailed information about projects in a virtual setting ,” Megan explains .
However , the prolonged effects of the pandemic have been detrimental to a large number of small business owners . Megan has noticed that many of the smaller contractors who were once regulars at ACPWA outreach events and pre-bids have shut down and are no longer in business . “ Although there ’ s been an increase in attendance to our pre-bid meetings , we ’ ve seen the opposite for our outreach events .”
In support of small contractors , ACPWA continues to convene virtual outreach events to increase participation of small local and diverse businesses on ACPWA contracts . Part of ACPWA ’ s outreach includes the Building Opportunities for Businesses ( BOB ) program ,
SPRING CONTRACTOR REPORT - 09