The James Transportation Group is part of a team selected to deliver the California Construction Contracting Program to provide Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) support services throughout California. We will provide support to DBE firms pursuing transportation projects and the goal of this ambitious program is to increase DBE partiipation in Californa transportation infrastructure projects.

Plan rooms for use by DBE firms are available at ten Small Business Development Centers strategically located throughout California for use by DBEs to view RFPs, plans and specifications for transportation projects in Caltrans districts in our service area.

For questions about projects or to request support services please email us at: (dbe_support@jamestrans.com) dbe_support@jamestrans.com

Additionally we will provide and maintain pre-bid and pre-construction assistance, including, but not limited to: construction administration, quantity take-offs, estimating, bonding and financing opportunities, accounting procedures, and networking with prime contractors in achieving their goals;

- attend pre-bid conferences in the service area;

- provide assistance to potential DBE firms for possible certification by the Unified Certification Program (UCP) and shall follow-up on the results of the certification assistance rendered;

- provide DBEs with post-award assistance such as efficient purchasing and management control, proper reporting procedures, labor and safety regulations, scheduling, job planning and control, and labor compliance, and

- provide technical assistance to certified DBE firms as needed to successfully participate in awarded projects.

We will also provide resource materials to DBEs pertaining to bonding and loan programs, including information on the Federal Department of Transportation Short-Term Lending Program, Bonding Assistance Program as well as information on Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), and Minority Business Development Centers (MBDCs).

A major activity of this support is developing and providing a Training Program and Training Manual which will cover the following areas:

(1)   Client Procedures

 (2)   Provider Procedures

 (3)   Technical Assistance Training  

(a)   Construction

(i)              Construction Methods

(ii)             Bidding

(iii)            Prime Contractor – Subcontractor Relations

(iv)            Project Management

(v)             Estimating

(vi)            Plan Reading

(vii)           Pre-Bid Conferences

(b)   Accounting and Cash Flow Management

(i)              Accounting – certified payrolls

(ii)             Cash Flow Management – costs associated with scheduling; cash flow models

(c)    Bonding and Financing

(i)              Expanding bonding capacity

(ii)             Bonding requirements

(iii)            Preparation of bonding packages

(iv)            Short-term loans

(v)             Lines of Credit 

(d)   Contract Law – Business Law, Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) and Affirmative Action (AA)

(i)              Business Law

(ii)             Workers’ Comp

(iii)            Wage Rates

(iv)            EEO/AA

(v)             EEO Contractor Compliance requirements

(e)   Business Management, Plans and Marketing

(i)            Business Management – effective management of your business; quality assurance

(ii)             Business Plan – Development and successful    modification of business plans

(iii)            Marketing

- Expectation from prime contractors

(iv)            Promotion of client business to prime contractors

(v)             Assistance to engineering firms of potential projects and advice on proposal development

(f)     Computer Training

(i)              Application software

(ii)             Online services and completion of certification and bid document applications

(g)   Safety

(i)              Regulations imposed by Federal and State requirements

(ii)             Training to carry out contract requirements

(iii)            Provider Contact Information

(iv)            Map of CA DOT Districts/Regions

(v)             Providers by Category for Regions

(vi)            Sample Forms to be used for the Program

You can get more information regarding business DBE Couseling and No-Cost Training Programs as part of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) support services program throughout California.

To request support services please email us at: (dbe_support@jamestrans.com) dbe_support@jamestrans.com

We look forward to helping you to help make this a successful program!