Businesses look to get in on Midtown Tunnel project

PORTSMOUTH

Sandra and William Baines- live in Virginia Beach, run a business in Portsmouth and have trucks crisscrossing Hampton Roads. That means the tolls planned for the Midtown and Downtown tunnels will hit them especially hard.

"But it's something we're going to have to deal with," Sandra Baines said.

So with a mixture of begrudging acceptance and an entrepreneur's sense of opportunity, the couple joined more than 130 other contractors Thursday looking for a piece of the six-year, $2.1 billion tunnel and road project.

The daylong event, hosted by the Virginia Department of Transportation, was one of a series of conferences state officials are holding to help small businesses, and those owned by minorities and women, learn what they must do to get some of the work.

VDOT is making a special effort to reach small and minority-owned businesses so the project can meet goals for their inclusion. Those benchmarks aim to give at least 12 percent of the work to contractors federally certified as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, and 23 percent to those qualified in Virginia's Small, Women-, and Minority-owned Business Program.

The goals, which are required by state and federal mandates, were set using an analysis of the type of work required and the availability of contractors within at least a 75-mile radius, said Grindly Johnson, VDOT's chief of administration.

The project will add a second Midtown tube, refurbish the Downtown Tunnel and build a tolled extension connecting the Martin Luther King Freeway to Interstate 264. The state is contributing $362 million, but the tolls, beginning at $1.84 for passenger vehicles during peak travel times at the tunnels, will pay for much of the work.

Elizabeth River Crossings, a private consortium led by Skanska Infrastructure Development Inc. and Macquarie Financial Holding Limited, is partnering with the state for the project. The private group is responsible for securing the larger firms it will need, but it also will rely on an army of smaller subcontractors.

VDOT estimates the construction project will bring more than 500 direct jobs and more than 1,000 indirect jobs for local suppliers and vendors, with work valued at more than $1 billion.

One slide-show presentation Thursday had six pages listing dozens of bidding opportunities in play. The work ranges from demolition, landscaping and trucking to surveying, electrical work and diving.

With such a massive undertaking, one of the biggest challenges facing small contractors is the intimidation factor, said Wade Watson, Skanska's project director.

His message to them: "Don't be scared of this big animal. We can break it into pieces you can deal with."

Smaller companies are encouraged to join forces to bolster their capacity and improve their chances at a contract. So-called teaming - where "one dump truck guy can get together with the other dump truck guy," as Johnson put it - was the focus of Thursday's workshop.

John Warren, CFO of Highground Services Inc., an engineering firm based in Franklin, said a successful bid could provide years of stability for a small contractor and its employees. He was also encouraged by what he heard about VDOT's commitment to meeting its goals for small and minority-owned businesses, of which his is one.

"It isn't lip service," Warren said. "I've been to so many of these over 15, 16 years where they have the goals set and there's no one to enforce them."

Dave Forster, 757-446-2627, dave.forster@pilotonline.com