Norton Encourages District Businesses to Compete to Do Work to Construct New DHS (5/8/09)

Norton Encourages District Businesses to Compete to Do Varied Work Needed to Construct the New Department of Homeland Security Headquarters

May 8, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C.- As Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) gears up for her annual small business fair next week, May 13, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Washington Convention Center, she announced today that GSA needs contractors for $415 million in work at the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) headquarters in Southeast. Norton is encouraging District contractors to apply. The contracts include $400 million for design build, $5 million for demolition and abatement of the warehouse at the Coast Guard site, identified, specifically, as an opportunity for small and disadvantaged businesses, and $5-$10 million for construction management services.

The Congresswoman, who chairs the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, with jurisdiction over DHS construction, is featuring an unusually large number of stimulus projects and other opportunities available to D.C. residents and businesses at her annual small business "access to capital" fair this year. The fair, appropriately themed," The D.C. Small Business Advantage," will help small businesses learn how to benefit from the $6 billion in stimulus funds the Congresswoman secured, and the $1 billion she secured for the District in stimulus funds, in addition to the $1 billion she got through stimulus and appropriation funds for the DHS headquarters. The fair will offer opportunities for business owners to meet one-on-one with federal government contracting officers, bank loan officers and Small business Association specialists.

The new DHS headquarters is expected to generate 38,000 jobs and revitalize the Martin Luther King Avenue corridor over the next eight years. Norton, GSA, and SBA have hosted several hearings and workshops on "8a" small and disadvantaged business contracting, the GSA schedule that opens a large number of contracts to businesses, and other opportunities for small businesses. Sessions already have helped small and disadvantaged businesses obtain all of the preliminary work at the DHS construction site, with 40 percent of that obtained by District businesses.

GSA will begin screening contractor qualifications for design build contracts next week with plans to notify qualified contractors May 27. Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for construction management services will go out today. The RFP for the Coast Guard warehouse demolition contract is currently posted on https://www.fedbizops.com/ for competitive 8a procurement, and the proposals are due by June 3.