HNTB’s Partners Program formally launched in 2009 to further invest in small, minority- and women-owned businesses. The program establishes long-term partnerships between HNTB and women and minority small businesses, often referred to as Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) or Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs), to support these firms’ growth.

While relationships have long existed between HNTB and HUBs, the Partners Program formalized the mentoring process, giving participating companies the opportunity to benefit from the firm’s experience. HNTB is committed to forging and nurturing these partnerships and supporting small businesses as they take on the myriad of challenges involved in the development of today’s infrastructure.

Formalizing years of HUB support

“The Partners Program has grown in the context of an expanding national focus on equity for Historically Underutilized Businesses,” said Emily Gallo, HNTB director of infrastructure and mobility equity. “The Biden administration has advanced support for disadvantaged businesses through the 2019 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, new initiatives at the U.S. Department of Transportation and recent executive orders. The Partners Program demonstrates HNTB’s commitment to these efforts for well over a decade.”

Industry mentor-protégé endeavors often are built around specific infrastructure projects and may contribute to meeting disadvantaged business enterprise goals on those jobs. Partners Program participation is unrelated to any project, but instead is a year-long program designed to help HUBs grow their companies and achieve the goals they set.

“HNTB leaders communicate the nuts and bolts of how the firm runs its business, and the small businesses open their books, explain how they do things and share where they have challenges,” Gallo said. “There’s an honest and open exchange of information in this one-on-one, trusted space. It is a two-way street of mutual learning and continuous improvement for all of us.”

The Partners Program includes traditional mentoring in project and construction management and technical skills but goes a step further by looking at what each participant needs to be able to expand capacity and take on larger, more complex projects. The initiative’s holistic approach includes one-on-one training and mentoring in marketing, talent and project management, operations, sales and financial management to address areas that may be inhibiting a HUB’s growth. HNTB mentors seek the HUB’s input to customize a program that is relevant to their specific needs and goals.

Underpinning the Partners Program are HNTB’s relationships with industry leaders and organizations, including the Equity in Infrastructure Project and the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO). Interaction with these organizations contributes to robustness in the training HNTB uses to build capacity for Partners Program participants.

Investing in transportation’s future

“The program has exposed HNTB to new firms, which expands our pool of partners,” said Qiana McKoy, HNTB manager for infrastructure and mobility equity. “It is an investment in the future of transportation that not only encourages our partner HUB firms to grow, but also inspires them to mentor other smaller businesses.

“As our partner firms grow beyond DBE eligibility, they will have been equipped to prepare the newer firms to fill that space. The continuing availability of smaller firm partners not only benefits larger firms like HNTB, but also helps the transportation industry overall keep the utilization of HUB businesses high.”

Partners Program leaders also consider how the initiative can “bring real benefit to the growth and development of the people in a community, whether that’s through helping to grow small businesses, creating workforce development opportunities or supporting new transportation professionals,” McKoy said.

Building small business confidence

Somat Engineering and Lumenor Consulting, both past participants, benefitted in specific ways from their Partners Program experiences.

“We came from every session with a tool or a practical piece of advice we could follow,” said Gnanadesikan “Ram” Ramanujam, president of Detroit, Michigan-based Somat. “We met with HNTB’s top people, and the three of us who participated were surprised at how openly HNTB shared information.”

“It was an eye-opening process,” Ramanujam said. “It helped us reconsider our processes and look at what is right for us to grow the way we want to.”

The primary benefit Ramanujam gained from the Partners Program was increased confidence.

“We were told, ‘Don’t underestimate yourselves. You have a lot of talents and abilities.’ Firms like ours typically hear, ‘We have to take you because we have to satisfy a DBE/MBE goal.’ We are sometimes not recognized as having useful capabilities to contribute. Going through the program gave us confidence in what our expertise and our unique relationships will add to a project.”

Other past Partners Program participants have mentioned outcomes that include broader networking opportunities, employee growth, confidence to expand their office space and the ability to compete for prime contractor roles in new service areas or new geographies.

“HNTB maintains lasting relationships with HUB partners and still works with firms that went through the program a decade or more ago,” Gallo said. “The Partners Program is a long-standing commitment. Working alongside industry organizations who also support and help HUB partners grow, HNTB will continue to invest in building up small businesses.”