Council News Archives - Northwest Mountain MSDC

Aprende y Avanza Education Program

Posted on March 21, 2023 by Jeffery Bartley

This program was developed under the supervision of the Department of Labor and Industry and the course can be taken in English or Spanish, which is a first in Washington State. We encourage all Members, MBEs and business contacts to take this course so they can avoid penalties involving compliance with Washington State labor laws.

After you register upon taking the first course, individuals will receive a $25 digital gift card from DoorDash so they can enjoy some good food as they are learning. (There a limited number of electronic DoorDash gift cards, so please take advantage of this promotion as soon as possible!)

This is a program offered by The Northwest Mountain MSDC in partnership with the Seattle Latino Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. We also invite you to register yourself and your staff so you can take advantage of this learning material as well as enjoy a nice meal courtesy of Door Dash.

For more information and enrollment click here.

Leadership Transition Update

Posted on March 3, 2023March 3, 2023 by Jeffery Bartley

The Northwest Mountain Minority Supplier Development Council (Council) is proud to announce that Fernando Martinez, President and CEO, Northwest Mountain MSDC, will join the National Minority Supplier Development Council’s (NMSDC) Executive Leadership team in a newly created and essential position as Senior Vice President of Network Success. Fernando has spent the last 14 years at the Council advocating for the ethnic minority business community and looks to bring his ideologies and passion to the National Council.

We’re excited to announce that Karla Malacon has been promoted to Interim President & CEO for the Northwest Mountain MSDC! Karla has been an integral part of our team for the last 6 years, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to see her take on this new challenge. Karla has proven to be a dedicated and hardworking member of our team, always going above and beyond to ensure the success of the Council while representing its values both internally and externally. Her experience and expertise working in Marketing, Operations and Certification make her the perfect fit for her new role.

We look forward to making a smooth transition as we gear up for a busy rest of the year. Join us in congratulating Karla and Fernando on their new endeavors!

Request for Services for West Point Treatment Plant

Posted on February 9, 2023 by Jeffery Bartley

King County’s new E-Procurement Supplier Portal is now live! Register today to for a chance to support the upcoming West Point Treatment Plant project.

KC000800 RFI-GC/CM SERVICES FOR WEST POINT TREATMENT PLANT

PURPOSE: King County Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) held an Open House on 1/31/23, requesting industry comments on its upcoming GC/CM Services for WPTP Project, located in Seattle, WA. King County anticipates utilizing the General Contractor/Construction Manager (GCCM) delivery method and is seeking Project Review Committee Approval on 3/23/2023.

King County is providing prospective Proposers an opportunity to provide feedback, particularly on the items within the formal Request for Information (RFI) questionnaire. Responses to the RFI will assist in formulation of the PRC application.

PROJECT BACKGROUND: The West Point Treatment Plant (WPTP) provides secondary treatment for approximately 700,000 residents and businesses in Seattle and northern King County. With many mechanical, electrical, and support systems at the WPTP reaching the end of useful life, King County will invest more than $800 million over the next 10 years to upgrade the WPTP. This project will deliver a portion of that work, including mechanical, electrical, and seismic upgrades and will coordinate with other active construction contracts at the Plant. Constraints includes performing work on an operating wastewater treatment facility which requires carefully planned and executed outages, close coordination with Operations and Maintenance staff, and sequencing of projects to minimize Plant disruption. In addition, space is limited for contractor staging and parking which may require off-site lay down and parking.

MACC ESTIMATE: $150,000,000 – $200,000,000

KING COUNTY’S E-PROCUREMENT SUPPLIER PORTAL

The official advertisement for this RFI has been published through King County’s E-Procurement system. To receive future notifications, please be sure your firm is registered in King County’s E-Procurement Supplier Portal. For registration information, please visit:

Click here to register.

Year End Meeting Recap

Posted on December 14, 2022December 14, 2022 by Jeffery Bartley

Thank you to those of you who participated in the Northwest Mountain MSDC 2022 Year End Meeting! The Council appreciates everyone’s efforts in making this a memorable event.

The opportunity to gather with individuals, MBEs and Corporate/Public Agencies highlighted discussions around parity for MBEs, equity in minority communities and a year in review for the Council. Lead by Fernando Martinez, guests enjoyed a presentation about this years accomplishments and an outlook on the milestones set for 2023. The presentation also included anecdotal data on the return on investment for MBEs and Corporate/Public agencies through sponsorship, as well as financial goals met for the year.

Special thanks to our title sponsor T-Mobile USA Inc. and our Year End Meeting sponsor JP Morgan Chase & Co. for their contributions to the event as well as the rest of our Annual Sponsors for another year of support.

Click here to view the full 2022 Year End Meeting presentation.

Credits to Mike Nakamura Photography LLC for capturing the memorable moments from this event!

Port of Seattle Business Accelerator Graduation Ceremony

Posted on November 21, 2022November 21, 2022 by Jeffery Bartley

Congratulations to the 2022 Port of Seattle Business Accelerator Cohort Associates for completing the learning and development program!

Special thanks to Mian Rice, Emily Ho, Tina Boyd and the rest of the Port of Seattle staff for hosting such a great event. Alongside the Port of Seattle, the Council recognized the graduates with certificates of completion for participating and finishing the program. Collectively, the cohort averaged an attendance rate of 89.5%. Not including the 33 hours of education, the associates spent countless hours prepping and working with mentors to further their learning experience.

Congratulations to the following cohort associates:

Marcus Cola – Apex Electrical Group, LLC

Tony Puloka – 3 Guys Construction, LLC

Abigail McDowell – Your Home Concierge

Ato Apiafi – Ato Apiafi Architects, PLLC

Sharon Maxwell – Bratton Construction Company

Tricia Lewis – Pacific Rim Environmental, Inc.

Lisa Keohokalole-Schauer – Point North Consulting, Inc.

Edward Byers – ONIT Management Consulting

Marilee Hanks – KNOT Landscape Architecture

Venky Ramakrishnan – Sigma Consultants

Dexter Turner – OpConnect, Inc.

Delton Johnson – Bubbers, LLC

David Molina – Molina Construction Company

The ceremony included warm words from Mian Rice, Emily Ho, Fernando Martinez and Commissioner Ryan Calkins of the Port of Seattle. During the ceremony, the audience enjoyed virtual testimonies from each of the associates. The testimonies detailed their experience in the program and what they’ve been able to put in place as a part of their business model thus far. The 19 learning and development sessions highlighted various discussions that allowed the associates to comprehend and make progress towards new contracting opportunites.

The Council thanks everyone involved for making this a great opportunity for all!

Upcoming Bid Opportunity with Skanska

Posted on November 8, 2022November 8, 2022 by Jeffery Bartley

Calling all Small, Women and Minority Owned Business Enterprises!

An upcoming bid opportunity session is being held by Skanska on November 16^th, from 3-5pm at Parable in Tacoma for the Bryant Montessori project. Come to learn more about the specifications, timetables, and bidding for the project. Demo will start in May 2023. Packages to be released for bid late November or early December of 2022. Representatives from both, Tacoma Public Schools and the Skanska project team will be present.

Click here for registration and additional details.

Port of Seattle Business Accelerator Program Update

Posted on October 17, 2022October 18, 2022 by Jeffery Bartley

Congratulations to the Port of Seattle Business Accelerator Cohort for making it halfway through this year’s program. The Council looks forward to seeing the cohort continue to develop and grow through the remaining learning sessions, best practice sharing, and mentorship.

Weeks one through five included in-depth engagement sessions and workshops highlighting topics such as, financial health, strategic communications and even a Regional Contracting Forum where participants got to engage with Corporate and Public Agencies. Other sessions included a business plan builder and infrastructure design panels covering accounting, legal and banking relationships. After the first 5 weeks of programming, the majority of the cohort associates have reported the beneficial growth of their organization in some form. Some of the cohort associates have reported winning new contracts, building new relationships, and exploring partnerships with their cohort peers.

“My experience with the Port of Seattle Business Accelerator Program to date has been great, affording the opportunity to learn from others as well as make meaningful networking connections. We are already partnering with one of my fellow cohort members!”

-Edward Buyers, Partner and Lead Consulting, ONIT Management Consulting

“The Business Accelerator has been a wealth of information and incredible networking opportunity– I look forward to improving our sales/ marketing approach to scale our material/ equipment procurement logistics services.”

-David Molina, Founder & CEO at Molinas Construction Company

During the remaining weeks the associates can expect more learning opportunities and engaging sessions such as, the general contracting panel, marketing collateral design workshop and additional learning sessions. These challenging sessions are bolstered with the help and leadership of mentors plus the willingness of cohort associates to accept feedback. The Council in collaboration with the Port of Seattle thank the 50+ individuals and companies that have contributed to the success of the 2022 Port of Seattle Business Accelerator Program.

Join us on Wednesday, November 16th for the Business Accelerator Graduation Ceremony as the Council and Port of Seattle celebrate the completion of the 2022 Programming!

26th Annual Scholarship Fundraiser & Silent Auction Recap

Posted on September 26, 2022September 26, 2022 by Jeffery Bartley

On September 1st, 2022 The Northwest Mountain Minority Supplier Development Council celebrated the 26th Annual Scholarship Fundraiser & Silent Auction at the Washington National Golf Club, with all proceeds benefitting the MBE Scholarship fund. In efforts to support our MBEs through their continuing education and minority business advancement we raised $15,738.19, which exceeded the amount of proceeds made from last year by more than $2,000!

Congratulations to this years tournament, contest, raffle and silent auction winners:

1st Place: Greater Pacific Industries Team: Ben Zhang, Alex Cormier, Travis Pozega, and Dawa Sangpo

2nd Place: The Boeing Company Team: Matt Blondin and Vivian Wisdom hosting Ron Benman from Hovair Systems Mfg., Inc. and Mike Byron from Vital Mechanical Service

3rd Place: PromoShop Team: Mathew Mason and Memo Khan hosting Joel Gillespie from The Microsoft Corporation and Eric Shimizu from DKS Associates

Congratulations to our Straight Drive, Closest to the Pin, Long Drive, Mega Putt, and raffle winners:
Mike Byron, Erik Lee, Chris Goodman, Jeff Blackham, Shanell Powell and Vivian Wisdom.

Thank you to our annual sponsors, guest and auction contributors for making this a great event for everyone involved. Enjoy a gallery of photos from the event, captured by Mike Nakamura Photography.

Seeking Growth For Your Business? Apply to the PortGen Accelerator Today

Posted on July 6, 2022July 8, 2022 by Jeffery Bartley

The Northwest Mountain MSDC in collaboration with the Port of Seattle has officially opened applications for the PortGen Accelerator, an extensive two-month business development program for minority-owned small businesses in Seattle!

The program launches September 7th and will seek businesses with 2+ years of experience in the construction, A&E, electrical, specialty services and general goods and services industries (Or demonstrate C level experience in similar business). The PortGen accelerator will aim to support businesses in Seattle, South King County, and surrounding areas.

Apply here today!

https://nwmmsdc.org/portgen-accelerator/

Turner Construction Launches TCSM Program

Posted on June 30, 2022June 30, 2022 by Jeffery Bartley

Turner School of Construction Management Program

The Turner Construction Company is excited to launch the Turner School of Construction Management Program! The 5 week, 9-course program is set to begin September 6th, where attendees will meet every Tuesday and Thursday.

Click here, to view the full program details and see how you can apply today!