Harnessing the power of a diverse community to fuel a thriving economy
With a population of nearly 4 million, Los Angeles is the the 2nd largest city in the United States and the third largest metropolitan economy in the world, with over 140 different countries represented in its diverse demographics.
Recognizing the importance of encouraging the economic stability and potential of small contractors within this vibrant community, the City of Los Angeles established the Bond Assistance Program (BAPLA) in 2005, now known as the Contractor Development and Bonding Program (CDABP), which helps diversify and expand opportunities for small, minority, women and veteran contractors to participate in City projects, as well as assisting them to grow their capacity. By eliminating bonding barriers, the City has increased the pool of qualified contractors able to bid on City projects, resulting in a greater number of competitive bids and generating significant cost savings to the City.
- Personalized business assessments to determine a contractor’s current capacity and opportunities for growth.
- Workshops, training, individual and contract-specific support for securing bonding, financing, learning industry best practices and overall business development.
- A cost subsidy for contractors to get the help of a professional accountant in preparing necessary financial statements.
- Bid, performance, and payment bond guarantees to surety companies (up to the lesser of 40% of the bond amount or $250,000).
- Assistance with Third Party Fund Administrators to ensure that project-related expenses are paid in a timely manner.
- Participation in the Prime Partnership Program, which helps create strategic alliances with Program Prime contractors, peers and public agency staff through networking, matchmaking and referrals.
Cost: Program services are sponsored by the City of Los Angeles and are provided at no charge to participating Contractors.
Enrollment Eligibility: The City of Los Angeles’ Contractor Bonding Assistance Program (BAPLA) eligibility is available to all small local contractors planning to bid on city contracts and subcontracts.
Participating Departments:
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Los Angeles Department of Public Works
The Port of Los Angeles
Los Angeles World Airports
The City of Los Angeles’ Contractor Development and Bonding Program (CDABP) helps open the door for smaller local contractors to prepare for and participate in the public sector bidding process, which provided woman and minority-owned Orochena Construction Services, Inc. their first opportunity to significantly increase their capacity and bid on a public sector project with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The experience that owner Raquel Orochena and her team gained from and the quality of their work on their first project led to other successful bids on projects for LAUSD and other municipal agencies.
“We have been in business for over 12 years, however, we had never been bonded before and we were limited to work on projects for the private sector only. With the assistance and support provided within the Contractor Development & Bonding Assistance Program, my participation allowed me to double my bonding capacity in less than a year. I was able to hire 12 new employees purely based off this program.”
– Raquel Orochena, Owner, Orochena Construction Services, Inc.
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Specializing in project management, electronic security systems, and software development, Birdi & Associates, Inc. learned about Los Angeles’ Contractor Development and Bonding Program (CDABP) through the Los Angeles World Airport’s (LAWA’s) small business outreach. With CDABP providing technical assistance and collateral support, owner Moninder Birdi was able to secure the necessary bond to successfully bid on a $1.2 Million contract to provide a sophisticated surveillance system to the airport. LAWA’s high satisfaction with his work led to a subsequent $3.1 Million contract with the airport, and since then, Birdi & Associates, Inc. has also been awarded additional contracts with other City agencies, including the Port of Los Angeles, to improve and expand their infrastructure, creating “win-win” relationships for the public agencies and the contractor.
“ Our company has been greatly benefited from the services provided by Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services and the Los Angeles’ Contractor Development and Bonding Program. The Program helped us bid for and win jobs that we did not have the capacity to bond for. I highly recommend this program to other contractors. It gives small businesses the opportunity to bid for
bigger projects and provides support and assistance to the contractor.”
– Moninder Birdi, Owner, Birdi & Associates, Inc.
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As Los Angeles World Airports plans for and undertakes the exponential growth required to successfully manage increasing air traffic and visitors, the opportunities for local, small and minority contractors continue to expand, thanks to the Airport’s inclusive vision and leadership.
“As LAWA embarks on the largest public works projects for the next decade, we are grateful for the support from Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services to ensure cutting edge strategies for inclusion and equity in our world class developments.”
– Deborah Flint, Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles World Airports
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Are you interested in participating in the County of Los Angeles' Contractor Development and Bonding Program?
To learn more about this program, please visit: http://www.lacondev.com
To view profiles of some of the many contractors who have participated in this program, please visit: http://www.lacondev.com/contractor-profiles
Email [email protected], call 213.258.3000 or visit our Contact Us page.
Our Contractor Development & Bonding Programs: |
| Alameda County |
| City of Oakland |
| City and County of San Francisco |
| City of Los Angeles |
| County of Los Angeles |
| Los Angeles County Metro |
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