Access to capital, credit, and surety bonding is key to the ability of certified firms successfully competing in the open marketplace. As a result, DC Water has developed programs and standards to help firms improve access to the financing tools they need to grow.
Training Seminars
DC Water and its strategic partners conduct comprehensive training seminars designed to help firms understand how to build competitively viable businesses. To learn more about DC Water’s capacity building and technical assistance program, please visit “Comprehensive Outreach/Upcoming Events”.
Contractor's College
The DC Water Contractor’s College is a 15 week program designed to facilitate capacity building and growth for local, small and disadvantaged businesses. The associated workshops are structured in an interactive format that includes team presentations, activities and panel discussions taught by subject matter experts, to achieve the following objectives:
- Develop sound business practices.
- Improve probability to secure financing.
- Better position businesses for bidding opportunities.
- Allow businesses to get face-to-face time in front of prime contractors and other decision makers.
- Receive mentoring, coaching and counseling from experienced professionals.
The comprehensive curriculum was strategically designed to provide relevant and useful information that business owners can put into practice immediately. Course topics include credit awareness, specialized business plan development, certification, back office enhancement, bidding, project management and access to capital.
Mentor Protégé Standards
DC Water established mentor/protégé standards to encourage primes and large businesses to provide various forms of business development assistance to certified firms (protégés). This assistance may include technical and/or management assistance; financial assistance in the form of equity investments and/or loans; subcontracts (either from the mentor to the protégé or from the protégé to the mentor); trade education; and/or assistance in performing prime contracts with DC Water through joint venture arrangements. The purpose of the mentor/protégé relationship is to enhance the capabilities of the protégé, assist the protégé with meeting the goals established in the DC Water Business Development Plan, and the project specific goals outlined in the given solicitation.
Bonding and Loan Assistance
The goal of the Bonding and Loan Assistance program is designed to match creditworthy firms with products, surety companies, lenders and intermediaries that will help them secure bonds, working capital, lines of credit, contract loans or construction mobilization loans.
For contact information on surety and loan firms, see additional resources.
