Agency TRANSPORTATION DEPT

Contractor Duff Consulting LLC

SWIFT Contract Number 3000082748; 3000049325

Project Name Veterans Business Outreach and Assistance

Project Number (if applicable) 140

Summarize purpose of the contract, including why it was necessary: In the spring of 2009, the Legislature passed a law (Minnesota Statutes 161.321 subdivision 2(1); identified as Veterans Preference. Under this law, there is a 6% Veteran Preference for Prime Contractors, which applies to all state funded projects. Each year, veteran businesses must re-certify their veteran business status with the Department of Veteran Affairs. When current veteran businesses do no re-certify, the pool required to reach the 6% preference status shrinks. Contractor will significantly assist State with initially staying connected to the many different veteran groups in the state as well as ensuring the pool of veteran businesses is not reduced. State must be able to regularly and confidently report the status of the construction industry environment, as it relates to the veteran business networks.

Contractor will develop and implement marketing and outreach plan that will educate and certify Veteran and Service Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses (SDVOB’s) for the highway heavy construction industry. Once the marketing and outreach strategy has been developed, Contractor will conduct “grass-root” recruiting and certification efforts within the construction contracting industry. Contractor will also attend Veteran Committee and Sub-Committee meetings and provide reports on the efforts conducted.

The goal of this project is to provide monthly updates/reports of marketing and outreach efforts within the veteran community. Most importantly, to serve as a regular barometer and positive advocate within the veteran business community to reflect how State is taking an active and aggressive position on supporting the veteran community in Minnesota.

Project Duration

Start Date Tue, 03/20/2012 - 00:00

Original end date Sat, 03/30/2013 - 00:00

Actual end date Thu, 03/28/2013 - 00:00

Did project finish on time? Yes

Total billable hours utilized (if applicable) {Empty}

Contract Amounts

Original contract: $69000.00

Amendments {Empty}

Contract total $69000.00

Did project finish within budget? Yes

What was the funding source? TH

Is this a sole source contract? No

If this was a single source contract, explain why the agency determined there was only a single source for the services (if applicable) {Empty}

Evaluator Name Alex Tittle

Evaluator Email Address Alex.tittle@state.mn.us

Evaluate the contractor's timeliness As the project manager for this contract, I have assessed the contractor’s timeliness over the contracted period as “above average”. It was extremely important for the contract to impact the pool of available veteran contractors prior to the construction season. Duff Consulting was able to meet this requirement by almost tripling the initial number of veteran owned small businesses.

Evaluate the contractor's quality Duff Consulting made a very key move to directly impact the quality of this contract. He sub-contracted PTAC (this is a firm that specializes in assisting small businesses in Minnesota). PTAC was/is available to assist Mr. Duff with the technical aspects of veteran business verification. This made the difference, in that PTAC is involved in all of the SBA’s associated outreach training and marketing efforts in Minnesota.

Evaluate the contractor's cost The contractor remained within the specified cost range for the contract. Even though some of the workshops that were originally programmed, were cancelled, the consultant was able to appropriate these cost to other areas (i.e. Marketing Materials and Travel)

Evaluate the contractor's overall performance From a technical standpoint, the contractor checked every milestone identified in the contract agreed upon by MnDOT and him. Duff Consulting was able to accurately gather necessary data from the federal and state government, and local municipalities. The consultant was also clear in communicating his Marketing and Outreach Plan, which proved as a “roadmap” for future efforts that MnDOT may engage within the veteran community. The Outreach efforts were/are probably the most significant component of this contract. Mr. Duff was able to travel throughout the entire state, promoting the benefits of the Veteran-Owned Small Business Program. He created marketing materials, in addition to utilizing a variety of marketing mediums (i.e. television, newspaper, social media and public meetings). MnDOT’s project manager has evaluated Duff Consulting LLC’s performance under the Veteran Outreach and Marketing contract as “Above Average”. As the contract officially concluded on March 30, 2013, the veteran verification process takes several months to become applicable to MnDOT projects. Therefore, Duff Consulting has approximately 20 additional businesses preparing to be added and potentially applicable to MnDOT 2013 projects. In summary, not only has this contract placed MnDOT in a position to increase small business capacity on its projects, but it has also ranked MnDOT within the top 5 of our nations veteran owned small businesses.

Would you engage the contractor's services again? Yes

Describe any negative action taken during the duration of this contract (i.e., termination, pursuit of suspension, etc.): {Empty}

Please rate the overall experience with the contractor 4 - satisfied