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NJ Transit works closely
with Medina Consultants
“We are a strong advocate for socially
and economically disadvantaged business owners,”
says NJ Transit’s director of business diversity programs
 New Jersey Transit (Newark, NJ) is a public agency. Its origins got the agency involved with a diverse supplier base from the start.
“When NJ Transit Corp was first established in the late 1970s, we received federal government funds to buy independent bus and rail companies operating in New Jersey,” explains Ernest Williams, NJ Transit’s director of business diversity programs. “As recipients of federal funds, we were mandated to set up a disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) program.” The program is regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Williams explains.
The goals of the federal mandates, outlined in USDOT reg 49 CFR part 26, include DBE participation on certain  projects, the maintenance of a database of qualified and certified firms, programs to increase DBEs’ chances of competing successfully on NJ Transit projects, and support of programs that assist DBEs.
NJ Transit is active in all those areas, Williams reports. “We are a strong advocate for socially and economically disadvantaged business owners.”
A contract compliance team reviews bids for possible DBE participation. “Whenever bid packages are put together we review them to see if they lend themselves to subcontracting goals.” If so, a sophisticated computer system helps NJ Transit establish a DBE participation percentage for the project. “Then the team monitors the project to be sure each DBE is treated fairly and gets paid on time,” Williams notes.
Prime contractors from technical areas
Most DBEs work with NJ Transit as subcontractors, but quite a few are able to win contracts as primes. “They are mostly in the professional industries like IT and engineering, architecture and environmental specialties,” Williams says.
A certification and outreach team has the responsibility of ensuring that DBEs participating on NJ Transit projects have met the USDOT eligibility requirements. Team members take part in business networking events and conduct workshops to help DBEs through the federal qualification process.
The team is also responsible for finding new DBE contractors and subcontractors. That happens through partnerships with a range of organizations that advocate for small, minority- and women-owned businesses. “When we find firms that qualify, we add them to our database of ready, willing and able firms who want to do business with NJ Transit and participate in goal programs we put together,” Williams says.
Creating competitive entrepreneurs
Williams directs the outreach team, and many of the current programs were established by Williams himself, “as part of my responsibility to develop training,” he says. Williams has been with NJ Transit for twenty-four years, all but the first in the supplier diversity department.
“One of my responsibilities is to develop programs to help a DBE become more competitive
in our marketplace,” he says. He’s initiated programs in areas like construction project estimating; the use of popular small-business software like Quickbooks, Powerpoint and Microsoft Excel; contract law; OSHA safety standards and more.
Williams is excited about a new program developed by the New Jersey Institute of Technology. “It’s an online distance learning program for the construction and construction-related industries. We hope to make it available before the end of 2009,” he says.
Mentoring and guiding
NJ Transit is part of a new mentoring program developed by the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners (NJAWBO). “We have an NJAWBO member who’s the owner of a potential vendor assigned to us, and I spend a couple of hours a month showing her how to
do business with us and introducing her to our different departments,” Williams relates.
Another Williams innovation is NJ Transit’s networking workshops. “We bring in major contractors to meet with our DBE firms and network one-on-one with them. We do one workshop each in New York and New Jersey every month. Anywhere between fifty and a hundred people show up.”
Additional “capacity-building seminars” are focused on NJ Transit’s exciting $8.7 billion project to run a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River to Manhattan. “We knew we needed special mentoring and training programs for our tunnel project,” Williams says.
These seminars are run by a consultant, and currently take place once a month, alternating between New Jersey and New York locations. They started in April 2009, and will continue as the tunnel project progresses and contracting needs change. Minority- and women-owned firms in the NJ Transit database whose categories fit current contracting requirements are invited for updates. “We’ve had so much interest that we’ve been turning people away from these,” Williams says proudly.
Another event, the “train ride to success,” was established by Williams’ group but has since been turned over to the New York/New Jersey Minority Purchasing Council. “They have a larger staff to do the organizing,” Williams says with a smile. “But we still participate. After all, we are the ones who established it.”
Business advantage
Working with disadvantaged and minority vendors not only helps NJ Transit but also helps prime contractors, Williams declares. “We are strengthening the small contractors, so, for example, when they provide a bid package to a prime contractor, the prime will have more confidence that it’s being given good numbers. We are developing a smarter pool of talent to draw from.”
NJ Transit has annual goals to meet for its use of disadvantaged and minority vendors. The goals are published and reported to the U.S. DOT: “Every year we report what our programs will look like in the coming year and what our goals are, depending on anticipated activity. We hold annual, formal public hearings to announce our goals for the coming year.
“We set very aggressive goals,” Williams adds. “Over the last twenty years we’ve averaged
21 percent of our total contracting spend; most years we’ve met or exceeded our goals.”
Meet Medina Consultants PC
Medina Consultants, PC (Hackettstown, NJ) works in transportation, structural and civil engineering, and land surveying. The firm participates in many of NJ Transit’s larger engineering and development projects, Williams reports. “If it’s an engineering job, around
a train station, for example, they might do the civil engineering or structural design. If it’s engineering work, they’re well qualified to do whatever engineering is required.”
The firm has been certified by, and worked for, NJ Transit for the past fifteen years. “Over the years we have assisted them with networking to build relationships with major contractors,” Williams recalls. “They have been both prime and subcontractors for us. This is a company representing the disadvantaged business community, and we have a lot of confidence in it.”
Bob Medina is the boss
Bob Medina is the owner of Medina Consultants. “I started it twenty years ago,” he says.
“After I graduated from the New Jersey Institute of Technology with a BSCE, I worked for large design firms, but in 1989 I decided to go out on my own, to give my career more of a personal vision.”
Over twenty years Medina Consultants has grown to 130 people and works in five states.
“This year we broke into Engineering News Record as one of the top 500 engineering firms
in the country,” Medina says.
NJ Transit is one of the first agencies Medina worked for. “We still do a lot of work for them,
as well as the NJ Turnpike Authority and NJ DOT.”
It’s best to have a broad base, Medina believes. “We work with private developers and, on
the government side, with municipalities, counties, states and even federal agencies.”
Relationship building
What role has Medina’s Hispanic heritage played in the success of the company? “I always say business is all about relationships,” says Medina. “Whether it’s government agencies or private sector or fellow engineers, you build a network with common interests, common culture and backgrounds.
“From a networking standpoint I am involved with several Hispanic organizations: chambers of commerce and business groups in my industry and outside it. You learn about things other than your own business, and that expands your knowledge.”
Medina Consultants is certified as an MBE by a number of agencies, Medina notes. “We’re certified by several NMSDC affiliates: the New York/New Jersey MSDC, as well as the affiliates in New England and Maryland/DC. On the government side we’re certified by NJ Transit and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, as well as other agencies in five states.
“I have two people who spend a great part of their time submitting certifications and pre-qualifications,” he adds with a smile.
Medina was never part of the 8(a) program because “We were focused more on county and state-level work. By the time I started federal work I had grown to a size where I was not
even eligible to apply.”
Keeping track of diversity
As Medina Consultants has grown, “All along the way I felt it was important to give back and mentor other firms,” Medina says. “I have been involved in informal and formal programs. Most recently we’ve been on the design team for the new mass transit tunnel, performing professional services. I also helped establish the mentor/protégée program for companies working on that design.” Some thirty-two small and disadvantaged design firms are subcontractors on the project and mentor/protégé program participants, he reports.
Since the firm has grown to be a prime consultant for NJ Transit and the NJ Turnpike Authority, “We are hiring minority and women-owned businesses to work for us,” Medina says. “We subcontract about 20 percent of our work and half of that is to small and disadvantaged businesses, so overall that’s 10 percent.”
Medina, who has long outgrown eligibility to be a member of the small business committee of the American Council of Engineering Companies, stayed on as chair to mentor and promote programs at state levels.
Work with NJ Transit
Medina began contracting with NJ Transit the same year he started his firm. The first job was as a subcontractor on the Hamilton Transit complex near Trenton, NJ. He has worked on the Hudson/Bergen Light Rail and now he’s part of the mass transit tunnel project. “You name a project that NJ transit has done and we’ve probably been there along the way: several bridges, rail line improvement projects and the light rail projects.
“In the professional field the experience you gain by working on a project is what qualifies you for the next job, and the more work you do for a particular agency, the more qualified you become. Now that we’ve gown from subcontractor to prime, we can handle the whole job!
“Although it’s not formal MBA training, I’ve learned so much from working with the executives at our clients and the large engineering companies,” Medina concludes.
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