New Iowa DOT program provides opportunities for small businesses

AMES, Iowa – Dec. 14, 2009 – Doing business with a large state agency like the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) can be overwhelming to small business owners. In an effort to include more Iowa companies in state contracts, the Iowa DOT’s Jan. 20, 2010, bid letting will include the first of nearly two dozen small business development contracts.

The first small business development contract will be for tree removal and brush clearing from the right of way on Interstate 35 in Decatur and Clarke counties. Roger Bierbaum, director of the Iowa DOT’s Office of Contracts, said, “The new program will create small contracts of less than $100,000 for projects that require little or no specialized equipment. The first project, as an example, can be done with only a chainsaw and a truck.”

For a company to qualify for bidding on a small business development contract, it must meet the definition of a small business found in Iowa Code section 15.102(6): “any enterprise located in this state, which is operated for profit and under a single management, and which has either fewer than 20 employees or an annual gross income of less than $4 million computed as the average of the three preceding fiscal years.” There are no ethnic or gender requirements.

Bid lettings are typically held the third Tuesday of every month, except for the January letting, which will be held the third Wednesday due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Over the next four months, the Iowa DOT has targeted three small business development contracts in each of the agency’s six districts. In addition to tree removal, other projects could include pavement patching, joint sealing, sidewalk repair, replacing culvert aprons, and  pavement painting. All projects will be on the interstate or Primary Highway System.

Although performing Iowa DOT contracts entails some paperwork, none of the projects being considered for small business development contracts involves federal funds. Therefore, there will be no predetermined wage requirements, no disadvantage business enterprise program requirements or other federal contract requirements.

The Iowa DOT will not require completion of the department’s normal prequalification form. However, contractors wanting to bid on the small business development contracts will have to complete the Small Business Certification form in which the contractor must certify that they meet the Iowa Code definition of a small business.

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For more information on the Small Business Development Contracts Program, log on to www.iowadot.gov or contact Roger Bierbaum, director of the Office of Contracts at 515-239-1414.