“The CBMP has proven to be a very rewarding experience for HDR. The cohorts we have participated in have significantly enhanced our understanding of the challenges small and diverse businesses face in the transportation industry. Additionally, they have allowed us to cultivate stronger, more effective relationships with new partners, built on a foundation of trust and mutual respect. The two-year structure of the program has been especially valuable, allowing us the necessary time to establish these relationships before advancing to collaborative projects.

“For cohort 6, we were paired with Integrated Design Engineers, a small structural engineering firm that was seeking to expand its portfolio within the transportation industry. Through our collaboration with IDE, we have contributed meaningfully to their business development, achieving tangible outcomes that both of our firms are proud of. This partnership has not only provided valuable insights into how we can better support small businesses throughout the lifecycle of a project, but it has also strengthened our technical capabilities by adding IDE as a new partner specializing in facility and station structural engineering.

“Our partnership with IDE has flourished during the program and continues to grow beyond it. We recently secured our first project together, the King County Wastewater Treatment Division’s Offsite Program Engineering Services contract. Additionally, we are working to bring IDE onto an existing Sound Transit contract held by HDR, as we are in the process of scoping and negotiating the initiation of a new project phase. We also are engaging IDE on an upcoming pursuit that HDR is priming for one of Sound Transit’s Multiple Award Task Order Contracting projects.

Brett Pool, HDR Engineering, Inc. (mentor firm)