On behalf of the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority (“AFCRA”), Philips Arena, Turner Construction and the Arena Joint Venture team (“AJV”), Griffin & Strong, P.C. (“GSPC”) would like to welcome you to the Philips Arena/AFCRA EBO Bulletin.
Our responsibility as Equal Business Opportunity (“EBO”) consultant is to assist AFCRA and AJV in assuring the participation of minority and female owned businesses in the renovation of Philips Arena. GSPC will circulate this Bulletin to present information about subcontracting opportunities on the renovation project, vendor spotlights, and outreach events
The Bulletin will be circulated periodically to City of Atlanta Certified Minority and Female Business Enterprise vendors.
Painting Company Revels in Arena Contract
Edwards Painting & Contracting, Inc., was founded more than 20 years ago to capitalize on a growing home improvement market. Company president Eddie Cummings leads the City of Atlanta certified Minority-owned Business Enterprise (MBE) and its 10 staff members in an increasing number of high-profile projects, including work on Phase I of the renovation of Philips Arena.
The Mississippi native graduated from DeVry University in 1994 with a degree in Business Operations, and moved to Atlanta looking to follow in his older brother’s footsteps of becoming an entrepreneur. From the beginning, Cummings had a simple plan.
“Painting was a good idea because people were either building new or renovating their existing homes and businesses,” he said. “There was always something needing to be painted.”
That philosophy held true, even through a national home-buying slump and a recession that began in 2009. Cummings’ crew found work painting barracks at Fort Benning in Columbus, and tackling projects for MARTA, the Georgia Department of Transportation, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, a number of school districts, and other government buildings around the state.
When Phase I of the Philips Arena renovation was underway, Cummings said sub-prime contractor Paint Doctor reached out to him. Because of its certification with the City, Edwards Painting & Contracting was an attractive asset to a prime contractor required to outsource a percentage of its labor to a Minority Business Enterprise.
Cummings assigned three staffers to cover 200 hours of labor, including painting ceilings in eight arena suites, sealing the new concrete floor, painting temporary walls and partitions, and painting yellow safety stripes on all of the stairs that lead to arena seating.
After having successfully completed Phase I, Cummings said he is proud to have been able to leave his mark on the facility. He also said he anticipates a significant boost to his company’s reputation, particularly as he bids on larger projects in the area.
“I can look back and point to the work we did as a reference,” Cummings said. “We take pride in everything we do, and we did good work on this project.”
Cumming said that opportunities for smaller, disadvantaged vendors to participate in high-level projects like the Philips Arena renovation go a long way toward bolstering Atlanta’s MBE and DBE communities.
“It’s a tremendous help,” he said of the Equal Business Opportunity project. “By having those EBO participation projects out there, it gives minority business owners a proven track record that we’ve done this type of work and can be successful going forward.”
Phase II & III Subcontracting Opportunities
Subcontracting opportunities remain on Phase II and III of the redevelopment for City of Atlanta certified M/FBE businesses in the following trades. Interested vendors for the following trades may initiate direct contact with the sub-primes listed below to inquire about available scopes:
Electrical
ISU Electric
Connor Maltsberger
Project Manager | Inglett & Stubbs, LLC.
Cell: 404.719.9085
cmaltsberger@inglett-stubbs.com
Video Display
Prismview
Chris Olinger
Director of Sports Sales
Cell: 1-435-213-0078
colinger@prismview.com
HVAC
Batchelor & Kimball, Inc.
Gordon Dunn
2227 Plunkett Road, Conyers, GA 30012
Cell: 678.346.8748
gordon@bkimechanical.com
Structural Steel
SteelFab, Inc.
Jason Romine
5448 Spalding Drive, Bldg. 200, Norcross, GA 30092
C 770-714-0213
jromine@steelfab-inc.com
Drywall
ANNING-JOHNSON COMPANY
Tommy Ferrara
Project Manager
1901 MacArthur Blvd NW, Atlanta, GA 30318
M: (703) 282-7787
tferrara@anningjohnson.com
For additional questions and concerns, feel free to reach GSPC via email at philipsarena@gspclaw.com or Community Engagement Coordinator, Sterling Johnson, at sterling@gspclaw.com
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