Economic Development Projects - Economic Development Projects

ABOUT EDP

The Urban Affairs Coalition’s Economic Development Projects (EDP) acts as an independent consultant to influence wealth building policy by promoting business development and employment for minorities, women and community residents.

EDP consultants partner with project developers and owners – such as hospitals, universities, and museums – to develop Economic Opportunity Plans (EOP). Through the EOP process, EDP helps its clients award contracts to Minority, Women and Disabled Businesses (M/W/DsBE); and assists in successfully employing women, minorities, and residents of communities where projects are built.

HOW WE WORK

EDP’s economic inclusion initiatives are a catalyst that:

Increase the capacity of firms owned by minorities, women, the disabled, and local entrepreneurs
Spark innovation and opportunities for new entrepreneurs
Provide job opportunities and increase employment
Implement a company’s construction and development inclusion measures to reach expected goal

OUR SERVICES

COMPLIANCE MONITORING & REPORTING

Contract Monitoring of “Good Faith Efforts” for the participation of construction contractors

EDP will document the participation of M/W/DsBE contractors initially through contract and purchase order documents. EDP will review payments monthly to report contract performance. Site visits are used as another format to verify participation and provide an opportunity to address factors that may adversely impact economic opportunity goals. Finally, quarterly verification of payments provided for reconciliation of all participation-related information

Contract Monitoring of “Good Faith Efforts” for employment and workforce utilization

EDP recommends site visits for a project, in order to ensure the ability to verify certified payroll data which forms the basis of reporting for both workforce utilization and the participation of M/W/DsBEs. In addition, on-site inspection provides an opportunity for corrective action, if necessary.

EDP’s approach to the verification of minority and female construction employment documented on certified payrolls includes unannounced, random on-site head counts which are reconciled with the payroll documents.
EDP will participate in site construction meetings for the purpose of reviewing and resolving issues that may undermine economic opportunity goals, as necessary or required
EDP has working relationships with trade unions and will coordinate with business agents to achieve workforce goals.

Compliance Data Compilation and Reporting of “Good Faith Efforts”

To compare performance to the goals for the Project, EDP will prepare monthly reports consistent with the schedule required by the client.

Reporting Regularity- In addition to the required monthly reporting, a final report is included and it documents Project performance from beginning to the end unless another [final] milestone is advised.
The Bid/Procurement Report will verify the participation of M/W/DsBE firms monthly. EDP issues a “Contractor Status Form” which verifies contract value, cumulative payments through current billing period and is required monthly along with certified payroll documents. The information is reported monthly and verified quarterly through a soft audit process.
The Workforce Report will verify the onsite workforce participation of minorities and females. In addition to the database input of information received on certified payroll documents, EDP reviews the information for irregularities and/or mistakes and works directly with document owners (contractors) to cure any issues that may impact the quality of the data and the resulting Workforce Report.

INCLUSION SERVICES

Oversight Committee Advisory and Support Services

At the adoption of an Economic Opportunity Plan (EOP), EDP staff will coordinate with your companies executive management team to implement an EOP monitoring and reporting process to inform and support the EOP Committee’s oversight of the project. EDP will also provide supporting advisory assistance as needed to facilitate oversight meetings and processes. EDP will assist the executive management team with Committee oversight dynamics of:

Size – appropriate number of members in respect to complexity and duration of project
Stakeholders – ensuring key stakeholders are represented
External Relations – EDP will advise and assist the Client concerning external inquiries and communications regarding the EOP to facilitate effective oversight and committee advancement of the EOP and Diversity & Inclusion goals.

Pre-Construction services

During the Pre-Construction and Design Phase of a project EDP will assist Clients by:

Researching the marketplace to identify and increase the opportunities for professional services for the minority, women and local business community
Assist Client with onboarding a diverse team to design and implement construction phase
Coordinate and assist in establishing the Diversity & Inclusion culture in team planning
Consult on developing solutions to meet regulatory and other stakeholder issues on matters of Diversity, Inclusion, and various community impact in both the business and employment sectors

Construction Phase Services

EDP is a full-service economic opportunity consulting service. EDP provides economic opportunity planning, technical assistance, outreach, monitoring, data services, special reporting and technology services, and testimony. UAC regularly provides advisory and compliance monitoring services to large, high profile projects. EDP will directly assist the Client team to engage and implement Requests For Proposals (RFP) and/or Economic Opportunity Plan (EOP). EDP’s compliance monitoring services focus on supporting the public sector standard EOP requirements.

Additional services are available to assist clients with strategies to increase inclusion in the opportunities to bid for contractor businesses certified as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE), and/or Disabled Business Enterprise (DsBE) as indicated in the EOP (Collectively, these businesses are identified as M/W/DsBE.) The services also include verifying and documenting the participation of M/W/DsBE’s. Including the verification and documentation of construction employment or workforce utilization of trade workers who are residents in the targeted City and surrounding region, minorities, and women.

EOP ADVISORY & SUPPORT

Overview

Creating a corporate Diversity & Inclusion/Economic Opportunity Plan
Reviewing corporate Diversity & Inclusion plan for administrative practices to ensure maximum economic impact
Recommend strategies to ensure inclusion in procurement, professional services, real-estate development, construction and operations
Working with Client to develop a pipeline process for small firms and contractors to enable them to transition to prime vendor/contractor status for selected services, which results in a “qualified vendor” list
identifying and providing outreach services for local area minorities and females as employees and site workforce participants
Creating a SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) that staff can implement

OUR FEATURED PROJECTS

Philadelphia Museum of Art

“(UAC’s) knowledge and attention to detail have aided in keeping our company on track during the recent shutdowns and throughout the project... They are not only thorough but also easy to work with and always willing to take the time to discuss our concerns and respond to questions.”

University of Pennsylvania

“As a major university Penn looks to be a leader in championing best practices in this field, to this end UAC has been a trusted partner. They are not only professional, (they) have institutional stability and also a pleasure to work with. With Philadelphia's current emphasis on focus on Diversity and Inclusion matters, the UAC's experience and ability to manage multiple large, projects will prove to be a valuable asset to your development team.”

Comcast

“They (UAC) were valuable during both the development of the Comcast Center and more recently when we constructed the Comcast Technology Center and Four Seasons Hotel. Their knowledge and expertise helped our company exceed our goals and commitments to diversity and inclusion and economic impact.”