Connect2DOT Engineering & Professional Services Training Series (6 sessions)

Description:

Join CDOT's Connect2DOT program and the Aurora-South Metro SBDC for this weekly six-part webinar series led by experts in the industry who will share their insights and wisdom. These workshops are designed specifically for engineers and professional services consultants working on transportation and infrastructure projects in Colorado. All sessions are on Tuesday starting at 9AM.

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Cost: The complete six-part series is @ $125 total. Click on the individual titles below to sign up for specific live webinars @ $25 each. If you can't attend on the specific date/time, you can still register to receive the link to the recording after the live session. Connect2DOT has a limited number of scholarships for small and disadvantaged businesses. Contact cathy.kramer@state.co.us for more information. (The SBDC has a no-refund policy unless we cancel the class.)

• May 23: Keys to Growing a Successful Transportation Consulting Firm
• May 30: Successful Marketing Strategies for Professional Services Firms
• June 06: Understanding FAR-compliant Rates and Indirect Costs (IDC)
• June 13: CDOT Prequalification & Master Pricing Agreements
• June 20: Leveraging CDOT NPS (On-Call) Contracts to Win More Work
• June 27: Creating Winning Proposals & Mastering CDOT Evaluations

Following are the details for each webinar in the series:

1. Keys To Growing a Successful Transportation Consulting Firm
May 23, 9AM - 11AM
Click here to register for this webinar only @ $25

Starting and growing your consulting firm is full of risks and rewards. You likely started your career as an engineer or other working professional. Now you are a business owner, and must shift your mindset. Maybe you were a savvy business person that knew exactly what to do. Or perhaps you are like most of us – doing the best you can and learning as you go.

Join us for the kick-off session of the Connect2DOT Engineering Training Series and get wisdom and insights from Melissa Rosas, President of Apex Design, a CONSOR Company. She will share her experience growing Apex Design to a full-service transportation solutions firm with more than 55 people and eventually positioning it to be purchased by CONSOR, a national transportation engineering firm. Come ask the hard questions and find out what she’s learned along the way.

What You'll Learn:

• Demonstrating value to primes and owners
• Maintaining relationships and building a network
• Identifying opportunities
• Winning work
• Focusing on the highest and best use of your time
• Investing in your business and optimizing it
• Knowing when, who, and how to hire

2. Successful Marketing Strategies for Professional Services Firms
May 30, 9AM - 10AM
Click here to register for this webinar only @ $25

Do you want to know what makes prime consultants and owners want to work with you? It’s the secret sauce for getting on teams and building long-term relationships. This webinar will provide insider tips and successful strategies, as well as common mistakes, for marketing your professional services firm to larger firms vying for CDOT and other government engineering-related work. You'll get perspectives from both a large prime consultant and a successful DBE firm who know the ropes. Join Stephen Pouliot, Vice President at Michael Baker International, and Jerry Mugg, P.E., Vice President at HG Consult, for tips to elevate your business development efforts.

What You'll Learn:

• How to make a great first impression and stand out from the competition
• Best practices for networking and relationship building
• Which marketing tactics work…and which don’t
• Getting on team and in proposals
• Why and why not go exclusive

3. Understanding FAR-compliant Rates and Indirect Costs (IDC)
June 6, 9AM - 11AM
Click here to register for this webinar only @ $25

If you’re new to government contracting or want to increase your firm’s profitability, this workshop will help you better understand how the government evaluates and approves your hourly rates. It is critical that you know what goes into your cost pools and how to maximize your indirect cost rates for a greater multiplier. Dan Markham and Jennifer Clippinger, with Markham & Associates PC, will show you how FAR-compliant rates are calculated, the difference between allowable and unallowable costs, how a firm’s policies affect their indirect cost rate, and how to ensure your government projects are profitable. You’ll also learn how to account for PPP loans and forgiveness so your rates don’t take a hit.

What You'll Learn:

• How to calculate FAR-compliant indirect cost rates for government contracting
• How to create business and accounting policies that maximize your IDC
• The difference between allowable and unallowable costs
• The effect that tax planning has on the indirect rate
• Examples about how your policies can affect your indirect rate
• Proper accounting for PPP loans and forgiveness

4. CDOT Prequalification & Master Pricing Agreements
June 13, 9AM - 10:30AM
Click here to register for this webinar only @ $25

Get prequalified and instantly become eligible to team and contract with CDOT! This webinar will help you understand CDOT’s Technical and Financial prequalification process for professional services consultants (e.g., engineering, surveying, environmental, construction management, etc.). ALL professional services consultants, both prime and sub, MUST be prequalified to work on any CDOT Project-Specific or Non-Project Specific task orders. You’ll learn how to complete Form 1058 and submit the necessary documents in the the B2G System. You’ll also learn the steps and requirements for obtaining a Master Price Agreement (MPA) to be financially prequalified and eligible for consultant contracts and task orders.

What You'll Learn:

• Difference between "Consultants" and "Vendors"
• CDOT requirements for technical and financial prequalification
• Navigating the prequalification form in B2G
• Completing the prequalification application and CDOT Form 1058
• Process and documentation required to obtain a Master Price Agreement (MPA)
• Common mistakes and tips for submitting the correct information to CDOT

5. Leveraging CDOT NPS (On-Call) Contracts to Win More Work
June 20, 9AM - 10:30AM
Click here to register for this webinar only @ $25

Do you know about CDOT Non-Project Specific (NPS) Contracts? These are 5-year on-call contracts for various professional services that are used frequently by all CDOT Regions across the state. They may be limited to specific regions or available to use by CDOT Engineers statewide. Once awarded, CDOT can use this contract to issue task orders to contract-holders without going through a full competitive proposal process. Getting on an NPS contract significantly increases your chances for working on CDOT design-related projects. You'll learn the ins and outs from Brad Doyle, Project Director for Atkins, and Michelle Hansen, Sr. Transportation Engineer with Stolfus & Associates who have both worked on several CDOT NPS contracts and continue to grow their practice through ongoing task orders.

What You'll Learn:

• The types and timing of CDOT NPS contracts
• How to get on proposal pursuit teams
• How to get added to existing NPS contracts
• If and when you should go after an NPS as a prime consultant
• How to market your NPS contract (as a prime or sub) to CDOT Engineers

6. Creating Winning Proposals & Mastering CDOT Evaluations
June 27, 9AM - 11AM
Click here to register for this webinar only @ $25

For consultants, proposal writing is a way of life. Some firms excel at this while others just "get by." When you're competing based solely upon qualifications, the quality of proposal and how you set your firm apart from the competition can mean the difference between first and second place. This webinar will give you tips on navigating the Professional Services proposal lifecycle from finding RFPs and teaming to learn what CDOT looks for in a proposal and what to ask for in a debrief. Get an "external" perspective on teaming and writing winning proposals, as well as an "internal" perspective from Pehle Colletta, Professional Services Contracts Manager with CDOT’s Engineering Contracts Division, about how CDOT evaluates proposals using Qualifications Based Selection (QBS). This will help you put your best foot forward in a highly competitive environment.

What You'll Learn:

• Finding RFP's and identifying key information
• Making go/no go decisions
• Crafting a proposal response
• Understanding what makes a proposal compelling and dynamic
• Submitting your proposal
• What CDOT reviewers are looking for and how they evaluate and score proposals
• Common mistakes that take proposals out of the running
• Best practices of winning proposers