Road to success: Cleveland minority-owned firms awarded major ODOT EV contract

Posted by: Laura DeMarco on Thursday, August 10, 2023

 

The Ohio MBDA was key in the deal

 

"Opportunities such as this don’t come by often for companies like ours. Minority contractors face many roadblocks."

So says Ike Samson-Akpan, Sr., President, and founder of SAF, Inc., construction company.

This summer, however, SAF and fellow minority-owned contractor Alternalite Electric, founded by Jose and Trudy Ramos, knocked these roadblocks down – with the help of the Ohio Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), located at Greater Cleveland Partnership.

The two Greater Cleveland companies were awarded a $3.5M contract from NOACA and ODOT to install EV charging stations across Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina counties. The project consists of the design and installation of level 2 and level 3 DCFC electrical vehicle charging stations, and related work, at forty-seven sites.

The contracts have just been signed, and work is expected to begin in the fall, with completion by the end of 2024.

SAF, a general construction company based in Akron, has offices in Virgina, Tennessee and Kentucky. It was founded by Samson-Akpan, an immigrant from Nigeria, in 2007 – after years of working for various engineering and construction companies where he gained valuable knowledge and understanding of construction processes.

Until now, Samson-Akpan has chosen to focus on federal projects, where he felt there were fewer obstacles.

“There were less roadblocks, and I was able to build a reputation. Now I'm trying to get back into the local market, to let my reputation work for itself.”

A COVID slowdown, and a recommendation from a friend, brought him to the MBDA. "Chasing jobs on the federal market took a lot of time and effort before COVID. Thus, once COVID hit and changed the way that many people were working, it made things even tougher for us," he says.

"MBDA became one of the resources that could connect me to the right places to help find opportunities. And, actually, this particular opportunity was sent to me by MBDA."

Jose and Trudy Ramos founded Alternalite in 2011. He is a journeyman electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 38 union, and holds an Ohio Electrical Contractor’s license. He has also completed various training programs to be a Certified Electric Vehicle Charging Station Installer. Trudy is the company President and CEO, and holds a Master’s in Business Administration.

At first, Alternalite pursued a broad range of electrical projects, but working with the MBDA convinced them to focus on one area: EVs.

Working with [Ohio MBDA State Director Marco Grgurevic] really convinced us to focus on our passion. He said, ‘why not just increase your activity in the EV charging space?’ So that's what we started to do.”

The Ohio MBDA played a significant role in the NOACA-ODOT contract. It began by connecting the firms: SAF and subcontractor Alternalite had not worked together before. Beyond that, the center assisted with the RFP process – it was reissued twice, leading SAF to have to resubmit twice.  Business Advisor Andrea Boyd also advocated for the firms with NOACA.  It wasn’t easy -- but ultimately, their bid was successful.

“This is a story of MBEs who chose not to give up on a project they wanted and a business center that chose to advocate on behalf of their clients.  What you truly want in life is not always easy and may come with challenges and unexpected hurdles,” says Boyd.

MBDA leveled the playing field, explains Samson-Akpan, who currently has 34 employees at SAF.

“I'll be honest with you, I was kind of shocked when we got selected because businesses of our size, and minority-owned businesses, don’t have all the connections. It’s not always fair.”

The opportunity presented by MBDA can help business push through barriers, he says. “All we ask for is that opportunity.”

Trudy Ramos says Alternalite faced similar challenges.

"When we started, we said ‘we’re very competent and capable and we have all these impressive credentials.  The icing on the cake is that we are a certified minority, female-owned business.’

“We really thought it was going to be easier to get work and grow the business.  But it was hard to get a real opportunity. There were times where we would submit a quote to a general contractor for a project and even if we were the low bid, we still wouldn't get the job, probably since we were new and minority and it was kind of like, ‘how are we going to trust that they really knew how to estimate this job? We don't want to have a problem. It's better to go with a company that we already know.’”

The MBDA helped change the narrative.

“It took us toa whole different level because they always made sure that we had the information we needed.  And Marco would speak to people about us, he focused a great deal on our character. He would say, ‘they’re doing amazing things. You really need to meet them.’ And so, people would come to the table, ‘you guys are legit. You know, I heard great things about you. I really want to see how we can all work together.’”

Both companies are excited about the doors the high-profile NOACA-ODOT installation project will open.

“We knew we just had to keep trying to win this project because if this were to come to fruition, it would be a game changer,” says Trudy Ramos; Alternalite is already expanding their staff of 5.

Add Samson-Alpan, “All we ask is ‘give us an even playing field and let's compete."

Pictured above, from left: Jose Ramos, Trudy Ramos, MBDA's Andrea Boyd and Ike Sampson-Akpan, Sr.

Learn More

Minority Business Development Agency (mbda.gov)

NOACA Offices | Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency

Ohio Department of Transportation | Ohio.gov

Greater Cleveland Partnership’s All In vision for a Great Region on a Great Lake has five key priorities: Dynamic Business, Abundant Talent, Inclusive Opportunity, Appealing Community and Business Confidence. All of our work ties back to these values. This story relates to Dynamic Business and Inclusive Opportunity.

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