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Small business wins big contract USAID awards Trigon Associates a $600 million contract to advance infrastructure in developing countries. P R O F I L E
advice to participating host government entities and regulatory bodies in overall institutional and infrastructure development including, but not lim- ited to, policy, legal, regulatory, financial and com- mercial development and reform, feasibility stud- ies, design and construction supervision, equip- ment and commodities provision, human resource development and training, operations and mainte- nance improvements, and private sector participa- tion. The assistance will be planned and implemented in coordination with other donors, national, pro- vincial, and local governments, NGOs, communi- ty groups, and private and public enterprises as re- quired. Although the specific projects have not been shared by USAID to date, the projects under this contract will support the engineering aspects of USAID fo- cus sectors, such as: Education: schools, water supply and distribution systems, wastewater collection and disposal, infor- mation communication technology, power supplies Environment and global climate change: hydro- electric dams and storage reservoirs, green buildings and sustainable construction, power station sys- tems, power generation from alternative sources Health: hospitals, clinics, solid waste and medical waste collection, recycling and disposal Water and sanitation: water resource manage- ment, urban and rural water systems, drinking water “We anticipate hiring more staff, especially in the host countries that we will be working, in support of USAID’s goal of building local capacity. We also believe this contract will open up more teaming opportunities with other firms in the future due to the visibility it will give Trigon in the federal contracting and international development arenas.”
By LIISA ANDREASSEN
Correspondent S mall but mighty Trigon Associates (New Or- leans, LA) – a 7-year-old, 80-person, woman- owned business that offers professional full-service engineering, consulting, and management services to both public and private sector clients – was re- cently awarded a $600 million U.S. Agency for In- ternational Development global architect-engineer services contract. The USAID is a U.S. foreign assistance program that provides economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide. Trigon will pro- vide A/E services that include design, construction supervision, and related support on both short- and long-term services for infrastructure projects involving water resources, water supply, wastewa- ter, utilities, environmental, transportation, and facilities to develop vitally important infrastruc- ture in developing countries. KEYS TO LANDING THE CONTRACT. Lisa Cookmeyer, Trigon’s CEO, says that while being a woman-owned small business was helpful in getting this contract, it’s not the primary reason, as many other small busi- nesses also pursued the contract. “We consider our small business designation as an added value to clients over and above our capabili- ties,” Cookmeyer says. “Trigon is honored to have been selected by USAID for this important con- tract, and we look forward to supporting USAID in its goal to provide institutional and infrastruc- ture development via this effort, building upon our successful projects with USAID over the past five years.” Cookmeyer says it’s really their past performance with the USAID that led to this contract, coupled with their demonstrated ability to recruit and develop local talent with support from global ex- perts in order to build the best team to successfully deliver the services needed. Trigon also developed a strategic teaming plan to identify firms they included as proposed subcon- tractors to Trigon, which would allow them to re- alistically perform just about any type and size of project in any location around the world. Overall, the process for this pursuit took just over two years. PROJECTED SUPPORT AND SERVICES. The services to be provided include broad technical support and
Lisa Cookmeyer, CEO, Trigon Associates.
See TRIGON, page 8
THE ZWEIG LETTER DECEMBER 14, 2015, ISSUE 1131
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