DDOT and the 11th Street Bridge DBE Project Management Team to Host a Finance and Bonding Workshop on January 19

(Washington, DC) The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the 11th Street Bridge Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Project Management Team, in partnership with the US Department of Transportation Short Term Lending Program and the Surety & Fidelity Association of America, are hosting a finance and bonding workshop for small and disadvantaged businesses on Thursday, January 19 .

The session will help DDOT/WMATA-certified Disadvantaged Businesses Enterprises (DBEs) and other eligible small firms build the financial and bonding capacity needed to subcontract on federal-aid transportation projects such as the 11th Street Bridge Project.

Panel experts will outline finance and bonding requirements and participants will have an opportunity to network with bankers and bonding agents.

Information will be presented by a panel of professionals that includes:

• Michael Youngblot, Vice President, National Surety Practice, M&T Bank
• Robert Carpenter, Loan Specialist, Small Business Administration
• Nancy Strine, Manager, Financial Assistance Division, Department of Transportation, OSDBU
• Sharon Zimmerman, Commercial Loan Officer, Industrial Bank
• Joshua Etemadi, Surety Bond Producer, Construction Bonds Inc.
• Katrina Simkins, Senior Vice President, National Insurance Consultants Inc.
• Loretta Fuller, CEO, Insurance Solutions Associates
• Peter Gibbs, Deputy Director, Small Business Administration, Surety Bond Program Office

The participating resource vendors include:

• Mid-Atlantic Region Small Business Transportation Resource Center (SBTRC)/OSDBU
• Capital Bank
• Access National Bank, SBA
• Signal Bank
• Capital Bank
• Industrial Bank

WORKSHOP DETAILS:

What	Finance and Bonding Workshop
When	Thursday, January 19, 2012 1 pm – 5 pm
Where	District Department of Transportation 55 M Street, SE, Room 439 A/B Metro Green Line (Navy Yard Station)

The event is free and open to the public. To attend, please RSVP at eleventhstbridge.eventbrite.com .

Questions about the DBE Supportive Services Program may be directed to Linda Fennell at the DDOT Business Opportunity and Workforce Development Center at (202) 645-8620 or Linda.Fennell@dc.gov.

About the 11th Street Bridge: Projected to serve almost 180,000 vehicles per day by 2030, the existing bridges lack connections to allow travel directly from southbound DC 295/Anacostia Freeway to the Southeast-Southwest Freeway or from the Southeast-Southwest Freeway to northbound DC 295. The two new freeway bridges will provide these connections. The third bridge will carry local traffic between city streets on both sides of the river and provide additional connections to both directions of DC 295. The project is the largest ever constructed by DDOT and is the first river bridge replacement in the District in more than 40 years.

DDOT is committed to ensuring that no person is excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, its projects, programs, and services on the basis of race, color, national origin, or gender, as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or on the basis of disability as provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

If you need special accommodations or language assistance services (translation or interpretation) please contact Linda Fennell at (202) 645-8620 or Linda.Fennell@dc.gov in advance of the meeting. These services will be provided free of charge.