Blogs

Just a couple of years after they launched their new business, Mukund Kavia and Kusum Kavia could see the end coming.

Combustion Associates, Incorporated (CAI), a minority business enterprise, had opened its doors as an engineering consulting firm in Southern California in 1989. Their timing could not have been better. California Air Quality Management Districts had just passed more demanding air quality regulations. Commercial boilers of a certain size — those used to provide heat and hot water in schools, hospitals, and hotels, for example — needed to be upgraded to meet the new standards. The managers of such operations did not typically employ experts on boiler emissions. They needed help. They needed someone like Mr. Kavia.

As a result of its fortuitous timing, CAI got off to a fast start. Mr. Kavia was a Kenyan of Indian descent, and he had been educated in the United States and the United Kingdom in the field of mechanical engineering. In starting CAI, he had found a satisfying way to put his skills to work and to earn a living as an entrepreneur.

How quickly your company is back in business following a disaster will depend on emergency planning done today. The regular occurrence of natural disasters, the occasional utility and technology outages, and the potential for terrorism demonstrate the importance of being prepared for many different types of emergencies. While recognizing that each situation is unique, your business can be better prepared if it plans carefully, puts emergency procedures in place, and practices for the kinds of emergencies it could face.

There are dozens of ways to increase profits. You can cut costs, you can negotiate more aggressively, you can raise price. Perhaps, however, you want profits plus something more profound.

Try innovation.

Some companies excel at today’s business. Those companies keep the wheels of the economy turning. Other companies innovate. These are the companies that build a better economy for tomorrow and raise living standards for all.

The largest companies have mammoth resources at their disposal for innovation. And so it is, and so it should be, that the most storied innovators are always the underdogs — those working in the garage.

Your garage may be lonely, but you do not work alone. America stands behind its minority business enterprises and salutes its innovators. In particular, America honors its enterprising leaders of this generation and of generations past for their historic and continuing contribution to the America we take pride in today. To sustain its greatness, America must continue to foster innovation domestically, attract the most talented and energetic business leaders from around the world and put their skills to work in this nation.

This summer millions of business across the country were forced to close their doors in the aftermath of power outages, approaching wildfires, and flooding caused by tropical storms.  Business interruptions, even if it lasts just a few hours, cost business owners greatly in terms of lost productivity and profits.

Yesterday, MBDA National Deputy Director Alejandra Castillo wrapped-up a two day visit to California to meet first hand with the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) and prime contractors bidding to do the work. Meetings included productive conversations with Tutor Parsons Zachary Group, Skanska Shimmick and Herzog Joint Venture, and the Webcore Obayashi Joint Venture.

During these meetings, National Deputy Director Alejandra Castillo highlighted three overarching issues that must be factored in if the CHSRA and its prime contractors are going to achieve a 30 percent participation rate of Small Business/Disadvantaged Businesses for the California high speed rail project. First and foremost, is the need to develop and execute an aggressive communication and outreach plan to effectively and creatively notify potential minority-owned firms of the project, contracting opportunities and teaming arrangements. A second consideration is for the CHRA and prime contractors to create a dynamic and broad-based inventory of qualified and capable minority-owned firms. Lastly, Ms. Castillo offered to leverage the Federal government to assist with identifying minority-owned firms with experience in construction and infrastructure projects.