Tompkins Weekly

Women and minority-owned businesses: Chiang O’Brien



By Jamie Swinnerton
Tompkins Weekly

 

In an effort to level the playing field when it comes to which businesses are awarded state contracts, businesses that meet the rigorous requirements can become certified as Women and Minority-Owned Business Enterprises. Local architecture firm Chiang O’Brien has been certified as both a women and minority-owned business since 2014, after officially opening their doors in the summer of 2012.

“We went into it with the intention of becoming certified,” said Grace Chiang, co-founder, and President of the company.

But before a business can even apply for certification it is required to have been in operation for one full year. In July of 2013 Chiang O’Brien turned in all the paperwork needed for the certification, but it wasn’t until close to six months later that they were certified. From what she’s heard from other certified owners, Chiang said six months was actually a pretty quick turnaround.

It’s possible locals will recognize a lot of the firm’s work. On the Cornell campus it was Chiang O’Brien that designed the Cornell Health building on central campus, the Engaged Cornell hub, the Olin Library renovations, the facility expansion at Kendal at Ithaca, the new clinic and offices for Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes, and the Robert B. Tallman Rowing Center in the Cayuga Inlet, to name a few.

“The primary benefits are that we have state contracts,” Chiang said. “Almost all of our business is in higher education and so we do a lot of work in the SUNY system and so any state contracts have a prescribed MWB requirement, and it’s quite high.”

The requirement, Chiang said, is 15 percent women-owned, 15 percent minority-owned. Within the past couple of years, there has also been a requirement of six percent disabled veteran-owned businesses. The firm typically runs as the primary consultant when applying for state contracts, but also use a team of subcontractors. When applying, depending on who the firm works with it can raise their women-owned, minority-owned, or disabled veteran-owned business percentages to be a more competitive application. Chiang O’Brien is both a women and minority-owned certified business and can choose which certification to apply to each project.

“We can’t use our M and our W at the same time,” Chiang said. “By being M and W, number one, it gives us a lot of flexibility because depending on who our sub-consultants are we can flip-flop to fulfill the one that we can’t fulfill with our sub-consultants. That was probably the driving force, it’s a business reason, to do that, to be able to do the state work. It’s really tough fulfilling those percentages.”

But these percentages, Chiang said, aren’t supposed to be just the bar. Applications meeting the bare minimum of the requirements may not be as likely to get state contracts compared to applications that work to exceed the required percentages. Chiang O’Brien just signed a $30 million contract for a new SUNY project after submitting their application with 99 percent women, minority-owned, and disabled veteran-owned businesses.

“We have some contracts where we are at 99 percent of those three types of firms,” Chiang said. The firm often works with another local business, Trowbridge Wolf Michaels Landscape Architects, which is a certified women-owned business. “I think it’s also really great that we’re supporting this whole diversity issue in our profession because both women and minorities are really underrepresented in our profession.”

When Chiang started in architecture almost 30 years ago she said she was often the only woman in the office. As she gained more experience, if there was another woman in the office she was likely to be entry-level. Women in decision making roles at architecture firms are not the norm. According to the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, in 2016 only 36 percent of newly licensed architects were women, and 15 percent of new architects identified as non-white.

To an extent, Chiang said she thinks that having to fulfill those percentages when competing for state contracts has helped her work with other businesses that her firm may not have otherwise.

“We have definitely connected with firms that we hadn’t prior looked at or talked to,” she said.

The requirements for certification for a business enterprise include being at least 51 percent owned by a woman (or women) or a minority, as defined by the state, who is a permanent resident of the United States. The ownership must be real and verifiable, the person claiming to own the majority of the business must “exercise the authority to control the day-to-day business decisions.” Along with this restriction, there are personal net-worth restrictions for the owners who cannot have a personal net worth over $3.5 million after allowable deductions. They must also be a small business, not employing over 300 people. There is a recertification process every three years.

Back in 2013, Chiang O’Brien went through the application process without any help or consultation. Now, the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce has gathered tools and resources to help local businesses go through the tedious, bureaucratic process to become licensed.

“Understand all the rules and regulations,” is Chiang’s advice to any other businesses thinking of becoming certified. “It’s very regulated, there’s no forgiveness, you just have to do everything they ask for. So, if you’re interested I would say get familiar with all the regulations up front.”

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