DENVER, CO — Furthering professional collaboration and sharing expertise, the Gannett Fleming Denver office is participating in the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) 2020 Mentor-Protégé Program.

According to the CDOT website, “By fostering professional collaborations between Emerging Small Businesses (ESBs) and more established firms, CDOT aims to ensure that ESBs seeking to build their capabilities in highway design and construction have the peer coaching and support needed for sustained success.”

Gannett Fleming and the SCE Engineering team, an identified ESB, established three goals for the first year of the program. Those goals, which will ultimately set a foundation so that SCE can navigate growth and change, are:

• Build the relationship between Gannett Fleming and SCE: Gannett Fleming’s staff will conduct several training sessions with SCE staff to increase their expertise in 3D modeling.
• Build the relationship between CDOT and SCE: Gannett Fleming staff will facilitate meetings with CDOT regional leaders and planners.
• Increase SCE’s understanding of Gannett Fleming and CDOT processes: Gannett Fleming staff is helping SCE to understand CDOT processes for proposal submission, project development, disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE)/ESB tracking, and invoicing.

Both SCE and Gannett Fleming must report progress on these goals to the CDOT Program Manager on a quarterly basis, bringing accountability to the team.

“This is an excellent opportunity for Gannett Fleming and the Denver team,” said Richard Alexander, PE, Gannett Fleming Vice President and West Roadway Business Line Manager. “As an engineering leader in the Denver area, this is an opportunity for us to share our industry knowledge for the betterment of not only another business, but our community.”