Blog #4 - Interview with VTP Project Manager - Randy Olmstead
In this Blog, we discuss with Project Manager, Randy Olmstead, some of the upcoming project scope opportunities, as well as what qualities VTP looks for in a subcontractor
Host: Alex Fitchmun
Alex:
Thank you for joining us today on G Line 2.0, the podcast for small and disabled veteran businesses seeking opportunities on the LA Metro G Line Bus Rapid Transit Improvement project. My name is Alex Fitchmun and I will be your host for today's episode. I along with many others are a part of a joint venture known as Valley Transit Partners or VTP for short, which includes Stacy Witbeck, Flatiron West and Modern Railway Systems. For those who are unfamiliar with the San Fernando Valley, the G Line is an existing bus route with a dedicated Corridor that extends from the North Hollywood B Line to the Chatsworth station in the northwest of the valley the G Line. BRT improvements project will improve the existing bus rapid transit system by reducing travel times and increasing safety. The project is being delivered by a progressive design build and is currently in the first phase, which means that the most significant subcontracting opportunities are still to come. You can visit our website at www.vtpjv.com for more information about staying up to date with the LA Metro G line Bus Rapid Transit Improvement project.
Alex:
So, joining us today is Randy Olmstead, project manager from Stacy and Witbeck, supporting the Valley Transit Partners joint venture on today's podcast. Randy and I will be discussing some of the upcoming project scope bidding opportunities, and what qualities VTP looks for in an exceptional subcontractor. And Randy, with you being one of the most important people here on the project, can you please tell me a little bit more about what you do and how you help support the Valley Transit Partners joint venture on the Metro G Line project?
Randy:
Yeah, thanks Alex. And thank you for all your work in coordinating this, setting this up. You’ve spent a lot of time in preparing for this and preparing for all of the podcasts. We really do… I really appreciate that and I really appreciate all the time it takes to pull these together. Now that I’m having the opportunity to do the first one for me, you mentioned that I’m one of the most important people here on the project. I definitely disagree with that, so we’ll start off with a small disagreement. I’m just one of the many team members here as part of the bigger team pulling things together.
As you mentioned, I am the project manager for Valley Transit Partners. VTP is a JV of three different companies that have come together specifically and established a joint venture. Specifically for this project, Valley Transit Partners is comprised of Stacy and Witbeck, Flatiron, and Modern Railway Systems. And we're the progressive design build contractor that came together specifically to support this team to propose on the G Line project. We’re comprised of a team of designers and subconsultants that was brought together specifically for this project.
I've been lucky to be involved on this project since the inception of VTP. Since VTP was formed, I’ve been able to be involved with that and help with the pursuing of this project and the proposal process, which started way back several years ago in 2021. As the project manager, l'm able to help support and coordinate with many of the different team members within VTP and support coordination with Metro. For example, supporting how our subcontracted design team works with our internal design team. Another example, our VTP construction experts coordinate with the designers and also ensure that our estimating team knows the schedule, knows what the project is and are able to support their coordination with Metro's estimating team. So I'm lucky to be able to help coordinate and support the teams at many different levels.
Alex:
Of course, kind of the main goal of mine is to strive and to always help build the one team mindset that the G line is comprised of just one big team all working together. Trying to set the path that all VTP our staff and our subcontractors are all the same project team with Metro, with their staff, with their consultants, and you know the various Metro departments all working as one big team. Everyone has been really great to work with since we started on the project. And with you having been here since the beginning, I'm sure that the project schedule has changed quite a bit. But as it stands right now, what does the current timeline for construction and relating bidding opportunities look like?
Randy
Yeah, that's a really good first question to jump right into and I’m sure the people that listen, that actually take the time to listen to the podcast that we put together that you've been working on and that the team have put together are really interested in this.
What does the bidding timeline and the progression of the project look like? So right now I'd say we're about halfway through our pre-construction design phase. With this being a progressive design build, the first phase of the project is just designing the project, working with Metro to come out with the design. We're currently working on the 60% design level drawings. Once we reach the 85% design level, that's when we go out and solicit the majority of our bids for the project. So, we'll be looking for the major construction subcontractors, service subcontractors, supporting subcontractors, once we hit that 85% design level. Currently, the schedule shows this 85% design being completed in May of next year. So may of 2024, so we would plan on reaching out more, having more open house type events virtual and likely in person as well, in early 2024, to help prepare for that solicitation for the bigger bidding event later in May of 2024 because this is a progressive design build as I mentioned. I know we'll have several early works packages. The majority of these early works packages will be mostly additional design scope, not subcontracting construction scopes, but there will be a few smaller construction activities that will be needed. Those will be smaller, those won't be mass solicitations going out to everybody, those will be more specialized looking for people who do work. For example, like the power company, the water company, specifically for smaller scopes of work. Currently, I think it's important to note that we have not selected construction-focused subcontractors to date. Up till now, everything up to today has really been designed preconstruction minded, so we still have a lot of work to do ahead of us as far as reaching out to all the subcontractors and choosing, selecting our subcontractors.
Alex
Great, so it sounds like much of the subcontracting work that is still available to the SBE Community is still yet to come, which is great to hear from our perspective bidders. And just as a reminder to anyone interested in the bidding and construction work, currently some of the opportunities that we have available are reinforcing steel fencing, and gates, and various types of framework. But this full list can be seen on our website at www.vtpjv.com.
Randy
And I'm glad you mentioned that, I plan to mention our website and I'll throw in our email address here in a minute. Multiple times as I mentioned earlier, we're Valley Transit Partners or VTP, and we're a joint venture, that's where the JV comes from. So anybody listening, if you can remember Valley Transit Partners Joint Venture or vtpjv.com, that'll lead you right to our website. As soon as we get more definitive information and we get closer to those dates and we confirm that the design is on those dates, we will definitely be scheduling more outreach events. And I know we'll be sending out specific dates in our newsletter, as well as posting things on our website, and as well as Metro's website to help get the word out that those events are coming, that those dates are approaching and that we're getting closer to bidding on the project.
So if you have any questions about the project, the best place to go to is vtpjv.com. Or if you have specific questions and you have something more specific you'd like to inquiry about, you can always just contact us on the website using the contact us tab and then an additional option is to just email us. If you email contact@vtpjv.com, again the same thing contact@vptjv.com, that email will go directly to us and we'll track all emails we get and we'll respond to questions that we get and provide updates via email as well.
Alex
Thank you for confirming that Randy. And speaking on those upcoming bidding opportunities, why should an subcontractor want to work with VTP? What what makes VTP such a great contractor to work for?
Randy
Yeah as I started with VTP JV, was created by three different contractors coming together to form one specific team. That team was specifically formed for this project, and we understand and really focus on the importance of pulling together the right team for a project to make sure that the that the right skill sets and expertise are brought together at the right time for the right project. And we do that with our designers, with our consultants, and our future subcontractors all trying to be part of one specialized team. Valley Transit Partners of Metro have partnered together for this first progressive design build project for Metro and we really are striving to create a progressive, proactive, design built mindset at all levels of the project, including our project team on VTP side. And I really think that we have partnered with Metro and we have adapted a project first culture, and have tried to keep the project first mindset in all of our discussions, and decisions, and project meetings. And I know and we know and VTP knows that in order for the G Line project to be to be successful, it needs to meet all the goals of the project. And one of those big goals of the project is to have SBE and DBE members as part of our team, so we are striving to find proactive qualified like-minded SBE and DBE who want to be part of this great team.
Alex
Yeah, you mentioned that this was the first progressive design build project that VTP and Metro have been a part of. What kind of challenges have come up and with this process and what has VTP done to help resolve any additional obstacles as they come up?
Randy
Yeah, we've definitely had challenges on this project just like all construction projects, big and small. Every project goes through challenges. Schedule is a maior topic for projects, you know, for all projects and it's definitely a pro a challenge for our project. We have the project requirement to be completed by the end of 2026. So a December 2026 completion time frame, which seems like it's a long way away. Knowing that we're only in 2023 now, but realizing we're only 60% through design and the design effort will continue into late next year. We're really focused on being able to start construction quickly. This will be done in a few different ways: including early works packages that I mentioned earlier, and by requesting subcontractor solicitations when the design is at the 85% level as opposed to waiting until the design was 100%, or fully issued for construction in order to get the subcontractors on board early so we're able to start construction as soon as the design's done.
We as VTP working with Metro as a project team, definitely have some flexibility in how these early works packages are sent out, the contents of the early works packages. And we have options in speeding up the design through the early works packages if we needed to speed up a specific portion of the design or a specific aspect of the design to have an early works package. Keeping this flexibility will really help us to remain on schedule as we transition from the current phase one pre-construction mode into phase two of full construction.
Alex
Yeah, that's good to know that VTP is very flexible, and I know that many people on our team have a wealth of experience to be able to overcome challenges like this that arise on the job site. Hopefully this helps any potential subcontractors feel more comfortable working with us on future work.
Randy
Yeah I agree, definitely to add to the key term there of partnership. Partnership is definitely a core value that both Stacy Witbeck and Flatiron have in our individual business plans as individual companies so it's even more important bringing them together as part of Valley Transit Partners. We know a good partner needs to be flexible. It's very much in our best interest to keep a healthy business relationship with all of our partners, including owners and subcontractors you know, all of our project partners, so we really strive to always remain flexible in all of the challenges that we talked about earlier and future challenges and decisions that need to be made on projects.
Alex
Yeah, and as for this upcoming subcontracting work, what do you typically look for in working with an exceptional subcontractor? I know that Mark Penn spoke about the types of qualifications that a subcontractor will need in our second podcast, but are there any qualities that our future subcontractors should possess to help them stand out?
Randy
Yeah you're absolutely right. Mark definitely spoke to the qualifications better than I’m prepared to, so I’m glad that you mention that. As far as qualities, there is a vast variety of qualities, very specific and general qualities. For example, we really try to find those who are experienced in the scope of work that they're bidding on. Those that have clear relatable experience in successfully completing other projects that are related in scope, we always look to make sure that the teams that we're subcontracting with have the right resources available. For example, some projects can team up with just one trucking subcontractor. Other projects, we hire a trucking manager and we team up with four or five different trucking subcontractors to help us fill all the trucking needs for the project. So understanding what resources are available really help us to make sure we know that we're bringing the right firms on, and we can be flexible in the size of resources, but we need to understand what resources are available.
We're always looking for teams that are proactive and schedule minded. We always want to try to partner with subcontractors and service providers who understand the schedule, who can follow along you know with the schedule outline and really buy into the schedule that we're all trying to achieve as one project team. Of course, a safe company is very important. We love to look for and focus on working with company firms that have incredible safety records and that always strive for safety at all levels. And I think another one I would mention here is communication skills. Even if you're not the biggest subcontractor or you're not the biggest trucking outfit or the biggest service provider, having a partner as a sub tier firm that is good at communicating, and that can communicate clearly with us, and that can communicate with us the challenges of the project to us, that can communicate their concerns, and of course their successes and the things that are going well for them really makes the project go smoother and really helps us to partner. So I think those are a few of the qualities we're looking for, obviously there's probably many more that I'm failing to come up with right now.
Alex
Yeah, that's a great list of qualities for a subcontractor to have. I think we're especially lucky to be working here in LA, where there's so much diversity and talent among the people and businesses that we work with. But with so many competitors, how do we make sure that we give each and every potential candidate a fair opportunity to be selected?
Randy
This is another really good question and similar to the last question, I may only be able to cover the tip of the iceberg on this. But as far as making sure that we have a fair selection process and how do we make sure we're giving each candidate you know a fair potential and a fair shot at understanding the project and bidding on the project, First I think we as VTP, we have the obligation to make sure we're reaching out to everyone potentially interested in the project. We have the responsibility to make sure we get the word out to all the potential bidders who are maybe interested in bidding on the G Line project. We do this in various ways of course.
Every project’s a little bit different, just like this project is. Obviously, we're doing the podcast right now, this is very new and unique to me. I’ve never heard of a contractor putting out a podcast before, in lead up to bidding opportunities, but this is definitely a good way to get the word out and this may become the normal someday. Every project might start adopting podcasts to get the word out. Of course, we as VTP will use the old-fashioned ways that many contractors are familiar with putting out ads in newspapers or trade magazines and websites to post all of our bidding opportunities. We use databases like the B2G Now database to find qualified firms. We look at Metro's list of pre-qualified firms for specific scopes to make sure we're reaching out to all of Metro's pre-qualified firms. For specific bid items, we also keep a log of everyone who reaches out to us and we send them bid invitations.
So again, a shout out back to our contact@vtpjv.com. If you haven't contacted us before, just send us a simple email or again go to our website, fill out our contact form, let us know that you're interested in the project and then you'll be attached to all of our future newsletters, which will provide more information over the coming months. We also have outreach opportunities and events.
As I mentioned earlier, we plan to hold those in early 2024 next year, where we'll invite potential bidders to learn more about the project during these outreach events. We'll listen to the needs of anybody who participates in them. Specifically, the needs of SBE and DVBE firms and make sure we're sending out packages that are bid solicitation packages, that are clear, that include the right detail to make sure we get comparable correct pricing back to us. Another great topic is the bidding RFI process. Of course, like any bidding process, we'll have the RFI option where if we send out a bid solicitation and you have questions on what is meant or what we're asking for, you'll be able to ask us. We always appreciate well-worded clear RFI’s that help us to better define what the scope is, the limitations of the scope, and just the expectations of the scope through the RFI process. I believe we can really get a better understanding on expectations of what we as VTP are looking for and what the bidder, whoever they may be, is expecting on the project. For most of our bidding and solicitation, actual nuts and bolts back and forth of sending and receiving, it'll be through a website called building connected. I know building connected is becoming more common, but it's definitely not the standard that everybody's used to. So if you haven't seen it before, I would invite everybody just to go to building connected. Just search for that in Google and you'll pull up their website. That's a website that we have used for years, and it's very successful in helping us organize communicate through the bidding process and send the information from these bidding solicitations back and forth with the potential bidders.
And of course, I feel like I'm getting a little long-winded here. We'll work with Metro throughout this entire process to make sure Metro is aware of who we're reaching out to when we're reaching out to them, what the bid solicitations look for and we'll really lean on Metro to give us their input and their past experiences to make sure this is successful as possible.
Alex
Yeah, thank you Randy. I know that was a lot to say, but I think it covers everything that we that we need to know as far as advertising. So hopefully this encourages the subcontract or our potential subcontractors to apply.
Randy
Yeah, absolutely. We really want to make sure that we reach out to anyone potentially interested. As I said up earlie, we really want to make sure that if anybody even has an interest in looking at the project or looking at the bid packages of the on the project. They know how to contact us and they know how to find those when the when the time comes so they have a fair and open opportunity for everybody to review the scope, and really for them to decide if this project is the right fit for them and if this is something that their firm, their company is interested in participating in.
Alex
Yeah and there's definitely a lot to consider and definitely a lot of work to be had in the next few months. Thank you so much Randy for joining us on our podcast today. I think I speak for everyone when I say we are eager to start construction and get to making these needed improvements on the Metro G Line. So be on the lookout through our company website and our newsletter for more up-to-date information regarding our timeline.
Randy
Yeah of course, thank you so much for having me Alex, I really have enjoyed this and appreciate again, one last time, all the work that you've done to pull these together. Thank you very much.
Alex
Of course, thank you. Thank you so much for joining us on G Line 2.0, the podcast for small and disabled veteran businesses wanting to stay in the know about the opportunities happening on the Metro G Line Bus Rapid Transit Improvement project. It was great to hear from Randy about the updates to our project, upcoming opportunities and the kind of subcontractors that we look for here at VTP. If you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe to stay up to date with project updates and interviews with guests on the Valley Transit partners team.