Excavating firm digs into roadway projects with help from Illinois Tollway Technical Assistance Program
Looking for a new career path while working for a large consulting firm, Deepi Ahuja saw an opportunity to take a different road that led her back to her roots in the construction industry.
Already an engineer, Ahuja—whose family has owned a construction company for decades--started her own construction business in 2018 to fill a specialized niche: Doing excavating work and installing underground water and sewer lines.
“I was looking to shift gears and try something different,” Ahuja recalled. “A lot of my background was in construction, so that’s the direction I went. You get to problem solve and then see things come to life—it’s exciting.”
Four years later, her growing business, Enlight Contracting, is working on a $2.2 million Illinois Tollway contract to install 20-inch diameter water mains under the Mile Long Bridge on the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294). That work, part of a project to provide an emergency water supply to the bridge to deal with roadway incidents, is scheduled to be completed this year.
The contract, her third with the Tollway as a prime contractor, is the biggest to date awarded to her firm, which currently is doing work for several other transportation and governmental agencies.
Her success, Ahuja said, has been fueled partly by her decision to join the Tollway’s Technical Assistance Program, which is designed to help small, diverse firms like hers gain the knowledge and support needed to better compete for work on agency construction projects. All emerging firms are eligible to join the program, including disadvantaged, minority- and women-owned business enterprises (D/M/WBE) veteran-owned small businesses (VOSB) and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB).
The program is benefitting her company, Ahuja said, by supporting the business operations she needs to better compete for contracts and market her firm to larger businesses looking to partner with specialized subcontractors.
“The Technical Assistance Program has given me many resources to work with,” Ahuja said. “I’ve utilized their resources for bidding and project management. They’ve also helped me think about the overall structure of my company and how I can expand in marketing myself.”
After first launching her own firm, Ahuja started slowly, handling one or two projects a year, primarily focusing on excavating, grading and installing water and sewer lines.
She first joined the Tollway’s Small Business Initiative in 2020, which helps small, diverse firms find opportunities to bid for smaller Tollway contracts.
Ahuja then stepped into the Tollway’s Technical Assistance Program to obtain additional guidance and advice about growing her business by winning agency construction contracts.
“I was impressed with the knowledge they had,” she said. “It’s like hiring a consulting company to work for you for free. It’s been so helpful.”
She likes that she can go to program staffers with questions or concerns and get quick help.
“There were a couple of times where I was close to losing a project due to incomplete bid documents if I hadn’t talked to (them) and asked ‘what do I need to do to make sure everything is completed?’” she said. “That was super helpful.”
Participants in the Technical Assistance Program also can participate in training seminars to gain new management skills and have experts assess their businesses to offer suggestions on improving their operations, which Ahuja also finds beneficial.
“You’ll learn a lot about yourself, your company and you’ll learn some new tools to help you succeed,” Ahuja said. “You’ll find more opportunities and resources.”
While her business is doing well, Ahuja sees even brighter days and bigger projects ahead for her Chicago-based firm, which currently is doing work for several other transportation and government agencies.
Moving forward, she plans to continue expanding her role as a general contractor while still focusing on excavation and water-and-sewer projects.
“I want to keep steadily growing, but stay in my niche,” she said. “I definitely want to add more contracts over time and add to my team, without overextending myself.”