Illinois Tollway Introduces New Opportunities For Small Businesses Through Its Job Order Contracting Program
The Illinois Tollway is creating new opportunities for small businesses to work on Tollway projects through its Job Order Contracting (JOC) Program – work related to electrical, flooring, HVAC, masonry, plumbing, roofing and other general construction projects at Tollway facilities throughout Northern Illinois.
“The new Small Business Initiative JOC for General Construction opens doors for more small companies to gain valuable experience working on Tollway projects,” said Illinois Tollway Acting Chief of Diversity and Strategic Development Marlene Vick. “These opportunities are a crucial step in helping small businesses grow, create jobs and stimulate economic growth in their local communities.”
The JOC Program is a project delivery method that enables the Illinois Tollway to complete a high volume of facility repairs and individual construction projects with a single, competitively bid contract, eliminating the time and expense of the typical design-bid-construct cycle for each project. The program includes JOC for General and Mechanical Construction, JOC for Roadway Services and Small Business JOC for General Construction.
General contractors bid competitively from a catalog of construction tasks with pre-set unit prices based on the regional market. In most cases, the JOC general contractors rely on subcontractors to perform tasks related to each project.
The JOC Program allows the Illinois Tollway to decrease project duration and cost, while increasing quality and maintaining a strong presence in the local construction community. At the same time, it allows the Tollway to further expand its network of firms available to work on Tollway projects. Under the previous JOC Program, the Tollway welcomed more than 150 subcontractors that were new to the Tollway.
The recent networking event introduced the new Small Business Initiative JOC and the general contractor to representatives of nearly 50 small businesses – those with annual gross revenues of $14 million or less – already registered with the Tollway’s Small Business Initiative. It also offered guidance to firms interested in joining the program and provided insights into the Tollway’s Technical Assistance Program and other resources to help small businesses thrive in the competitive construction industry.
The Small Business Initiative JOC provides opportunities for small businesses to partner with larger, established firms. These partnerships provide continuous training and support, helping small businesses gain skills needed to take on future projects with the Tollway or other agencies.
The Small Business Initiative JOC is valued at approximately $6.6 million over three years. It is designed to increase opportunities for small businesses by capping job order values at $100,000. In the past seven years, approximately 80 percent of the more than 1,000 tasks completed through the Tollway’s JOC Program were valued at less than $100,000. Work is divided into four geographic facilities zones to provide more opportunities for local small businesses.
“This new initiative helps level the playing field by allowing more small businesses to compete for these contracts,” said Illinois Tollway Chief of Facilities and Fleet Dave Donovan.
Small businesses interested in the JOB Small Business Initiative can find more information here.