Lochner’s Commitment to Empowering Disadvantaged Businesses in Transportation
As a part of Lochner’s commitment to increasing opportunities for underutilized and disadvantaged businesses in the transportation industry, over the last year we have been participating in the Texas Department of Transportation’s Diverse Relationships for Informative Value Exchange (DRIVE) Program.
The DRIVE Program is an initiative aimed at promoting the involvement of emerging disadvantaged (DBE) firms in professional services contracts through a mentor-mentee relationship. Lochner has been paired with Simon Engineering to provide mentorship and knowledge sharing industry best practices, business development strategies, and business processes with the goal of building capacity to compete and deliver professional services contracts with TxDOT, other DOTs, or local governments.
In addition to the DRIVE program, Lochner actively participates in the North Texas Tollway Authority’s Relationships and Opportunities Advancing Diversity (ROAD) Program, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Mentor-Protégé Program, and less formal programs include one-on-one mentoring and management consulting support to select DBE/HUB firms, building capacity, skills, and business acumen.
Watch the video to discover more about the collaborative efforts of Luke Easterling and Nikki Simon in the DRIVE program.