Blog: City Blog

City Awards Diversity Businesses Contracts, Kudos

The City's Purchasing Department held the Seventh Annual Diversity Business Enterprise (DBE) Awards Ceremony on Sept. 28, 2022, at Lakeshore Park's Marble Chapel.

This event celebrates the teamwork and successful results when departments partner with a diverse group of vendors.

The ceremony honored nine businesses for their success in helping the City meet their goals. Learn more about those businesses and the City staff members who nominated them below.

DBE Awards were also distributed to City departments and one individual staff member for their efforts. Read more about those honorees and their achievements here.

Award recipients at the Seventh Annual Diversity Business Awards, Sept. 28, 2022.

The Rising Star Award recognizes a DBE in its early years of contracting with the City that has provided outstanding service.

Julie Maxwell, Planning and Operations Manager for the Knoxville Fire Department, praised Runners Market in her nomination. She said they have been a joy to work with, and the uniformed employees have provided consistent positive feedback about their interactions. This was Runners Market's first fiscal year of doing business with KFD.

“The Knoxville Fire Department participated in the Knoxville Marathon this year, and Runners Market was right there with training tips and offering weekend group runs," Maxwell wrote. “We look forward to a long lasting and mutually beneficial relationship for many years to come!”

Andrew Pack accepting the Rising Star award for Runners Market.

The Above and Beyond Award recognizes a DBE that has gone “above and beyond” what is normally expected to help the City meet its goals.

Stormwater Engineer Charissa Oglesby nominated Bio Solutions Tennessee, which provided services to remediate pollution and habitat destruction in our urban creeks.

Over the past year, Bio Solutions successfully completed more than 15 emergency creek remediation projects, removing tons of garbage and sources of bacteria pollution. Included in the removal were bulky items like mattresses and grocery carts, which create a significant flooding risk, as was the case with recent flooding at the University Walk Apartments in Fort Sanders. These items caused clogging of stormwater infrastructure under a set of railroad tracks, resulting in property damage and a disruption of services at the apartments.

The work Bio Solutions does for the City is difficult, dangerous and dirty. However, these efforts have a direct impact on the safety, cleanliness and resilience of our urban waterways. Residents may not be aware when Bio Solutions completes a project, but their services protect property from potentially significant damage.

Bio

Bio Solutions Tennessee President and CEO Scott Hodler accepted the award.

The Minority-Owned Business of the Year Award recognizes a minority-owned business working with the City who assists in supporting our values.

Chevelle Lewis, LED coordinator for the City’s Transportation Engineering division, nominated Edison Electric, which manages one of the City's largest capital projects: the LED streetlights.

The City's contract with Edison began in June 2020, and each year they provide proactive customer service to residents by making sure service requests are completed in a timely manner. Edison established Application-programming Interfaces to communicate work requirements and work results to City staff. Their crews are out on the roads daily responding to light outages and identifying maintenance issues.

Edison’s top management team, Tim Pennington and Charles Houston, schedule preventative maintenance tasks, locate trouble spots, and schedule night patrols.

Edison Electric

President Steve Davis, Vice President Dean Smith, Vice President of Business Development Charles Houston, and Project Manager Tim Pennington.

Stormwater Engineer Randall Whitehead nominated Southeastern Construction Concepts Corporation for Woman-Owned Business of the Year.

Stormwater was asked to upgrade the drainage system at Claude Walker Park, which was receiving upgrades to its sports field thanks to a number of community organizations. To meet the deadline of the scheduled ribbon-cutting ceremony, the City had a tight timeline to complete the drainage work completed. City Engineering contacted Southeastern Construction about taking on the project. Liza Jackson and her team stepped up and made sure that everything was completed on schedule, even with some unforeseen design and supply chain issues.

Southeastern Construction owner Liza Jackson, Grading Division Superintendent Gary Childress, and Foreman and Driver Ian Jordan

Chris Webster in the Public Service department nominated Taylor's Lawn Service for the Small Business of the Year award.

Taylor’s Lawn Service, established in 2004, has been doing work for the City for more than 10 years. They are currently responsible for the mowing and maintenance of Lakeshore Park, plus Baker Creek Preserve, the Odd Fellows and Potters Field cemeteries, and other sites. They are always professional and punctual in completing their mowing cycles. In addition, Taylor’s Lawn Service was awarded the Baker Creek Preserve contract in during the middle of the mowing season, which has to be a challenge from a workforce standpoint, but the outcome was outstanding.

Taylor's Lawn Service

Office Administrator April Taylor, Owner/Operator Keith Taylor, and Crew Leader Chris Rutherford.

The Impact Award recognizes a DBE that provides a superior product or service to our internal departments, allowing that department to better support City employees and residents alike.

Knoxville Fire Department Chief Stan Sharp nominated Dr. Patrick O’Brien, the Department’s EMS Medical Director, who has partnered with KFD since 1992, serving as the department’s only Emergency Services Medical Director. This position requires Dr. O’Brien to be in constant contact with Fire Department personnel. He regularly reviews run reports, evaluates them, and recommends ways to improve. He often rides along with EMS personnel and evaluates their knowledge and skills.

Dr. O’Brien has played a huge role in taking the department from the days of being staffed solely by firefighters – not EMT’s and paramedics -- to a service now known state-wide for its professionalism and ability to serve the residents of Knoxville.

Dr. O’Brien has also been heavily involved in our local community. He served on the founding board of the Interfaith Health Clinic, and was a medical advisor to the late Stan Brock in establishing Remote Area Medical, among many other endeavors.

Chief Sharp called nominating Dr. O’Brien for the award a "privilege." He concluded by saying Dr. O’Brien has been dedicated in his service to both the Fire Department and the citizens of Knoxville.

Dr. Patrick O'Brien accepts the Impact Award.

The Partnership Award recognizes an outstanding partnership between a large prime contractor and a DBE that worked together on a successful City contract.

Civil Engineering Manager George Daws nominated Cannon & Cannon and Tish Spalding of SE Site, LLC. SE Site is a woman-owned small business. Spalding works as a subcontractor with Cannon & Cannon to manage our small-cell permitting program.

Spalding was instrumental in drafting the City’s small-cell guidelines and adjusting our right-of-way permit process to create a form for telecommunication companies to use. Spalding is also responsible for reviewing all small-cell permit applications to ensure compliance with our guidelines. Meanwhile, Cannon & Cannon handles the pre-construction and post-construction inspections.

In his nomination, George Daws wrote that Spalding has done an outstanding job at finding a balance between protecting the City's interests while working to meet the needs of telecommunication companies seeking to improve their infrastructure.

Cannon and Cannon Tish Spalding SEsite

Cannon & Cannon President/CEO Houston Daughtery, Project Manager David Sparks, and Engineering Intern and Quality Control Inspector Kaitlyn Ireson. SE Site LLC CEO Tish Spalding.

The Distinguished Service Award is presented to a minority-owned company that has been the kind of team player you need when circumstances put you in a bind.

ASM Knoxville Operation Manager Tyler Hoskins nominated Dynasty Construction for this award. Dynasty provided ASM Knoxville, and more specifically the Civic Auditorium & Coliseum, with temporary labor for the last several months. He wrote in his nomination: "They have gone above and beyond in providing the help we needed – many times on very short notice. We could not be happier with the help they have provided."

Dynasty Construction President Holly Lugo and Vice President Erik Lugo

Posted by ptravis On 05 October, 2022 at 12:30 PM