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build a bridge and get over it. Our plan is to build a bridge and get over it."
The program is leasing space in the new Enterprise incubator in Wellston, Mo. but Nelson says that it will be a regional
program. The target client, he says, is not a person looking to start a contracting company but rather a minority contractor
who is currently in business but needs help.
"We're looking for contractors that are currently in business that are literally on life support," Nelson said. "We're
not going to try to recreate the wheel - we just can't do that. We're going to take (existing minority) contractors because,
I'm telling you, we don't have any successful ones. There are none out there."
Nelson admits that there are common problems for many young contracting companies regardless of race, so the incubator is
going to be partly school. The toughest part for any new business people, he says, is identifying what they don't know. The
incubator will help them with that and it will focus on the individual weaknesses of each business client. They'll get
assistance with hiring, bidding and cost analysis; Nelson says they're bringing in accounting and legal consultants to help
in those areas as well.
"This is going to be like getting admission into a school," he said. "You're going to be required to sign an agreement
and you're going to be required to meet timelines. If you don't know how to do estimating, we're going to teach you how to
do estimating. We're going to provide backup for you. We're going to provide an accounting firm and a legal firm. We're
going to teach you how to crawl and then walk."
In addition to the usual hurdles all business owners deal with, Nelson says, minority contractors face special obstacles.
One is financing. Here, he says, education can only take you so far. The new incubator program's board members are dedicated
to helping get the minority contractor the rest of the way.
"People like me are going to call up the bank," said Nelson, "and I'm going to say, 'I did $1.3 billion worth of business
with you. I've got a contractor sitting over at one of your loan officer's cubicles and he's getting a ration of trouble. Is
that the way you want to do business with us?' They'll say, 'You don't understand.' And I'll tell them, 'I'm not here to
understand. I don't understand banking. I don't want to understand banking. I don't want to hear about the federal
regulations; I don't want to hear about the banking regulations. I don't want to hear none of that stuff. I want you to fix
this; I want you to figure it out.' All they need is about three calls like that from people like me, people like Alberici,
people like McCarthy, and all of sudden they're getting the idea, 'Hey maybe we better step up to the plate and try to be
more warm and friendly to these people.'"
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Bonding is another problem, according to Kevin Edwards, president of Edwards & Kamadulski, a minority general contractor
located in East St. Louis. Edwards is doing all the excavation, storm sewer, building grading and asphalt for the Casino
Queen's boat in the moat project.
"You have to have a track record," Edwards said. "I see white contractors come in this business all the time and they get
bonding. I see black contractors be in this business 10 or 15 years without bonding. It takes collateral; it takes
experience; and it takes money. If you don't have the bonding, you can't get the work. But if you don't get the work, you
can't get the bonding. It's a catch 22."
Another problem, says Edwards, is not being in the network - not having the contacts. Because of this, Edwards says that
most of his work is public work with various governmental bodies.
"I don't target private work because if they're not in East St. Louis they don't have any minority participation goals -
and I don't have the contacts or the relationships to get the work," Edwards said. "When the job is done, that's when I find
out about it. I don't know about it five months before it's coming because I'm not in that group where they contact me and
say, 'Hey, Kevin, we've got this job coming.' When they're doing a job in East St. Louis, they have to meet minority
participation goals; then they contact us. But if things are going on in Sauget or Dupo or Gateway Commerce Center, I'm not
contacted about that work. Many minority contractors face the same obstacles," he added.
Edwards says the general contractor on the Casino Queen job, Clayco, has been really great to work with. He said Clayco
really tries to mentor minority firms.
Just as in dealing with financing problems, Nelson says the members of the incubator board can be helpful in opening up
some doors and bridging the contact gap.
While PRIDE's focus has been the Missouri side of the metro area, Nelson says this incubator will serve the entire
region. He and his committee have been working hard to get the incubator operational as soon as possible, but Nelson admits
that it will take time - he estimates three to five years - for the small minority contractors to progress from crawling to
walking to running.
The incubator's annual budget will be in the neighborhood of $400,000, according to Nelson. The Carpenters' District
Council has pledged to cover $250,000 of that amount. That's a major commitment, but Nelson thinks the project is worth the
investment.
"This is going to be exciting," he said. "It's going to be run a little bit and stumble. We're going to stumble a time
or two; we're going to embarrass ourselves a time or two. But that's no problem. That's the only way you get anything
done."
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