{FK] 

FRONTIER~KEMPER 

CONSTRUCTORS, INC. 

A TUtor,.,., Company 

December 20,2013 

Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 

Washington, DC 20590-0001 

Re: Docket No. OST-2012-0147 

Dear Docket Clerk: 

NORTHEAST DIVISION OFFICE 

415 Fifth Avenue 

Pelham, NY 10803 

TEL: 914.738.0280 

FAX: 914.738.0026 

www.frontierkemper.com 

I represent a General Contractor, Frontier-Kemper Constructors, Inc. (FKCI). FKCI specializes 

in tunneling, shaft construction and other-related types of heavy construction work. Our 

company is a member of the General Contractors Association ofNew York (GCA). We strongly 

believe that any rule changes that would require that DBEs and their quoted prices be locked into 

the prime contractors bid is not be in the best interest of the public. 

The majority ofFKCI's work is obtained through public bidding. In almost every instance the 

public Owner's bid proposal will require that the prime contractor obtain a certain percentage of 

MBE/WBE/DBE participation for the project. If the percentage is not able to be reached then 

the prime contractor must demonstrate that it has put forth a valid and acceptable good-faith 

effort. This good-faith effort does not stop once the bid is submitted and the project is awarded, 

rather it continues through job completion in hopes of reaching the published goal. 

FKCI's good-faith efforts in regards to obtaining DBE participation on a project are extensive, 

time consuming, and costly. The significant cost for performing a good-faith effort undertaking 

[advertisements, phone, e-mailing, faxing, attending outreach sessions, etc.] is inevitably passed 

on to the Owner in the contractor's bids. Further, even with this gigantic effort, rarely do we find 

a sufficient number of"qualified" DBEs by bid time willing or able to provide a quote or capable 

of performing the work. In a number of instances, we will come across a specialty DBE firm 

who is obviously seeking a windfall. Such a firm will attempt to beat the system by over 

inflating its prices in hopes that the contractor, forced to reach a DBE goal, will be forced to 

include its name in the bid proposal. Obviously, it is the Owner and the public that will 

ultimately have to bear the cost for inflated DBE pricing. 

DOT Docket Number OST-2012-0147 
Currently, it is often very difficult to attain DBE participation on some of the larger projects 

because unrealistically high participation goals are established and the required number of 

available and experienced DBEs are just not there- despite the extent ofthe good-faith efforts 

that are taken. If a contractor is now required to list all its DBEs in its bid without the benefit of 

demonstrating good-faith effort or having the opportunity to seek out other DBEs then many 

contractors will be unable to bid. This will lead to few bidders on projects and higher costs to the 

public. 

It is our opinion that the U.S. DOT needs to sit down with the Contractors from across the nation 

to find out what really should be done to spur and encourage the growth ofDBE companies. 

Yours truly, 

Richard Raab 

President 

Northeast Division 

Frontier-Kemper Constructors, Inc., 

DOT Docket Number OST-2012-0147