PRESS
RELEASE
from
Democratic National Convention Committee
For Immediate Release
October 25, 2011
Contact: Kristie Greco, Joanne Peters
Democratic National Convention Committee
Awards Construction Manager, Event Architect, and Exposition and Event
Services Provider Contracts
The Democratic National Convention Committee today announced the
recipients of the 2012 Democratic National Convention construction
manager, event architect, and exposition and event services provider
contracts.
The contracts were awarded to a partnership of firms that include
locally based firms, firms with strong ties to Charlotte and North
Carolina, and firms that have a strong record of working with women,
minority and disability-owned and union labor. Additionally, the
firms share a commitment to sustainability.
The construction manager will be a partnership between Rodgers
Builders, Inc., Hunt Construction Group and H.J. Russell and
Company. The event architect contract will be a partnership
between Populous and Neighboring Concepts. The construction
manager awardees bid as a team and the event architect awardees bid as
a team. The exposition and event services provider will be
Hargrove, Inc.
“The firms chosen represent the best of the Carolinas and the diversity
of America. The resources and experience of the national firms,
partnered with the knowledge and network of local firms makes this team
uniquely prepared for a project of this scope and magnitude,” said DNCC
Chief Executive Officer Steve Kerrigan.
“We are another step closer to next September, when we will get to show
the rest of the country, and the world, what Charlotte, our state, and
our larger region, can do. Today, we see tangible evidence that
our efforts to involve local businesses in the Convention are bearing
fruit.” said Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx.
The construction manager will oversee the temporary modification and
the restoration of the arena following the convention. The
construction manager will serve as a lead agency and will manage its
subcontractors and subconsultants, and the event architect. The
event architect will be responsible for various architectural and
design planning needs of the convention and design a world-class
convention venue. The exposition and event services
provider will handle project management, event scheduling, design and
décor, as well as provide rentals and furnishings to staff and
members of the media using the Charlotte Convention Center during
convention week.
There will be numerous subcontracting opportunities. The DNCC and
Committee for Charlotte 2012 will conduct extensive outreach to local
business to apprise them of these opportunities. A general
information meeting is scheduled for November 21, in Charlotte.
It is the DNCC’s goal to use local firms for subcontracts to the
fullest extent possible.
Subcontracting bids for this project will be issued through the vendor
directory which can be found at www.charlottein2012.com.
In September, the DNCC released a request for proposal for the
positions. The DNCC sought the most dynamic, diverse and
innovative firms. The process was open to all firms or teams who
believed they had the necessary qualifications and capacity to build a
world-class convention center.
The DNCC evaluated the proposals based on numerous criteria, including,
but not limited to: experience, reliability, relationships to
Charlotte, North Carolina, and the surrounding region, participation of
union labor, women, minorities and persons with disabilities, and local
resources to support the endeavor.
Firms Awarded the Construction
Manager, Event Architect and Exposition and Event Services Provider
Contracts
Construction Management Team:
Rodgers Builders, Inc. is headquartered in Charlotte and founded
on principles of strong leadership, ethical business practices and
uncompromising standards of safety and quality, Rodgers is recognized
as one of the top contractors in the nation. Rodgers’ client base
includes many Fortune 100 companies and the majority of its clients are
based in Charlotte. Rodgers also has offices in Raleigh and
Greenville, S.C..
Hunt Construction Group has completed projects throughout North
Carolina, including the construction of the Time Warner Cable Arena.
Established in 1944 in Indianapolis, Indiana and with more than 650
employees nationwide, Hunt Construction Group today currently maintains
a contract volume of between $6 billion and $8 billion of work, and is
ranked 27th in the Top400 Contractors list by Engineering News-Record.
Hunt continues to provide the latest services to its clients with a
strong emphasis in Green Building and Building Information Modeling
(BIM).
H.J. Russell and Company is headquartered in Atlanta with a North
Carolina office in Durham. The company has done work across North
Carolina. Russell is the fourth largest minority-owned business
in the United States and the nation’s single largest MBE construction
firm. Today, H.J. Russell & Company has had a hand in construction
and renovation of some of the most well-known structures in the South
and Southeast, including the Georgia Dome, Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic
Stadium, Philips Atlanta Arena, Charlotte’s Harvey B. Gantt Center for
African American Arts + Culture, and others.
Event Architect Team:
Populous worked on the 2008 and 1996 Democratic National
Conventions. The Populous’ event portfolio also includes 27 NFL
Super Bowls, 10 Summer and Winter Olympic Games and numerous other
major sporting events. The Populous team will be led by Senior
Associate Lisa Opper, a female architect who oversaw and led the 2008
DNC project from inception to final close out.
Neighboring Concepts is a unique and inventive, 100% minority owned
design firm that has emerged as a leader in the architectural field by
delivering elegant, sustainable solutions to the unique challenges of
urban environments. Since the firm’s inception here in Charlotte, NC in
1996, Neighboring Concepts has served the Charlotte community with a
passion for community revitalization and design excellence. Recent
projects and collaborative efforts include the Harvey B. Gantt Center
for African American Arts and Culture, the Revolution Park Sports
Academy and the planning and design of the Charlotte Area Transit
System (CATS) LYNX Blue Line.
Exposition and Event Services Provider:
Hargrove, Inc. is a certified woman-owned business and one of the top
general services contractors in the United States. A family-owned
company, Hargrove is focused on providing superb service to the more
than 1,000 tradeshows, event and exhibit clients it serves annually.
Hargrove is partnering with Charlotte-based HUB-certified McFarland
Corbitt on minority business enterprise outreach to support this
project. Hargrove has produced many trade shows, events and
exhibits in the Carolinas, Virginia and surrounding region, including
at the Charlotte Convention Center. Its history in the region includes
work with many regionally based corporations, government entities,
business associations, academic institutions, labor organizations and
military institutions.
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