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<br />AshBritt contract, must be pre-approved from our resource database, have a favorable evaluation from either a prior
<br />AshBritt project or at least three non-Ash Britt projects, or the favorable endorsement of the client.
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<br />Additionally, all equipment to be deployed is thoroughly inspected and certified as operationally safe. Workforce safety
<br />training is administered when necessary, and a compliance agreement of all safety policies as mandated by all
<br />governing authorities must be acknowledged. Subcontractors must execute a Subcontractor Agreement, which defines
<br />the scope of work, responsibilities, accountabilities, and binds the subcontractor to comply with FAR and FEMA
<br />regulations, as well as all State contract requirements. They must also execute a hold harmless agreement indemnifying
<br />the State and its agents.
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<br />Furthermore, based on anticipated partiCipation revenues, comprehensive insurance coverage, including worker's
<br />compensation is mandated. A Certificate of Liability Insurance with established limits must be submitted before work
<br />can commence. Moreover, compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local tax, unemployment compensation,
<br />and worker compensation laws is mandated.
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<br />Challenges
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<br />Local small business subcontractors present challenges as well as advantages. On the plus side, as we have mentioned,
<br />they know the local area well and in some respects may offer immediate effectiveness in identifying what will become
<br />important and sensitive sections of the affected jurisdictions. High level demographics and socioeconomic factors which
<br />may be success factors for a timely and orderly return to normalcy are likely to be more quickly understood by locals,
<br />resulting in production advantages.
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<br />The negative side of local small businesses, out-of-state small businesses, and most small disaster driven start-ups is
<br />well known to AshBritt from our Katrina Mississippi experience. Large-scale disaster response and recovery missions,
<br />to achieve great success, must have the highest safety standards, the strictest oversight standards, the heightened labor
<br />protection standards. The safety requirements of the USACE EM 385-1-1, our governing safety document, are unknown
<br />to most of the small businesses encountered in disaster areas. The safety requirements are major drivers for better and
<br />more expensive equipment, better training, and much higher levels of safety awareness than small business are, on
<br />average, encountering in their regular work lives and with their current going concerns.
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<br />The requirements of the Service Contract Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act for wage determinations, holiday pay
<br />rules, and overtime payments are much less likely to be understood before the event by small businesses, whether local
<br />or not. This was true in our Hurricane Katrina experience and resulted in AshBritt continuously providing pamphlets of
<br />information and instructions to subcontractors in our efforts to comply with our USACE Contract Requirements.
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<br />Our success in this area is a testament to the effectiveness of the AshBritt managers in conveying accurate information
<br />to subcontractors. AshBritt recently received a request to pay liquidated damages (LDs) totaling $750.00 for an
<br />overtime violation at a bankrupt subcontractor and that represents the entire universe of LDs on Katrina contracts of
<br />more than $700 million. Ash Britt intervened, when requested, in subcontractor wage and benefit disputes in cooperation
<br />with the local U.S. Labor Wage and Hour Division Offices to make every worker whole as prescribed by the
<br />investigators.
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<br />Subcontracting and "Small" Business Goal Achievement
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<br />For our Hurricane Katrina recovery mission, AshBritt's contractually obligated goal for hiring small business concerns,
<br />which included SDB, MBE, WOSB, HBCU/MI, HUB Zone SB, and VOSB (including Service-Disabled VOSB) was 60
<br />percent. Ash Britt far surpassed that goal by attaining an 81.9 percent small business subcontractor utilization mark.
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<br />Furthermore, throughout our history, Ash Britt has had great success in employing local SBE/MBE/WBE and DBE
<br />businesses on our past disaster debris management contracts, often exceeding 50 to 60 percent local participation. We
<br />have always strived to meet and exceed any expectations or our past clients, and we have typically exceeded their and
<br />our own (when not formally established) goals.
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<br />A,;hBritt. Inc I Sunny Isles Beach, FL I RFP No. 08-07-01
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