WATCH: "A business is more than that. It's a person, who had an idea, a vision."

Business owners learn about upcoming @neorsd projects.

Infrastructure that lasts beyond a generation is a huge investment. Few often realize it's small businesses that help make it possible.

The Business Opportunity Program is a Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District effort to expand contracting opportunities to small, women-owned and minority-owned businesses (M/W/SBEs) across the region.

"Over the next several years, the Sewer District will invest billions of dollars in sewer infrastructure," said Contract Compliance Manager Tiffany Jordan. "So, there are opportunities for businesses of all sizes in our region."

RELATED LINKS:

• REGISTER: Apply today for our Business Opportunity Program certification
• RECAP: #2016outreach event draws overflow crowd to hear regional construction forecast

EVENT: #2016outreach contractor opportunities event draws overflow crowd

Contract Compliance Officer Diana Jones greets guests January 21.

Construction contractors from Northeast Ohio and across the Midwest came to Cleveland recently to hear details about $140 million in construction projects presented by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.

Sewer District engineers rolled out plans for nearly a dozen construction projects—including the Dugway South Relief and Consolidation Sewer in Cleveland and East Cleveland—on Thursday, January 21, at the Centers for Families and Children in Cleveland.

“We were very pleased with the significant turn out for this outreach event” said Tiffany Jordan, manager of contracts and compliance. “It was exciting to see the diverse businesses and operators in the room."

You can hear the full event podcast courtesy Diane Helbig below.

#SmallBizWeek: Honoring the entrepreneurial spirit of small businesses, big opportunities

"We want to say thank you."

Benjamin Holbert's simple statement May 6 kicked of the Sewer District's first-ever Small Business Week reception to acknowledge the more than 140 small, women-owned and minority-owned businesses that we worked with in 2014.

Holbert is the District's Business Outreach Coordinator working in Contract Compliance.

The event was coordinated by the @neorsd Business Opportunity Program as part of National Small Business Week. The Business Opportunity Program certifies M/W/SBEs to promote greater opportunities for doing business on District projects.

BUSINESS: Huge investments, small businesses, and local success stories #SmallBizWeek

Infrastructure that lasts beyond a generation is a huge investment. Few often realize it's small businesses that help make it possible.

This week is National Small Business Week, and we join local voices in support of small, women-owned, and minority-owned businesses that contribute to our Northeast Ohio economy.

"I’m very proud of the effort the Sewer District has made to engage and attract small businesses," said Tiffany Jordan, Sewer District Manager of Contract Compliance. "Just last year, more than $45 million has been paid to local small businesses, which includes Minority-owned, Women-owned and Small Business Enterprises."

#SoTU: Three infrastructure nuggets we would not be surprised to hear at tonight's State of the Union

Image credit Wikipedia

In what The Hill calls "an unusual move," the White House has released an overview of the programs that will be unveiled at tonight's State of the Union address.

From tax-code overhauls to expanding broadband internet access, there's not a direct reference to water or sewer infrastructure in President Obama's SOTU highlights so far, but based on recent events, here are three things we wouldn't be surprised to hear.

DOLLARS AND SENSE: Ways we are controlling costs

How are we keeping our Great Lake great and controlling costs?

We take our customers' investment in our work very seriously. Clean water protects the health and safety of all the citizens in our region, and we are proud of the work we do. But we understand customers want to be sure we are managing their rates efficiently, especially in the first year of a rate increase. Here are several examples of cost-saving efforts and examples we have noted in recent years.

Successful small-business program is expanded, rebranded

It's changing, but don't think of it as new and improved. See it as rebranded and expanded.

This summer, the Sewer District's small business enterprise program, formerly known as SBE, is being rebranded the Business Opportunity Program with a wider focus on minority-owned, women-owned, and small businesses.