H.J. Russell & Co. representatives meet with subcontractors to discuss opportunities on the rebuilding of Davis High School.

HISD’s Business Assistance – Supplier Diversity Department, along with representatives from H.J. Russell & Global Momentum, hosted a meet and greet recently at the Hattie Mae White building to give contractor attendees the opportunity to network and discuss requirements for the upcoming bond construction project at Davis High School.

The two companies are the awarded Construction Managers at Risk (CMARs) and have teamed up to leverage their strengths for the Davis project.

“This is the first of several events we are planning to reach out to the minority businesses,” said Asheya Warren, marketing representative for H.J. Russell.

The original portion of Jefferson Davis High School was built in 1926 in Houston’s north side. As the first school built in the district, it is both historically and architecturally significant.

“This is a very interesting project,” said Corey Sanders, H.J. Russell pre-construction manager. “We’ll certainly be looking for experience in working on historical buildings and preserving architectural elements as we move forward.”

Funds allocated from the 2012 bond program will be used to build a new 21st century learning facility for Davis that incorporates the architecturally important building structure into the new design.

Brian Douglas of Oz Building Contractors said events like this are very worthwhile and enable minority companies to connect face to face with the construction managers and hopefully lay the groundwork for building a relationship.

“This was great, I got to meet the powers that be — no other way would we get a chance to mingle with the primes on a huge job like this,” Douglas said.

Davis features a magnet for Culinary Arts and Hotel Management as part of a rigorous academic program designed to prepare students for college and careers. The new campus, planned to accommodate 1,500 students, is currently in the planning and design phase. Construction is expected to begin in mid- to late 2015.

“We had a really good turnout today, with folks from all varieties of disciplines,” said John Preston, owner of Global Momentum. “It’s great to make these connections now so we have an idea of what’s out there as we hammer out the technical details and progress further along.”