African-American architects team up

Six African-American-owned architectural firms have come together in a remarkable collaboration in order to compete for some of the city"s most important building projects. ARCHonsortium, as the group is called, was formed in February 2001 to enable these otherwise small firms to successfully compete for a major role in the Indianapolis airport development. "We"re competitors and yet the more we studied it - meeting every week for six months - it made more and more sense," says Lester Carver, one of ARCHonsortium"s participants.

Individually, these firms consist of anywhere from one to 13 staff members. By joining together, they created the kind of clout necessary to play a prominent role in determining how the new airport may look.

"That usually doesn"t happen with minority business activities," Carver says. "They usually happen at the tail end and have to do with residual fees at the end of the project."

"We wanted to have the design notoriety as well as the construction work," adds Daryl Williams-Dotson, the consortium"s president.

The consortium has been able to combine an array of skill sets, from the conceptual design phase to construction administration. It represents the equivalent of a 40-person firm. "That"s a remarkable thing to put together in one entity," Carver says. "We really can respond to the entire scope of work on a project."

Williams-Dotson says that the members of the group had, in various configurations, collaborated with one another in the past. "So starting the consortium was inevitable. It came naturally."

Nevertheless, some members came to the group concept with certain reservations based on their reluctance to be labeled a minority business. "We haven"t really participated in minority business enterprise programs," Armonics" Russell Lewis says. "Yet this project, because of its size and potential earnings value, couldn"t be ignored."

Lewis says that, too often, projects create what he calls "shotgun weddings," teaming minority businesses with larger organizations in order to meet whatever percentage of minority involvement is mandated by contract. "You"re not there as a result of any skill or qualification, but to meet the need set aside by political concerns. The consortium is an effort on our part to try and circumvent that, to insert ourselves up front and make our role meaningful. To put our necks and reputations on the line - saying we can do this."

HCO Architects" Henry Onochie says ARCHonsortium plans on going after other work in the city. "By coming together, we have become a force."