Hundreds attend open house for billion-dollar data center development

(Enterprise) Big-D Construction hosted near to 600 representatives of Utah small businesses at their open house on Jan. 12 of this year. Big-D is part of a triumvirate of general contractors bidding on the billion dollar, one million square food National Security Agency data center that will be built in Utah County.

The construction company has the responsibility of ensuring that its team meets federal regulations requiring that 70 percent of the subcontractors used on the project qualify as minority, disadvantaged or “small” enterprises.

Over 2,400 invitations were sent out to small businesses, minority businesses, disabled veterans businesses and more, and the response was overwhelming, according to Big-D president and CEO Rob Moore.

The data center will be built on 26 acres at Camp Williams, a National Guard training site operated by the Utah Army National Guard. Construction on the project will create between 700 and 800 jobs during its nearly two-year build, and almost 60 subcontractors will benefit.

Big-D construction is familiar with working on large government projects. The company got its start in Ogden in 1967 working on Hill Air Force Base contracts. The then-small Big-D was mentored at the time by a company now known as Granite Construction, one of the world’s largest construction companies.

Moore said he is not aware of who the Big-D team will be bidding against for the National Security Agency center. The federal government should award the contract in October, while proposals are due in July. Construction is likely to being in the first quarter of 2011.

Moore is encouraging small Utah businesses interested in participating in the project to reach out to the Small Business Administration to ensure they qualify and are registered, to clearly understand their capabilities, and to familiarize themselves with the project via the Balfour/DPR/Big-D website.