6.3.1: Department of Homeland Security Headquarters

Encourages Participation with Members of Local Community.

Other Information:

Public Building Services: Department of Homeland Security Headquarters Project at St. Elizabeths Encourages Participation with Members of Local Community - The new Department of Homeland Security headquarters campus at St. Elizabeths is the largest project ever undertaken by GSA, and the largest federal construction in the Washington metro area since the Pentagon during World War II. When complete, the campus will include 4.5 million square feet of space, plus structured parking to house up o 14,000 Homeland Security employees. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act covered well over half of the cost to complete the project. The site for headquarters is located in Ward 8 of the District of Columbia, south of the Anacostia River, a neighborhood with high poverty and unemployment. GSA made extensive efforts to reach out to the Ward 8 community to ensure that residents were aware of the project and would be ready to apply for jobs and subcontracts during the construction process. Our outreach included more than 50 meetings, hearings, and training labs. Twenty-one meetings were held with the advisory neighborhood commissions that serve the area. GSA met with the campus' neighbor, the Barry Farms Resident Council, and with the Anacostia Coordinating Council and Ward 8 Business Council. Six public hearings and a town hall meeting sponsored by U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington were also held. Construction of the campus is projected to generate more than 30,000 jobs, both directly and indirectly. At peak construction of the campus, the project will require about 1,000 workers and 100 subcontractors. GSA provided five days of training for small businesses and another session on the general topic of doing business with GSA. We conducted training labs that were open to any potential subcontractor. The labs offered advice on how small firms could position themselves to do business with the federal government, both at St. Elizabeths and on other federal projects. GSA is committed to selecting small businesses. Of the first $13 million we spent at St. Elizabeths to stabilize, maintain, and provide security for the site, all of the firms selected were businesses that were at least 51 percent owned, controlled, managed, and operated on a daily basis by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged people. Another such firm was selected to demolish the warehouse site where the Coast Guard building will be located, and other such firms continue to work on site. We established a preapprenticeship training program to provide as many opportunities as possible, and we will also require the contractor to establish an apprenticeship program. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, better known as the AFL-CIO, runs a preapprenticeship program and conducts six-week training classes to help people apply for and retain meaningful jobs. GSA’s Public Building Services Commissioner Bob Peck and Rep. Holmes Norton spoke at the first graduation ceremony for a class of 20 on Dec. 14, 2009. The contractor’s apprenticeship program is also under way. To facilitate these efforts, the contractor established an Opportunities Center on the west campus. This large facility, consisting of four double-wide trailers joined together, is used to provide information about project employment and training opportunities for individuals and companies. The trailer is staffed, and consists of an information kiosk, a conference room with capacity for 20, a computer lab, restroom, storage room, and break room. On-site contractors have access to the trailer to conduct training sessions, and government agencies can hold small business training sessions there. The AFL-CIO can also conduct its own preapprenticeship training programs.

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