Hundreds of Companies Vying for Contracts on Continental Project

More than 300 businesses were represented last week at Central Carolina Technical College Health Sciences Center for the "A Place at the Table for S.C. Small Business" - Government Contracting Workshop. They were all there to learn how to become contractors on the Continental Tire of the Americas construction project getting ready to begin in Sumter, SC at an estimated cost of $500 million.


Walbridge Southeast is the contractor for the Continental project which is expected to open in January 2014, and eventually employ 1600 people. Steve Helms, Walbridge's General Manager, said his company will begin to award the first subcontracts within the next few days, and hopefully will have the majority of the rest of the project awarded in a few months. Potential subcontractors are advised to pre-qualify their companies on Walbridge's website at: http://www.walbridge.com/#!subcontractors/pre-qualification to aid them in the bidding process.

It is expected that a minimum of 20 - 50% of all contracts will be awarded to South Carolina companies, and that competition for the contracts will be stiff. Scott King, civil engineer for Continental, stated that things would be happening very quickly in the weeks ahead. Interested sub-contracting companies should waste no time in making their interest in this project known.