From a humble launch, JESCO eyes continued growth

Incorporated in April 1994, JESCO Environmental & Geotechnical Services provides site assessment, risk evaluations and remediation of soil and groundwater contamination resulting from leaking underground storage tanks, or UST.  Launching with a team of three employees and one soil-probing rig, the company focused its services solely in southwest Louisiana and primarily supported private sector clients in the underground storage tank market.

JESCO gradually established a large client base and narrowed its focus on the UST sector, while broadening their service area to include a larger portion of southern Louisiana. In 2006 JESCO decided to expand their offerings to include engineering and environmental consulting services.  In order to do this, they realized that they needed to expand their client base to include the public sector. 

Hudson Initiative aided JESCO’s growth at pivotal moment

After deciding to focus their efforts on securing government contracts, JESCO applied for and became a certified Small Entrepreneurship in the Hudson Initiative – a certification program that is designed to help eligible Louisiana small businesses gain greater access to purchasing and contracting opportunities available at the State government level.

In Louisiana, RFPs are evaluated on a point grading system, and companies that are certified through the Hudson Initiative can receive an additional 10 percent of the total evaluation points toward their bid.

With the company's qualifications and the advantage provided by Hudson Certification, JESCO was awarded a contract with Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) to provide environmental services. With the DOTD contract, JESCO gained the ability to broaden their scope of services and expand their service area to include the entire state of Louisiana. JESCO continued to take advantage of the competitive edge that the initiative provided and successfully won two additional DOTD contracts, as well as numerous Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality contracts. 

The Hudson Initiative later provided even more benefits for JESCO. Because additional evaluation points are also available to prime contractors that utilize Hudson-certified sub-contractors when bidding on contracts that are issued through RFP, JESCO began receiving requests from non–Hudson certified businesses both in-state and out-of-state that were looking for Hudson certified partners in order to pursue state contracts.

Many state contracts have very broad scopes, and, as a small business, JESCO could not always fulfill all of the requirements. JESCO teamed with other businesses, and they were soon able to pursue larger contracts than they would have been able to consider in the past. The Hudson Initiative not only helped JESCO to team with larger partners, but for the first time in the company’s history, they were in a position to be selective about the larger businesses they chose to partner with. Most importantly, the Hudson Initiative exposed them to large and small businesses that were working in the federal arena and offered JESCO the opportunity to begin pursuing federal contracts.

“Louisiana-based small businesses should always consider the advantages of the Hudson Initiative as it has proven to be the most lucrative vehicle for pursuing and winning state contracts,” said Alvinette Teal, Principal in Charge for JESCO. “Additionally, small businesses are afforded the advantage to participate as subcontractors on larger contracts. JESCO is most grateful for the Hudson Initiative as it has proven to be the most significant program for growth in our business.”

JESCO’s contracts with Hudson Initiative components have ranged in value from less than $30,000 to greater than $1,000,000. As a result of participation in the Hudson Initiative, JESCO’s client base has grown from purely local private sector clients to include state and federal public sector clients and they have expanded their service area from Southwest Louisiana to the entire United States.