How Tough Leaf Helped PULLMAN Win Seattle’s McGraw Bridge Retrofit Project

When PULLMAN bid on Seattle's $3.34 million McGraw Street Bridge seismic retrofit project, they partnered with Tough Leaf.

This collaboration helped them secure competitive bids that met the City's strict 11% MWBE participation requirements. The successful partnership enabled them to win their first project as a prime contractor with the City, marking the beginning of many more to come.

The PULLMAN team recognized the challenge of meeting such a stringent goal, so they enlisted Tough Leaf.

The PULLMAN team recognized the challenge of meeting such a stringent goal. Therefore, they enlisted Tough Leaf to secure bids across 10 scopes of work. PULLMAN provided the project details, and our AI-powered matching platform reviewed over 2,000 certified diverse firms in the area, narrowing the list down to 200 subcontractors that met the project requirements. Our outreach platform then contacted these 200 firms to confirm their qualifications and intent to bid, ultimately providing the competitive bids that enabled PULLMAN to achieve their project diversity goal.

“You can search a database for registered MWBEs, but you still have to call over 200 candidates one-by-one. That process would require our team members to dedicate 100% of their time over multiple weeks. Tough Leaf delivered great results, allowing us to focus on what we do best.”

Blaine Sanchez,

Business Development Manager,

PULLMAN

How it Worked:

PULLMAN provided the project details.

Tough Leaf’s AI-powered matching platform reviewed certified diverse firms in the area.

Our outreach platform contacted these firms and secured competitive bids.

Tough Leaf provided these bids to PULLMAN.

PULLMAN achieved their project diversity goal.

The Numbers:

10

Scopes of Work

2,000

Certified Diverse Firms Reviewed

200

Certified Diverse Firms Identified

11%

Project Diversity Goal Achieved

In the end, PULLMAN's ability to surpass Seattle's requirements proved to the city that they are a valuable partner for building and maintaining infrastructure while advancing economic inclusion. With Tough Leaf's support, PULLMAN won the McGraw Street Bridge project showcasing their capability to meet fluctuating project diversity requirements in line with SDOT's needs for future infrastructure projects.