shalom Baranes, FAIA, first crossed paths with Shaun Benson-Frazier on an American Red Cross project about four years ago. Benson-Frazier, an architecture-trained black woman, was managing the design and construction of the organization’s new headquarters building in downtown Washington, D.C., which Baranes’ firm designed.
Baranes was impressed with Benson-Frazier’s managerial skills, so when she hung out her shingle in 2003, he engaged her as a design/build subconsultant for a large tenant-build-out project for the Pentagon, offering her office space in which to conduct business and access to professional services at no charge. “We look for individuals who want to go into business on their own, guarantee them projects, and then support them with the use of a phone, fax, and legal, accounting, and marketing services,” he says.
“Partnering with Shalom has worked out well,” says Benson-Frazier, founder of BOC & Associates, a Silver Spring, Md.-based construction-management firm. “He has been very supportive of our efforts to expand and to acquire new projects.”
Baranes notes that this relationship grew out of a history of general contractors working at the Pentagon who have dedicated themselves to helping new businesses get started. “It just seemed like there was a need for us to mirror those values,” he says.
