Business developmentforFlint AEC firms.
BD-AEC runs business development for Flint architecture, engineering, and construction firms. Your engineers bill $300 an hour, so they should not be the ones chasing the pipeline. Scott runs it instead, working the Flint owners, primes, and public agencies with the relationships that win work long before the RFQ ever drops.
The Flint market
Who buys design and construction here
Flint is a small AEC market, roughly 70 design and construction firms across the metro, which makes it underserved rather than crowded. With so few firms and a handful of repeat public and industrial owners, the people who buy design and construction here already know the people who deliver it.
Flint is a relationship market, not a volume one. About 70 design and construction firms compete across the metro, and demand is unmistakably local. GM's billion-dollar reinvestment across Flint Assembly, the Flint Metal Center, and Flint Engine Operations keeps industrial and facilities work in play, and the Mundy Township megasite, the Advanced Manufacturing District of Genesee County, is the near-term economic-development driver everyone is watching. In a market this concentrated, the same plant engineers, facilities directors, and primes recur project after project.
The other half of demand is public, and it carries history. The water crisis turned the City of Flint and Genesee County into closely scrutinized infrastructure owners. The lead service line program is largely complete now, with the last pipes replaced in 2025, but water-plant modernization, property restoration, and broader public works are still on the table, and they run through owners who watch carefully who delivers. Winning that work is about trust and a track record on sensitive public projects, not the low bid.
That is the opening for a focused BD effort. Owners and residents here have long memories, and the firms that win consistently are the ones already known to the right agencies and institutional buyers. A dedicated director who works the Flint owners directly shortens that runway, because the relationships that decide this market take years to build and almost no technical firm has someone whose only job is building them.
U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns (NAICS 5413, 2022)
GM & advanced manufacturing
General Motors' Flint reinvestment across Flint Assembly, the Flint Metal Center, and Flint Engine Operations, plus the Mundy Township megasite (the Advanced Manufacturing District of Genesee County) as a near-term economic-development driver.
Public infrastructure & water
The City of Flint and Genesee County water systems, post-crisis water-plant modernization and property restoration, the Genesee County Road Commission, and the Genesee County Land Bank.
Healthcare systems
Hurley Medical Center, McLaren Flint, and Ascension Genesys, the three hospital systems anchoring the region's medical capital work.
Higher education
Kettering University, the University of Michigan-Flint, Mott Community College, and Baker College of Flint, a dense campus base with recurring capital programs.
Transportation & regional
MDOT's Bay Region, Bishop International Airport, the Mass Transportation Authority, and Genesee County's public works and engineering programs.
RFPs and bids
Where Flint architecture and engineering work gets advertised
These are the agencies and institutions that put architecture and engineering work out to bid in Flint, and the portals where they post it. Bookmark them. Winning the work is a different job from finding it, and finding it is the part you can do yourself.
City of Flint, Finance Department, Division of Purchases & Supplies
Buys design and engineering for the ongoing lead water service line replacement program, water treatment and Water Service Center work, streets, parks and city facilities. Recent example: RFP 26000550, Grand Traverse Street Bridge Superstructure Replacement, published 06/10/26 with a mandatory pre-bid conference at City Hall.
Genesee County (Purchasing Department, 1101 Beach Street, Room 361, Flint)
Procures county facility, park and housing-rehab design plus construction contracting for the Genesee County Metropolitan Planning Commission. Purchasing Regulations Policy 04.002 Section 3-103 gives the Purchasing Administrator discretion to run professional services as a Request for Qualifications.
Genesee County Road Commission
Designs and builds the county road and bridge system from 211 West Oakley Street, Flint. Hires consulting engineers for design, construction engineering and inspection; engineering contact is the Engineering Department at (810) 767-4920.
Genesee County Drain Commissioner, Division of Water & Waste Services
Operates the regional water distribution and sanitary sewer collection systems. Important nuance: it sells planning, design, construction and project-closeout engineering to local municipalities in-house, so it is both a client and a direct competitor for small-community water and sewer design.
Michigan Department of Transportation, Bay Region
Owns the state trunklines through Genesee County (I-69, I-75, I-475, US-23, M-54). Flint-area projects are run out of the Davison Transportation Service Center, 9495 E. Potter Rd., Davison, MI 48423, one of the Bay Region's four TSCs.
Bishop International Airport Authority
Awards five-year on-call architectural, engineering and planning consultant agreements for its Airport Capital Improvement Program, selected under FAA Advisory Circular 150/5100-14E with AIP DBE participation. Governed by a nine-member board appointed by the Genesee County Board of Commissioners and the City of Flint.
Flint Community Schools
Issues district facilities, roofing and building RFPs through its business office (RFPSubmission@flintschools.org) and mirrors them on the MITN Purchasing Group, the main vertical-construction architecture and engineering buyer inside the city.
Where solicitations are posted
- BidNet Direct, MITN Purchasing Group, City of Flint solicitations
- City of Flint, Division of Purchases & Supplies, Bids & Requests for Proposal
- Genesee County Road Commission, Bids & Auctions
- MDOT Vendor and Consultant Services (RFPs issued via MILogin e-Proposal)
- MDOT Prequalified Service Vendors by Classification/Vendor (PSVR)
How selection works here
Michigan mandates qualifications-based selection only for state-level work under MCL 18.1237b, and EGLE's own State Revolving Fund guidance answers "Does Michigan have a required QBS process?" with a flat "No," relying instead on the federal Brooks Act, which means Flint-area local agencies are free to score price unless federal dollars are in the project (note that CWSRF equivalency projects do require QBS while Drinking Water SRF projects are excluded). On the MDOT side, Genesee County work runs through the Bay Region's Davison TSC and you must hold PSVR prequalification in the exact classifications named in the scope, and anything under $250,000 is never advertised: the project manager emails the scope to a minimum of three prequalified firms off the list, contacting at least one Small Business Program or DBE firm, so for small trunkline jobs the relationship with Davison TSC staff is the whole procurement. Geography pays on locally funded work: City of Flint solicitations carry a 7% price preference for firms inside the city limits plus 3.5% for Genesee County firms, and Genesee County's Purchasing Regulations award "Preferred Businesses" (primary place of business in the county with a property tax filing or assessment paid there in the last 12 months, or a veteran-owned business) an extra 5% of evaluation points, capped at 5 points, on both RFPs and RFQs. Both preferences are expressly void when the funding source prohibits them, which is exactly why the federally funded water line, street and airport work in Flint is winnable by outside firms while locally funded work rewards a Genesee County address.
The Flint bid watchlist
Finding the work is a job in itself. Once a quarter we send this page's market to your inbox: new federal awards in the Flint metro, buyer moves, and portal changes. No pitch, just the market.
Email scott@bd-aec.com with the subject "Flint bid watchlist" and we'll add you.
Federal market
Federal AEC spending in Flint
Federal agencies obligated $2M for architecture, engineering, and construction work in the Flint metro over the last twelve months. Federal is not where this market is won. The work here runs through state, county, municipal, and private owners, which is where we point Flint business development.
Obligated, 12 months
$2M
Across the 1-county Flint, MI area.
Largest buyer
General Services Administration
$2M of the total.
Firms winning it
- Lang Constructors Inc · $2M
- US Diversified Contracting Services Inc · $90K
- Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc · $58K
- Atriax, P.L.L.C · $35K
Federal prime contract awards, USASpending.gov, twelve months to August 2026. Federal work is one slice of this market and excludes state, municipal, institutional, and private owners.
By discipline
BD-AEC in Flint, by discipline
We run business development for Flint AEC firms one discipline at a time, one client per discipline. Open your discipline’s Flint page on the main site for the local picture.
Civil Engineering
Flint business development for civil engineering firms.
Structural Engineering
Flint business development for structural engineering firms.
Architecture
Flint business development for architecture firms.
Land Surveying & Geospatial
Flint business development for land surveying & geospatial firms.
Landscape Architecture
Flint business development for landscape architecture firms.
Construction Management
Flint business development for construction management firms.
Transportation & Traffic Engineering
Flint business development for transportation & traffic engineering firms.
Testing & Special Inspection
Flint business development for testing & special inspection firms.
Why us, here
Why a fractional BD director in Flint
BD-AEC runs business development in Flint, and Scott knows the owners, primes, and public agencies here by name. In a market this small and this scrutinized, that local knowledge is the whole game. It is the difference between a cold proposal that lands on a stranger's desk and a warm introduction to a buyer who already trusts the work you have delivered.
By policy, BD-AEC represents one firm per discipline, project type, and market, an ethical line that protects every client's pipeline. For a Flint firm, that means an exclusive BD partner who will never walk your relationships across the street to a competitor.
Questions
Straight answers
Does BD-AEC actually work the Flint market?
Yes. Scott runs business development in Flint directly, working the owners, primes, and public agencies here rather than from a distance. In a market this small, that means knowing the people who buy design and construction by name, from the industrial and public owners to the institutional buyers.
What kind of AEC firms do you represent in Flint?
Principal-led architecture, engineering, and construction firms, roughly $1M to $20M in revenue, whose senior people are too valuable to spend their week on business development. By policy we take only one firm per discipline, project type, and market, so we never represent two competitors.
How is a fractional BD director different from hiring a salesperson?
A salesperson cold-calls. A fractional BD director is an embedded, senior partner who owns your pipeline: the strategy, the relationships, the teaming, and the pursuit. You get the expertise of a six-figure BD hire without the full-time salary line.
Flint public work is sensitive after the water crisis. Can you help us win it?
Yes, and that sensitivity is exactly why relationships matter here. The City of Flint and Genesee County are closely watched infrastructure owners, and they hire on trust and a track record, not the low bid. Scott works those agencies directly and knows how to position a firm for work that the owners feel they can defend.
How do we start?
Tell us about your firm and your market using the form below. Scott will respond within one business day to set up a discovery call and tell you honestly whether your discipline and market are open.
Talk to Scott
Is your Flint market open?
Tell us your firm and your discipline. Scott will respond within one business day and tell you honestly whether your Flint market is open and what a fractional BD director would do first.
Request a discovery call
Flint AEC firms only. We'll never share your details.
More markets at bd-aec.com