July 31, 2025
June is Pride Month and Pride is such a special time for so many people in our organization and community. Each year, the Port proudly joins the national celebration of Pride to honor the LGBTQIA+ community’s profound contributions to our history, culture, and progress. This month, the Diversity in Contracting team had a chance to interview Trish Drew, owner of DCW Cost Management, to spotlight her illustrious career and business. We are excited to share her story with other LGBTQIA+-owned, diverse, and small businesses looking to work with the Port.
Background
Tell us a little about your professional background and what inspired you to start DCW Cost Management.
I’ve been in and around the construction industry my entire life. My father was an engineer and gave me my introduction to the blue-collar industry. He taught us how to change the oil in our cars and when I was a kid, he bought my brothers and me radios to build, and kits that taught us how to solder. That’s where my fascination with putting things together came from.
In 1978, I joined the painter’s union because the boat building firm I worked for needed some painters. I joined their apprenticeship program as the only woman in the program and after five years I became a master painter. Through that experience I learned about the pace people work and how that really impacts the cost of projects. That experience led me to work for a series of painting firms and general contractors in the mid-80s where I worked on a lot of public sector projects. Ultimately, there was a general contractor that needed a cost estimator. I got the job and that’s when my cost estimating career began.
After starting as a cost estimator, I worked to get a designation as a Certified Professional Estimator (CPE) in 1991 and then became a chief estimator. I then decided I wanted to get into cost consulting specifically so in 2000, I went to work for a smaller firm that did exactly that, which opened doors for me to work on much larger projects. Working for that company for eight years exposed me to estimating projects in infrastructure, roadways, commercial buildings, embassies, civic parks, civic buildings and more. That company was acquired by a much larger company and this now much bigger firm focused its efforts on incredibly large-scale projects and I was no longer able to work with the smaller architectural firms that used to be my clients. I knew at some point I needed to start my own company, but I wasn’t sure exactly when.
Oddly enough, I vested in my pension through the painter’s union and I ended up with a pension I was unaware of. The rule was that I could begin collecting my pension at age 50, so on February 3, 2013, I started DCW Cost and used my pension money to start and fund my company! I began my company from home and was scared as heck but thankfully, my architecture clients followed me, and I was able to hit the ground running.
Can you tell us more about your company, and the services you provide?
We are third-party cost consultants, and we offer construction management services. For construction management, we enjoy projects that help smaller communities. This is where we can make the greatest impact. Right now, we’re working on a much-needed expansion for a senior center in Orting, WA. For our cost consultancy specialty, we cover everything - parks, any kind of seismic upgrades, large transportation projects that include maintenance facilities; you name it. Our firm does about 400 projects a year and it’s cool to be able to walk through the city and see the work we’ve done.
As cost consultants, we represent the taxpayer, providing checks and balances ensuring that costs are accurate and responsible. General contractors can have some really good estimators but because that’s not the sole focus of their company, it’s possible for their estimates to be less accurate than ours. We track the market every day, understand price escalations, track how tariffs are impacting costs, etc. We’re there to mitigate any risk that could be in the project. For example, if an independent cost estimator is not utilized, a contractor could say a project is $1M, but once they’ve received cost estimates from their subcontractors, all of a sudden it’s $2M. DCW specializes in offering the most accurate cost of a project, making sure everything is being paid for in a functional way, and coming up with solutions for problems before they happen. We offer our support from project conception to project end.
What projects have you worked on at the Port? What did it take to secure those projects?
Most of the projects we’ve been on with the Port have been contracted through architectural or engineering firms. The earliest project with the Port I can remember was a cost estimating Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) in 2015 and since then, we’ve done multiple cost estimating IDIQs with engineering firms at the airport. We’ve also done a lot of electrical projects and have completed other projects on the A Gates and widening arrivals. We’ve worked in the capacity of contractors and consultants and have subcontracted with firms like Hoffman, Casne, Hunt Engineering, and a handful of others. DCW has a lot of client/partners where we enjoy regular repeat business. Another way we have gotten our projects is by sending our contacts RFPs and RFQs that could be a collaborative opportunity for us. We want our contacts to know we are ready to partner and not have to guess who they should work with on a contract.
What do you wish you would have known before you began government work?
I wish I knew how many opportunities there were to contract with government agencies and how I could position my firm best to receive those opportunities. There are so many opportunities. We’ve worked in all municipalities and cities in Washington, Oregon, and California. We’ve also worked in other areas of the country with some of our architectural partners. Regarding agencies in Washington, we’ve worked for Sound Transit, have done Tribal projects, and have been able to receive a massive amount of work with City of Seattle.
We have enough experience to know that although government projects can be sizeable, that doesn’t mean the budget isn’t tight. In the private sector, budgets aren’t always finite even though there is a realm of cost they want to stay in. I appreciate the tight budget in government contracting though because we want to make sure we’re making the most of taxpayer dollars and it invites us to be focused on efficiency.
Advice for Business Owners
What advice do you have for other WMBE/small businesses when it comes to finding opportunities and bidding for Port projects?
Commit to being on VendorConnect every morning. First thing, every morning, that’s where you go. That will give you quite a leg up. Get on every single roster that makes sense. Small works rosters and the plan holders lists on solicitations within your scope of work are great because you’ll be notified of relevant contracting opportunities automatically. When you’re on those rosters and see a contracting opportunity, read in depth what the project requires and what their plans are. If it doesn’t fit you, find the firm it does fit and make that connection because that’s how you build relationships and partnerships.
In my experience, the theme has always been the people. This is a people business no matter what. In this industry, you will find that a good handful of your opportunities will come from connecting with others. There are a variety of organizations, groups, and events that will present the opportunity to connect with others. My favorite way to connect is one-on-one. Whether it’s coffee or going into someone’s office, I really like the person-to-person connections I’m able to make. The conversations can be meaningful when there is an exchange of information. For instance, when I go to a client’s office and they have some of their junior architects in the office, I can talk about the state of the market and what is happening in a certain town or city for projects so they can spread that information to their clients. You also want to understand what’s important to them. If we’re working for the Port but our client is an architect or engineering firm on the contract, we want to make sure that the relationship between our client and the Port is successful. That’s the most important thing to our company.
What advice do you have for other WMBE/small businesses that have just secured their first Port project and are about to begin work?
If one hasn’t been called for, set up a kickoff meeting with all the stakeholders. You need to understand what prompted the project to begin with, why it’s happening, and who it’s happening for. This is critical because it allows everyone to start on the same page. When the kickoff doesn’t happen, projects can get off track.
Hypothetically, there’s a team that’s working with the Port and they’re doing great. Conversations are happening and teams are making plans. Then they send us the cost estimate of the project, but we don’t know what’s the most important to each party because we were left out of those conversations. We go in and we price the project, and the client wants to know how much a specific element of the project will cost but we could have saved time if we were in those initial conversations. The worst thing that happens is if we are unaware of the budget, and we price something far higher than the budget, there isn’t much time to warn you. Once again, we track the market, and price hikes so if we knew that a specific element of a project would be more costly and take us over budget, we would’ve had the chance to plan for that ahead of time by being in that initial meeting. There’s nothing worse than getting a big bad surprise in this industry. At the beginning of the project, the client hasn’t spent any money. Where we can really affect costs is at the beginning where we have the ability to influence the cost by 80%.
Pride Month
What does Pride Month mean to you?
Pride month has meant different things to me throughout my life. Early on it was about the protests and being visible just so we could be members of the human race. Then it became about celebration and recognition. I spent a lot of time in DC on the National Aids Memorial Quilt (NAMES Project). It was interesting seeing presidents fly away the weekend of the major display of the quilt but also lifechanging to see presidents recognize the lives of those who were in made to be invisible.
What experiences or challenges have you had that are unique to being a LGBTQIA+ business owner?
I don’t know if I can speak to challenges. I feel like challenges are quite personal, but I can say I make a lot of decisions based on who I am. Every person I hire must have the component of respect for all. We’re here to appreciate one another. We’re here to appreciate the talents and attitude you bring. But also, to be respectful to yourself, one another, and the client. It’s about respect. That culture I instill in my company comes from being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.
How do you and/or your business celebrate Pride Month?
To be honest, we don’t have much of a formal celebration of Pride Month at the office, but we support Resilient Hearts Animal Sanctuary which is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dog and cat rescue organization based in Seattle, WA that’s LGBTQIA+-owned. 100% of adoption fees of towards helping us save more high-risk animals, and unite them with their forever families in the pacific northwest! Nevertheless, we respect everyone’s decision to celebrate as individuals. We allow people to take the time off they need to support certain organizations this month but truly we do that all year long. If someone is looking to celebrate Pride Month by supporting organizations that LGBTQIA+-owned, I encourage them to volunteer for those organizations that are led by LGBTQIA+ initiatives or elevate the voices from the LGBTQIA+ community.
We are grateful beneficiaries of Trish’s effective leadership and DCWs collaboration. The contributions of the LGBTQIA+ community has informed so much of our work here at the Port and we are a more inclusive place because of their example of allyship to so many others. Check out how the Port celebrated Pride at this year’s Seattle Pride Parade! Also, the Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises (OMWBE), in partnership with the Washington State LGBTQ Commission, is proud to announce the launch of its newest certification category: LGBTQ-owned small businesses. On July 25th OMWBE will begin accepting applications for this certification so be sure to stay tuned in to the OMWBE website.
