By Yvette Porter Moore
The County of San Diego plays a critical role in the well-being of its residents by expanding access to health and services in areas accessible to the community.
The new Southeastern Live Well Center (SELWC) in San Diego is located on the corner of Market Street and Euclid Avenue at the foot of Emerald Hills. This center will serve as a one-stop location for many important services.
This state-of-the-art community center also is bringing employment and career opportunities into the area, beginning with the various subcontracting opportunities that were made available for certified firms, including Small Business Enterprises (SBE), Veteran-Owned Businesses (VBE), Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (DVBE), and local businesses during its construction.
Black IPO, Inc., is a Black-owned local business founded by Wendell Stemley, President & CEO, in January of 2000 and has been in operation for 22 years. Mr. Stemley is nationally known, including for his time serving as the President of the National Association of Minority Contractors, located in Washington, D.C.
Black IPO’s role at the SELWC is to provide construction management support to PCL’s project management team. The company performs comprehensive project management services, which include: monitoring quality, safety, and engineering. Black IPO, Inc. also oversees budgets, performs cost analysis, and supervises subcontract awards and scope negotiations.
Mr. Stemley was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He came to San Diego after attending Southern University School of Engineering, located in Baton Rouge. He then went to work for General Dynamic Convair, located in San Diego. Mr. Stemley worked on various projects at General Dynamics, in which they were frequently building test stations or better laboratories for testing and integration. It became a natural progression for him to pursue a career in construction by going into business for himself.
Mr. Stemely has been a passionate advocate for the advancement of minority-owned, women-owned, and veteran-owned businesses. Black IPO, Inc. advocates and
develops business relationships between minority businesses and major corporate partners on mega projects.
One of Black IPO’s prided projects in Southeastern San Diego was Lincoln High School. Mr. Stemely had the opportunity to meet Lance Laru, who had contracted Black IPO to be the Construction Manager for San Diego Miramar Community College Automotive Technical Building. Mr. Stemely said, “We also became a staff argumentation construction manager for the modernization of Morse High School in Southeastern San Diego. Morse High School’s upgrade was a much-needed project in our community.”
Mr. Stemely expects great things from his newest project.
“The Live Well Center Project will bring many services to the community,” he said.
Staff on board at the SELWC include Jerry Moss, who is a San Diego resident and serves as a field engineer dealing with site logistics. Veronica Baker, a local resident, serves as the PCL and Black IPO Teams Field Office Manager providing administrative support for the onsite office staff. She also coordinates Black IPO’s onsite sub insurance and billings.
As it is with the County of San Diego and with PCL, diversity is very important to Black IPO, Inc.
“The San Diego area should not lose its commitment to diversity,” said Mr. Stemely. “The County of San Diego is an example of this goal that can be duplicated.”
