More than 30 Arizona businesses have officially signaled interest in bidding for a piece of President Donald Trump’s multi-billion dollar border wall project, according to records obtained by ABC15.
Across the country, 584 companies responded to a pre-solicitation notice posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website by signing up as “interested venders.”
Thirty-three of those companies show an Arizona address.
“All we want is to have the opportunity,” said Marc Winkelman, President of CMJ Systems, which has an office in Tempe. “We have a technology that we think will have a benefit to building the border wall.”
The list of Arizona companies is diverse and includes large construction firms that do work across the country to small one-man crews that perform residential welding projects.
ABC15 contacted the majority of Arizona companies. However, only a few responded.
Some businesses told ABC15 that right now they are in a holding pattern; waiting for more details and official packages to bid on. One business owner believed there would opportunities for large and small businesses.
Trump’s administration has posted an aggressive procurement schedule, and officials have already pushed back some initial deadlines for the project.
This week, new details were released about the proposed wall and final request for proposal (RFP), which could be posted any day.
“Detailed requirements will be included in the RFP, but for planning we anticipate procuring concrete wall structures, nominally 30 feet tall, that will meet requirements for esthetics, anti-climbing, and resistance to tampering and damage,” according to the pre-solicitation notice.
After entering the official RFP process, businesses are also being asked to send in “concept papers of their prototypes.” Once received, federal officials will select finalists to submit final bids.
Winkelman is hoping his company’s unique concept is considered.
Instead of using straight concrete, Winkelman is hoping to layer the concrete mortar with used carpet (picture examples in the video above). He said there are billions of tons of carpet tossed in landfills ever year that can be cheaply and easily used.
“We’re like that voice in the wilderness hoping somebody will hear us and see what we got,” he said.
Winkelman is also not deterred by the controversial nature of the project.
“It’s sad that we even have to think about that,” he said. “We can’t be operating out of fear that that can happen.”
Contact ABC15 Investigator Dave Biscobing at dbiscobing@abc15.com.
