CEO Stories: Dee Brown, P3Group
MAKING PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARNTERSHIPS WORK
According to Brown, people may not be familiar with how public/private partnerships work and the benefits they can bring. A public/private partnership is an agreement between a private sector company and a public body, some unit of government, whereby Brown’s company transfers the risk associated with executing a project. The biggest risk associated with developing a new project is obviously in the design and construction of the project because that’s where substantial cost overruns though delays, through cost increase, etc. are most likely to crop up.
And so under a public/private partnership model, his groups provide all the capital and all the technical expertise to execute, develop, and construct the project. The benefit to the government is they transfer a substantial amount of risk away during the construction phase. They also gain technical expertise in every area of construction from engineering to architectural to all the other professional services required to execute a development. And there is also speed to market.
COMMUNITY IMPACT
Much of Brown’s work is done in underserved communities, building fire stations, municipal court houses, public safety complexes, health units and clinics, and student unions and housing. The approach to working with underserved communities in intentional; Brown feels his staff’s expertise can be a big plus in a place where the kind of experience his team has may be lacking. His team is more than willing to lend expertise; they want to pass it along as part of their mission. Brown’s own childhood growing up in the Mississippi delta helped show him the impact that hope and action could have on underserved communities.
GIVING BACK
P3 runs internship programs, donates money, and has scholarship programs in the communities in which they work. To increase visibility in the communities, they also run a summer math and reading academy through its foundation for kids from kindergarten through third grade. Through the foundation, P3 is also executing projects for HBCUs so they can get projects delivered without having to go to the credit market themselves and take on debt.