We had the chance to sit down with Vanessa De la Rosa and Brian De la Rosa, the husband-wife duo at DLR Planning. The woman, minority and disadvantaged-owned business, DLR Planning, was started by Vanessa De la Rosa in 2015. Vanessa grew up in Downtown Los Angeles but was born in Pacoima. Vanessa began her career in roles that were on-hands as a field engineer on heavy civil projects and Brian as a brand marketing manager.
Vanessa De la Rosa (Left) & Brian De la Rosa (Right)
What does your company do for the Intuit Dome project? How did your company get involved in the project?
Brian De la Rosa: We provide professional services for first year subcontractors. We assist the project manager to the field superintendent. It helps them focus on high yield and priority tasks; managing orders to staffing.
Vanessa De la Rosa: We bridge the gaps that are needed. Our staff has experience in civil engineering and in the field. We transferred over from working on SoFi from the relationships we had built with the AECOM-Turner Joint Venture.
The pandemic was tough on small businesses, what were some of the obstacles you were able to navigate through during this time?
Brian: Initially, preparing for our projects to stop if necessary. At the time, LAX was our main project. I remember almost crying when it was announced that we would be considered essential workers and that we could continue our work. As a small business, that was our main concern for us and our workers.
Why was it important for DLR Planning to be in the City of Inglewood?
Vanessa: It made sense to have more accessibility for our clients and projects, but mostly to be connected to the community.
Brian: We were sold on Inglewood! We believed in the re-awakening of the City of Champions that Mayor Butts speaks about. That made us want to be a part of Inglewood.
Can you mention some other projects that your company has been a part of?
Vanessa: We were a part of SoFi Stadium, Retail at Hollywood Park, four LAX projects, Long Beach Michelle Obama Library, Wrapper Tower in Culver City, just to name a few.
Is there some advice you can share with small businesses looking to get involved in big projects like the Intuit Dome?
Brian: My best advice would be to respect the process and allow things to be fair. Don’t try to take shortcuts to get ahead or jump over any companies. The two most important things are integrity and respect. Added value equals repeat business.
Vanessa: Spend time creating relationships. This project has team members like Roger Fisher that connect you and allow us to create relationships with the subcontractors. That is how we have been able to get first time clients. Not all projects allow that to happen.
Thank you DLR Planning for sharing your story!