About Us

Adriane Sanford

Principal and Owner – The Sanford Group, LLC

From the early days of her career, Adriane Sanford recognized the challenges experienced by the small and minority business community. As Director of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT)- Construction Development Center (CDC) she experienced firsthand the impact of the struggles of small and minority businesses to be successful. While at the CDOT-CDC, Adriane formed strategic alliances and partnered with community stakeholders resulting in a 100% increase in the number of technical and business development workshops and training. She also outreached and sought new opportunities for enhanced supportive service delivery for federally funded million-dollar grant programs authorized by the USDOT. It was those experiences that helped her develop the understanding and passion that motivated her to establish The Sanford Group, LLC (TSG).

Overtime, Adriane Sanford founder and principal of The Sanford Group, LLC (TSG) has earned an industry reputation for her passion to deliver solutions that help develop and expand the number of small and minority contractors in the construction and transportation marketplace. Through this effort, TSG has successfully directed the utilization of over $2.5 billion in subcontracted dollars to small, minority and women-owned businesses on major construction, transportation and capital projects that have been valued at multi-billions of dollars.

The Sanford Group, LLC provides diversity consulting services, contract compliance monitoring, outreach & communications strategy, public information/engagement and minority business growth strategies to both the private and public sectors. We assist our private and/or public sector clients in meeting the targeted diversity participation goals for their organizations and major infrastructure projects. We provide guidance in understanding the small, minority and women-owned procurement and contract requirements and/or collaborate with them on developing their proposals and bid packages through the procurement processes. Once the contract is awarded, we work beside our client to strategically utilize small businesses, resolve challenges, maximize opportunity with budget/timeline as a priority and foster relationships with small businesses.

The Sanford Group, LLC brings a strong background of industry experience, knowledge and leadership skills to their clients in a variety of markets to include:

Government:
     ● Transportation
     ● Design/build
     ● Construction
     ● Prime Contractors

Private Sector:
     ● Economic Development Markets
     ● Organizations
     ● Disadvantage Business Enterprise and Small/ Minority/Women Business Enterprises
     ● Leadership

As an SBDC Certified Business Developer Consultant with the CDOT-Connect2DOT program and the SBDCs, she understands the many challenges small and minority businesses incur operating, sustaining and growing a business in the construction and transportation marketplace. TSG designs, develops and implements capacity building curriculums, workshops and provide strategic planning consultation to strengthen the capacity and capabilities of the small business contracting community.

The Sanford Group, LLC has a long and proven history of understanding the needs of the small and minority businesses. Our long history of extensive community involvement and working relationships with trade associations, non-profit organizations, local government agencies and municipalities, provide us with the unique perspective and understanding of the challenges faced by the small business contracting community. We are considered “industry experts” by many executive leaders in the industry and known as strong advocates by the small and minority business community.

The Sanford Group, LLC strong leadership and community involvement for the past twenty-five (25) plus years has allowed us to stay informed about the industry challenges and changes. As well as working with the government sector to help make changes that improved their ability to be more inclusive of small and minority business participation in the marketplace. Leadership and community involvement has been inclusive of but not limited to the following:

     ● SBDC Cares Act and Federal Relief Team
     ● City and County of Denver Co-Chairperson of the Construction Empowerment Initiative (CEI) Committee
     ● City and County of Denver Workforce Task Force
     ● City and County of Denver Rules and Regulations subcommittee
     ● City and County of Denver Disparity Study Subcommittee
     ● CDOT Construction Small Business Forum
     ● RTD Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Advisory Committee (DBEAC) Member
     ● City and County of Denver 2016 thru 2018 Ordinance subcommittee

Our quest for excellence will be built on the following:

     ● Core Values
     ● Promoting and Nurturing Organizational Excellence
     ● Customer Service Focus and Service Excellence

These fundamental principles will provide the substance for our activities. Our performance will be guided by these principals and we will be relentless in the pursuit of these goals.