Coleman and Associates

What Coleman and Associates does

Coleman and Associates, Inc. (CAI) is a privately held, family-owned consulting firm founded in 1984 and headquartered in Illinois. The firm provides procurement diversity consulting to the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, helping public agencies, private developers, and minority/women-owned business enterprises (MWDBE) develop, implement, and comply with inclusive procurement programs. CAI's service portfolio comprises four core offerings: Program Assessment & Development, Diverse Business Development Services, Program Support, and Diverse Business Professional Development, supplemented by thought leadership through its blog 'The RFI' and a series of free and fee-based webinars and e-courses.

The business operates as a professional services firm, generating revenue through consulting engagements and training programs. Its go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven, leveraging direct outreach, industry presence, referrals, and content marketing to engage public sector clients, educational institutions, and private developers. CAI's leadership includes Founder/CEO Dr. Fred Coleman III (30+ years in academia and business with a civil engineering background), Co-founder Helen J. Coleman (30+ years managing capital construction at a Big 10 University), and CMO Ayanna Coleman, who also operates a separate digital media consulting firm (Quill Shift LLC). The company has no disclosed external investors, no funding rounds, no patents or proprietary technology stack, and no API or software product. Marketing and customer acquisition are supported by free 30-minute certification consultations, educational webinars (including content tied to the $45 billion Rebuild Illinois Capital Plan), and a monthly newsletter.

CAI's documented client base is concentrated in Illinois, with engagements spanning public schools, mass transit, municipal redevelopment, state public utilities regulation, and higher education procurement. Notable case studies include exceeding M/WBE construction diversity goals from 4% WBE/6% MBE targets to 15% WBE/11% MBE on the $3.9 million Champaign Unit 4 Transportation Services Center project and facilitating disadvantaged business enterprise outreach on the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District Hydrogen Fuel Cell and Bus Infrastructure Project.

Name

Coleman and Associates

Legal name

Coleman and Associates, Inc.

Website

https://coleman-inc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Coleman and Associates is an Illinois-based consulting firm, founded in 1984, that advises public agencies, private developers, and minority/women-owned businesses on procurement diversity programs in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Diversity Consulting Services

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Other Management Consulting Services (541618)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships Advisory (JVs, Alliances, Carve-outs) (BPAHAOAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Labor Relations & Employment Practice Advisory (BPAHAGAK)

Keywords

• Procurement diversity consulting
• MWDBE program development
• Supplier diversity consulting
• Diverse business certification
• Construction diversity programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Champaign

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Diversity Consulting Services: The company generates revenue through consulting engagements focused on procurement diversity program assessment, development, and implementation for public and private sector clients. Services include program assessment, diverse business development, program support, and professional development training.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Coleman and Associates, Inc. is a consulting firm that provides procurement diversity services to public and private sector clients in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. Its core offerings include assessing and developing MWDVBE (Minority, Women, Disadvantaged Veteran Business Enterprise) utilization programs, performing community and vendor outreach and procurement monitoring, supporting RFP/bid processes and vendor prequalification, and delivering professional development through webinars, e-courses, and hands-on coaching for diverse businesses.

Product overview

Coleman and Associates, Inc. is a consulting firm that offers a suite of professional services focused on procurement diversity in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. The core offerings consist of four integrated consulting services: Program Assessment & Development (which evaluates and develops MWDVBE programs), Diverse Business Development Services (which assists businesses with business plans, branding, websites, and certification), Program Support (providing outreach, monitoring, and bid process assistance), and Diverse Business Professional Development (through webinars and e-courses). Additionally, The RFI Blog serves as a content resource for industry insights. These services work together to help public and private sector clients increase utilization of women and minority-owned business enterprises.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Program Assessment & Development Consulting service that assesses current MWDVBE programs for voluntary and statutory requirements, establishes Best Management Practices, develops sustainable architectural/engineering/construction MWDVBE utilization programs, and assists in establishing MWDVBE goals for public agencies and private developers.
• Diverse Business Development Services Consulting service for minority, women, and veteran-owned business enterprises that develops business plans, creates branding materials and professional websites, and provides agency certification assistance.
• Program Support Service offering that performs community and vendor outreach, procurement monitoring, RFP/Bid process support, and vendor prequalification support for clients running MWDVBE construction programs.
• Diverse Business Professional Development Professional development service providing webinars that walk audiences through business solutions, online technical training through e-courses for self-paced learning, and individualized hands-on business process improvement assistance for diverse businesses.

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• BCT Partners: A diversity and inclusion consulting firm that advises public agencies, corporations, and nonprofits on equity, supplier diversity, and inclusive procurement strategy. BCT operates at a larger, multi-state scale but covers the same supplier-diversity and inclusion advisory space as Coleman and Associates.
• Cook Ross: Inclusion and diversity consultancy offering D&I strategy, training, and supplier-diversity advisory to corporate and public-sector clients. Like CAI, Cook Ross monetizes expert advisory around inclusive procurement and organizational change, although with a broader (non-AEC-specific) footprint.
• The Winters Group: Diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firm serving corporations, government agencies, and nonprofits with advisory, training, and supplier-diversity services. Operates in the same professional-services, advisory-driven buyer-supplier-diversity category as CAI.
• MBS Communications: D&I consultancy providing diversity strategy, training, supplier diversity program development, and inclusive leadership solutions. Comparable in service mix (program development + training + advisory) to CAI's four core service lines.

Emerging players

• Supplier.io: SaaS platform for supplier diversity program management, certification tracking, and diverse-spend analytics. An emerging technology-enabled player attacking the same buyer-side supplier-diversity workflow that CAI supports through consulting, representing a potential substitution risk.
• Loop: Supplier-diversity sourcing platform that connects enterprise buyers with diverse and small businesses. Competes for the same wallet share on supplier-diversity program execution that CAI addresses via outreach, pre-bid coordination, and vendor prequalification support.

Broad incumbents

• McKissack & McKissack: Established minority-owned construction management and program management firm with deep AEC project experience and substantial DBE/MBE program leadership. Comparable to CAI through its minority-business ownership and AEC-industry focus, but competes at a much larger infrastructure-program scale.

Regional players

• Apexus: Consulting and program-management firm specializing in small, minority, veteran, and disadvantaged business enterprise development and 340B program support. Operates in the same MWDVBE certification and capacity-building niche as CAI, with comparable advisory-style service delivery.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/colemanassociatesinc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/coleman-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Coleman and Associates