The oldest African American family-owned and operated civil engineering and consulting firm in North Texas celebrated its 40th birthday in November. Dikita Enterprises, led by Eve Williams, president and chief executive officer and daughter of the founder and chairman Lucious L. Williams, sees a bright future after four decades in business.
“We have discovered our niche and it is driven by paying close attention to our clients and their needs,” said Eve, who took over the leadership of the company from her father in 2010 after serving as its Chief Financial Officer for 27 years having received a MBA in accounting from the University of Texas at Arlington. “We know we must exceed the expectations and provide services our clients may have overlooked,” she added.
The company provides a variety of services in aviation, education, hospitals, highways, transit, and transit market research industries including planning, data analysis, and reporting, transit market research, and program management. The first major client for the firm was the Frank Crowley Court Building on River Front Blvd. for Dallas County in 1986. The firm provided civil, electrical, and structural engineering design.
Dikita, which has two offices in Dallas and Fort Worth, has recorded several firsts in the engineering field. It was the first African American company to become a program manager for Dallas ISD and its Bond Program of 2015 whereby the firm is one of three responsible for managing the $1.6 billion worth of capital improvement including construction of nine new and replacement schools; expansion of facilities and 326 classrooms; land acquisition and educational program.
“They have been excellent,” said Lew Blackburn, former Board President and Trustee for Dallas ISD. “The projects have been on time and budget,” Blackburn added.
The company also served as the Program Manager in 2015 to the Lancaster ISD as well, overseeing architecture design and construction of 2 new elementary schools (Pleasant Run and West Main); one 9th grade remodel, the Barack & Michele Obama 9th grade campus; and one middle school to be opened for August 2020 school year (Elsie Robertson). Those services included budget review, quality assurance, cost estimates, constructability review, and overall contractor management.
“We strive to create value,” said founder and chairman Williams who led the firm for over 30 years and is still active as its Governmental Affairs officer. “My daughter makes sure we consistently let our employees know if we made a promise to our clients, keep your promise and exceed expectations.”
A key executive in the bond program management area for the company is Walter Dansby. A Fort Worth native, Dansby is a senior vice-president and program executive for the firm. He has more than 40 years of experience in the Public-School system where he has served as a Coach, Assistant Principal, Principal, Executive Director of Instruction, Associate Superintendent and Superintendent. As Deputy Superintendent, he was responsible for a $593.6 million capital improvement program, which was completed on time and under budget, successfully building five new schools, nine additional and extensive refurbishment of athletic facilities and over 130 campuses.
“No question our growth in this area has been Walter’s tremendous experience,” says Eve. “His background and leadership are invaluable.”
A hallmark of the company is its status with clients, particularly Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). The firm enjoys a 32-year relationship with the public transit entity.
“We would not be where we are without our services to DART,” said Eve. “Working with Dikita has been excellent. Dikita has been competent, capable, timely, responsive and completely professional in responding to our needs. I know who they are. They make sure things get done,” said Gary Thomas, president, and executive director of DART.
Dikita is a certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), Historically Underutilized Business (HUB), Small Business Enterprise (SBE) in over 19 states including Texas, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Florida, Arizona, New York and Washington, D.C.
Please pass on my congratulations to Lucious and Eve on Dakota’s 40th anniversary. I had the pleasure of working with Dikita in 1987,, when the company was relatively new. I was leading the London Transport International team of consultants assisting DART in planning their bus network. Dakota were a valued part of our team, and I was delighted to read belatedly that Lucious and Eve are still going strong.