Inclusive Contractor's Playbook
Helps clean energy leaders expand their business by strengthening contactor relationships.
Contractor Capacity Turns Demand Into Delivered Results
As clean energy investment accelerates, companies are facing a growing challenge: building contractor networks that can scale alongside demand.
The Inclusive Contractor’s Playbook helps clean energy companies, middle market firms, and ecosystem partners build stronger and more inclusive contractor supply chains through practical strategies for contractor identification, capacity assessment, access to capital, and technical assistance.
Grounded in real-world implementation, the Playbook provides a flexible framework organizations can adapt to strengthen project delivery while meeting their climate and equity objectives.
The Playbook
The Inclusive Contractor's Playbook provides a clear four step approach on how to build contractor capacity in a way that is practical, collaborative, and adaptable to any organization, turning partnerships into a competitive advantage.
Steps to Contractor Capacity Building
The Four Steps:
01 / IDENTIFY CONTRACTORS
Start the procurement process by identifying reliable partners whose goals and values align with your mission. Make contractor identification and evaluation an ongoing, evolving process that adapts as your organization grows.
Goals for contractor identification
Use our Evaluation Framework to assess which contractors are most aligned.
02 / ASSESS NEED
Once a contractor partner is identified, conduct a Needs Assessment to evaluate strengths and gaps.
Goals for assessing needs
Use our Needs Assessment Questions for contractor support to help in creating mission aligned partnerships.
03 / ENABLE FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Financial support doesn’t have to mean direct funding; you can create impact by connecting contractors to partners that provide access to capital and financial resources.
Goals for enabling financial support
The Center by Lendistry offers Loan/Financing Resources to determine your capital needs and readiness.
04 / TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Connect your contractors to a range of supports, including training, access to capital, subcontractors, and new business opportunities.
Goals for technical assistance
Use our Evaluation and Metrics Template to track success as you work with your contractors in capacity building activities.
Is Your Business Ready?
Have a clear reason for investing in contractor capacity.
Support long-term, partnership-based contractor relationships.
Have staff time to manage contractors beyond individual projects.
Engage in ongoing communication and feedback.
Have mission-aligned criteria for identifying contractors.
Open to working with contractors at different growth stages.
Conduct honest needs assessments with contractors.
Connect contractors to technical assistance or external resources.
Track contractor performance and capacity-building outcomes.
Get in the Game
Get your business started by using the resources below: