Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver, LLC Now Represent Notable MBE/DBE Contractor M. Luis Construction Co.

The firm of Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver, LLC is pleased to announce further success and recognition for their client, M. Luis Construction Co., a minority, woman- and family-owned business in the State of Maryland. The law firm is proud to represent the only Minority and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (MBE/DBE) road construction and asphalt plant owners in the state.

Cidalia Luis-Akbar and Natalia Luis are president and vice president, respectively, of M. Luis Construction Co., a company founded by their parents. The sisters were originally headed in different directions in their careers, but they learned all aspects of running a contracting company at their parents' firm and at American Hauling and Paving, which they founded in 2000. Today, M. Luis Construction delivers road construction and maintenance services to state and local governments. Services also include asphalt manufacturing, milling and grinding, asphalt overlay and maintenance programs, concrete paving, streetscapes, and snow removal. The sisters are growing the firm and working on becoming a first priority subcontractor to general contractors.

"We are delighted to play a part in this success story," said Scott Livingston, counsel and partner at the firm. "The achievements of M. Luis Construction are an inspiration to many, and it's an honor for us to represent the company as they grow and face new challenges ahead."

The construction firm has enjoyed tremendous success and recognition, particularly over the past few years. Enterprising Women magazine recently announced the selection of Cidalia Luis-Akbar and Natalia Luis as winners of its 2013 Enterprising Women of the Year Award. The sisters were featured on the cover of Washington Smart CEO magazine, as well. In May 2013, Natalia and Cidalia were selected as Finalists in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Maryland Program. M. Luis Construction was featured in Forbes magazine in 2011, and the Daily Record named Cidalia one of Maryland's Top 100 Women in 2011.

The family has a personal focus on philanthropy, as well. At the 2013 Heroes Curing Childhood Cancer Gala, M. Luis Construction sponsored the event and raised more than $683,000 to benefit pediatric cancer patients at Children's National Medical Center. Other charitable and volunteer relationships include the FBI's Citizen's Academy, an outreach program for high-risk children, the Ayenda Foundation, which recently built a school for boys and girls in Afghanistan, the Latino Students Fund, and Beauvoir, the National Cathedral elementary school.

Manuel and Albertina Luis founded the M. Luis Construction Co. in 1985 after emigrating from Portugal to the U.S. Company assets then were a truck and a wheelbarrow. Sisters Cidalia and Natalia assumed company ownership in 2008, but their parents remain active in the company and all four still discuss major decisions, according to the sisters.

Effective July 1, 2013, Maryland attorneys Arnold M. Weiner and Alan M. Rifkin merged their legal practices to become Rifkin, Weiner, Livingston, Levitan & Silver LLC. The firm's thirty attorneys work in offices in Baltimore, Annapolis, Bethesda and Upper Marlboro. Partner and counsel for M. Luis Construction, Scott A. Livingston Esq. is the author of "Contracting with the State of Maryland" as well as many legal articles and a monthly newsletter on the state's competitive bidding statutes.