A pril 8, 2009
Page A2
Minority Contracting Goals Achieved
“T h e new p o lic ie s w e ’ve
im plem ented, w hich actively
en courage M W ESB firm s to
work on PDC projects, have re
sulted in a 300 percent increase
in the dollars directed to these
firm s over the past two years,”
said PDC E xecutive D irector
The Portland D evelopm ent Bruce Warner. “ 1 am extremely
C o m m issio n has ann o u n ced proud o f that number.”
In a d d itio n to th e d o lla rs
that minority, women and emerg
p r o je c ts , th e
ing small businesses received sp e n t on
almost 37 percent o f all PDC w o rk fo rce div ersity p o licies
contract expenditures for fiscal PD C im plem ented have pro
duced num bers not previously
year 2007-2008.
The M W ESB firms represent seen on large-scale co nstruc
$42 million out of the $ 114 m il tion projects in Portland.
Minority and female workers
lion expended by PDC. These
contracts include construction represented 28 percent o f all
projects and personal services hours worked on projects which
received som e level o f PDC
contracts.
Portland
Development
Commission
success noted
B ruce W arner
funding. In the South W ater a c o n s tru c tio n w age p o licy ,
front, over 20 percent o f w ork business and w orkforce equity
ers earning their journey card policy, and com m unity-based
(m eaning they com pleted ap w orkforce d iversity advisory
p ren ticesh ip p ro g ram s) w ere committee.
T hese efforts have resulted
minorities.
“W e 'v e a lso been ab le to in the organization’s first-ever
a c h ie v e th e s e s u c c e s s e s in w orkforce diversity goals and
partnership with organized la upcom ing new contractor re
bor,” John Jackley, PDC d irec quirem ents. P D C ’s Board also
to r o f c o m m u n ic a tio n s an d adopted in 2009 a strategic plan
business equity. “ More than 90 goal o f social equity.
By closely w orking with the
percent o f our projects pay pre
vailing wage rates. T hese are National Association o f M inor
family wage jo b s that include ity C o n tra c to rs-O re g o n , the
health insurance benefits which M inority C ham bers o f C o m
m erce an d th e M e tro p o lita n
are im portant for everyone.”
T he developm ent ag e n cy ’s Contracting Im provement Part
com m unity-based model to in nership, the developm ent co m
crease diversity in contracting m issio n fo cu ses on b u ild in g
and w orkforce hiring includes contractor capacity, a renewed
partnership with organized la
bor and support for pre-appren
ticeship program s such as O r
egon T rad esw o m en Inc., the
E v en in g T rad es A p p re n tic e
sh ip P rogram , W orkS ystem s
Inc., Irvington C ovenant, P ort
land Youthbuilders and CAWS
(C onstruction A pprenticeship
and Workforce Solutions)
“Due to the economic climate
we are now experiencing, we
anticipate that total co n stru c
tion spending will slow down
fo r th e c u rren t fisca l y e a r,”
Jackley said. “Nevertheless, we
will w ork to ensure that there is
diverse and inclusive participa
tion in w hatever construction
dollars are available.”
Newsmaker for Community Contributions
PDC’s John
Jackley works
for diversity
The Royal Rosarians held its
annual Newsmakers of the Year
Awards banquet last month cel
ebrating newsworthy contribu
tions to the community.
John Jackley o f the Portland
Development Com mission was
the Portland O bserver’s hon
oree for 2009. The new spaper
was one o f eight media repre
sentatives invited to help be
stow public recognition for spe
cial contributions to the com
munity.
Jack ley is the D irec to r o f
Com m unications and Business
Equity at the PDC, a govern
ment organization that has been
able in the last several years to
achieve construction workforce
diversity perform ance exceed
ing 21 percent people of color
and 36 percent use o f minority,
w om en and em erg in g sm all
business subcontracting firms.
Jo h n Ja c kley o f th e P ortland D e v e lo p m e n t C o m m issio n re c e iv e s a R oyal R o sa ria n s N e w s m a k e r o f th e Y ear aw ard for h is
co n trib u tio n s to a c h ie v e w orkforce d iversity a t PDC. H e w a s n o m in a te d for th e aw ard b y th e P ortland O bserver. A lso
p ic tu re d (from left) are Royal R osa ria n Lord High C hancellor S u e K lobertanz, K a th y L inder o f th e P ortland O bserver,
C harles W ashington, p u b lish e r o f th e n ew sp a p er, a n d R oyal R o sa ria n D en n y B aker.
He is responsible for maximiz-
ing financial resources in the
city ’s urban renewal areas and
for achieving social equity in
its investm ents; directing co m
m u n icatio n s and p u b lic o u t
reach; diversity in contracting
and w orkforce; adm inistration
o f the Board o f Commissioners,
and other political and policy
issues.
Jackley previously served as
executive officer at the Oregon
D epartm ent o f Transportation,
where he helped create a $100
m illion Connect Oregon trans
portation program , supervised
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a $471 million per biennium lo
cal g o v ern m en t co n stru ctio n
program , and led the agency’s
m in o r ity c o n tr a c tin g an d
w orkforce initiatives. He previ
ously served as senior legisla
tiv e a ssista n t in th e O reg o n
Senate D em ocratic Caucus of
fice and as an elected m em ber
o f the West L inn-O regon City
Council.
Before m oving to Oregon, he
w orked as press secretary and
political advisor to m em bers of
the D em ocratic leadership in
the U.S. House o f R epresenta
tives in W ashington, DC. His
first book. Hill Rat: Blowing the
Lid O ff Congress, was a W ash
in g to n P o s t a n d n a tio n a l
bestseller; and was follow ed by
Below The Beltway, a top-sell
ing a c c o u n t o f W a sh in g to n ,
D C ’s p o litical cu ltu re in the
C linton years.
Jackley has provided politi
cal com m entary on the Today
Show, ABC News Nightline, C-
N B C , CSPA N , Fox M orning
N e w s, an d I n s id e E d itio n ,
where he also w orked as a co n
sulting producer. His com m en
tary and review s have appeared
in the N ew York Times, W ash
ington Post, Wall Street Jour
n al, N e w sw e e k , A sso c ia te d
Press, the Economist, and many
others. He previously w orked
for the Council o f the A m ericas
and in the Political Section o f
the U.S. Embassy in the R epub
lic o f Panama.
Jo h n g rad u ated cum laude
from Washington and Lee U ni
versity in Virginia and received
the Certificate o f Public M an
ag e m e n t fro m the A tk in so n
S c h o o l o f B u s in e s s at
W illam ette U niversity in O r
egon.
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T he B lack C itiz e n ’s C o a li
tion o f N eighborhoods is look
ing to stay solvent in d ifficu lt
tim e s. T h e c o a litio n a d v o
cates p o licy m akers on b eh a lf
o f is s u e s f a c in g th e b la c k
com m unity like jo b s, housing,
an d g en trificatio n .
D irecto r W illie B row n says
th e g r o u p is tr y in g to c u t
c o s ts o n an a lre a d y s h o e
string budget m ade up o f small
gran ts. T he gro u p has no paid
staff.
T he o rg an iz atio n is tak in g
th ese step s so that it can b e t
ter fund its p ro g ram s; effo rts
lik e th e s u p p o rt it g iv e s to
resid en ts w ho w ere d isp laced
by H urrican e K atrina and lo
cal kids w ho need help fin d
ing sum m er jo b s, am ong other
iss u e s.
“ A ny d o llars w e can save
are a p lu s,” B row n said.
In o rd er to pinch pen n ies,
the co a litio n is m oving o ut o f
its ren te d sp ace n ex t to the
o ffic e s o f th e P o rtla n d O b
se rv e r at 4 7 4 7 N .E . M artin
L uther K ing Jr. Blvd.
Brow n also noted that his
gro u p is try in g to get funding
fro m th e c i t y ’s O f f ic e o f
N eig h b o rh o o d Involvem ent.
C u r r e n tly , n e ig h b o rh o o d
Willie Brown
o rg an izatio n s can get funding
fro m th e city, b u t sin ce the
co a litio n d o e s n ’t rep resen t a
sp e c ific g e o g ra p h ic are a o f
P o rtlan d , it’s co n sid ered d if
ferent, and n eeds to apply for
th e C iv ic L e a d e r s h ip P ro
gram.
A ccording to B rian H oop,
m an ag er for the c ity ’s n eig h
b o rh o o d reso u rce cen ter, the
co a litio n ap p lied last year for
a $ 6 7 ,0 0 0 grant, but w as u n
su ccessfu l. It did get a $ 2,500
gran t that co u ld be used for a
broad ran g e o f activ ities.