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.