Page 18
^ortlanb (Observer
November 24, 2010
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James Posey of Portland (second from right) joins other members of the National Association of
Minority Contractors to meet with U.S. Department of Transportation officials to address contracting
policies that promote diversity with minority and disadvantaged business opportunities.
Relationship Specialist
Stress Management
Grief Counseling
PTSD
Motivational Speaker
Delegates meet
with federal
transportation
officials
D espite legislative guidelines for
inclusive contracting for federally
fu n d e d tra n s p o rta tio n p ro je c ts ,
there are vast disparities in p artici­
pation by D isadvantaged B usiness
E n terp rise (D B E ) co n tra cto rs in
projects throughout the nation.
T o address these issues, Lennie
C hism o f S pringB oard E conom ic
D evelopm ent C orp., led a recent
m eeting w ith U.S. D epartm ent o f
T ransportation officials and rep re­
sentatives from N ational A sso cia­
tion o f M inority C ontractors, in­
cluding leaders from O regon and
M in n eso ta.
Jo in in g the g ro u p w as Jam es
Posey o f Portland, a representative
o f O r e g o n ’s N A M C g r o u p ;
K a th le e n M e y e r a n d C a r lo
L achm ansingh, o f N A M C M inne-
B U S IN E S S D ir e c to r y
ç^USt Q&dlbönS
is G u in n III
503.703.4462
cgiii65@aol.com
Shirlene Carson, O w ner
forali
Occassions
(Div. o f
ExecTrav)
/ State
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Providing Insurance and Financial Services
Home Office. Bloomington, Illinois 61710
Ernest J. Hill, Jr.
Agent
4946 N Vancouver Avenue, Portland, OR 9/217
503 286 1103 Fax 503 2861146 .
erme.hill h5mb@statefarm com
24 Hour Good Neighbor Service®
limi *■■■)
T racey H ick s
503.317.5834
t rahicks@msn.com
www.traceyhicks.com
4932 N E 30th A lberta Street
Portland O R, 97211
503-288-8977 Bus.
503-481-8007 Cell
justballoonsinc @ aol. com
A
sota; and T in a D ortch, ex ecu tiv e
d irecto r o f the national association,
T he group m et w ith C am ille H azeur,
d irecto r and Joseph A ustin, asso ci­
ate director o f U.S. D epartm ent o f
T ran sp o rtatio n ’s Civil R ights D ivi­
sion.
S pringB oard presented a 10-year
report on federally funded tran s­
p o rta tio n p ro je c ts in M in n eso ta
show ing-i less than one percent ( $45
mi 11 ion) o f contracts w as a w arded to
DB E contractors out o f $6 bil lion in
total contract aw ards. A s a result,
C hism m ade a form al request to p ro ­
vide the definition o f non co m p li­
ance for U.S. D O T funded projects
and requested aggressive sanctions
for non-com pliance.
C hism , w ho has been w orking
w ith several N A M C state chapters,
stressed the need to close the eco ­
nom ic achievem ent gap at U.S. DOT.
He spoke to the fact that D B E co n ­
tractors are den ied opportunities or
w ork on D O T projects across the
nation in spite o f state D O T s claim s
o f DB E program com pliance with its
ow n guidelines.
“T here appears to be a lack o f
clarity by the U. S. D O T staff to
access and determ ine co m pliance
w ith D B E contracting g u id elin es,”
C hism explained. “ A s a result, this
has ren d ered D O T efforts fo r in clu ­
sive contracting in effectiv e.”
Posey, a long-tim e civil w ork
co n tracto r in O regon, shared p o si­
tive ex am p les o f his w ork w ith
T riM et, the regional transit agency
in Portland that has built a national
m odel for inclusive contracting and
w orkforce diversity.
H ow ever, P osey also ex p ressed
his frustration w ith the O regon D e­
partm ent o f T ransportation, w hich
has a p o o r record o f D B E p articip a­
tion for a decade follow ed w ith sev ­
eral years o f very lim ited p articip a­
tion o f A frican A m ericans.
He em phasized the fact that even
after discrim ination w as found in a
2007 D isparity Study and hard goals
w ere set for A frican A m erican and
A sian c o n tra c to rs, he w as c o n ­
cerned there w ere ongoing attem pts
to subvert the pro cess by using
firm s that pose as D B E contractors.
Posey also pointed out attem pts
to pit o th er m inority contractors
w ithout hard goals against the A f­
rican A m ericans and A sians. T he
hard goals for A frican A m ericans
and A sians are being fram ed as d i­
m inishing goals and opportunities
for others m inority groups w ho also
have legitim ate disparity claim s, he
said.
M eyer, w ho is N ative A m erican
and a heavy highw ay co n tracto r .
from M innesota, spoke about costly
attem pts to underm ine h er business
th ro u g h c o st m a n ip u la tio n s and
m aterials rejection. She spoke about
dw indling utilization o f m inority
contractors in h er state and d isin ­
centives to stay in business.
L achm ansingh, a lighting supply
contractor, also from M innesota,
ex p ressed d eep co n cern s about the
bidding process and how m inority
contractors are system atically priced
out o f the m arket. H e also presented
a recent exam ple o f how a D O T-
funded light pole project in St. Paul
reflected a 0 percent inclusionary
contracting goal.
The U.S. D O T staff explained they
w ere scheduled to m eet w ith the
M innesota D epartm ent o f T ran s­
portation o fficials, and that they are
currently review ing som e o f the
O D O T certification issues and other
issues in O regon and w ould share
th e s ta tis tic s S p rin g b o a rd p r e ­
sen ted .
H azeur indicated she w ould p ro ­
vide feedback to C hism follow ing
h er state level m eetings and stated
she could not co m m en t on sanc­
tions.
F o r m o re in fo rm a tio n a b o u t
SpringB oard, visit sb 5 0 1 c3 .o rg ; and
m ore inform ation about N A M C O r­
e g o n (N A M C O ) v is it N A M C -
O reg o n .o rg .