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i jflortlanit (Observer 44
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VolumeXLIV
Number 49
City 0 / Roses
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Established in 1970 j i p s - i y F
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday
Wednesday • • December
December 10.
10. 2014
2014
C Committed
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i i n to C Cultural
n l h i r ^ l D Diversity
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ted
Growth with a Justice Lens
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TriMet
construction
helps level the
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W hen it opens in 2015, the Portland-
M ilw aukie L ight R ail T ransit Project w ill im ­
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When representatives of minority-owned companies and diversity in the workforce gathered Thursday for a Tri Met celebration
of doing business with Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) firms, they saw some of the first testing of LED lights on
the new Tilikum Crossing bridge near 0MSI, part of the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project.
prove transit and co n n ectio n s throughout
the region. B ut the project has been benefit­
ing the co m m u n ity since co nstruction began
in 2011, especially sm all firm s ow ned by
p eople o f co lo r and w om en, o r D isadvan­
taged B usiness E nterprise (D B E ) firm s.
T he im pact from the $ 1.49 billion project
w as m ade clear during T riM e t’s second an­
nual D B E /Sm all B usiness celebration last
T h u rsd a y at O M S I. T he tra n sit ag en cy
shared the results o f its efforts to rem ove
barriers and increase contracting o p p ortuni­
ties fo r people o f co lo r and w om en in both the
professional and construction fields.
T riM et G eneral M an ag er N eil M cF arlane
said the diversity his agency ach iev ed in
term s o f em p lo y m en t and contracting w as a
ju stic e issue that the transit agency w as
proud to advance and a value T riM et w ould
n ev er b ack aw ay from .
“W hen w e co m m itted to expanding our
transit system w ith this project, w e m ade a
prom ise to m axim ize this investm ent fo r e v ­
eryone in the co m m u n ity ,” M cF arlane said.
“W e are delivering on that prom ise beyond
ju s t grow ing o u r tran sit system . This p roject
has been an eco n o m ic cataly st that has
helped grow o u r econom y and all co m m uni­
ties along the w ay.”
So far, the project has set a record for
contracting for any regional project, w ith 538
firm s participating in the w ork and 80 percent
o f them from O regon. O f those com panies,
130 are D B Es, representing nearly 25 percent
o f all contracting firm s em ployed on the
project.
T o date, alm ost 12,800 jo b s have been
created. T w enty-five percent o f the co n ­
struction jo b s are held by people o f co lo r and
o v er 17 percent by apprentices, officials said.
W ith this influx o f new labor, the D B E p ro ­
gram is not only providing jo b s now , but
creating the w orkforce o f the future. The
light rail project is also bringing fam ily-w age
jo b s to m ore o f the re g io n ’s residents.
By promoting a level playing field, T riM et’s
D B E program is the envy o f o th er g o v ern ­
m ental ju risd ictio n s.
continued
on page 4