October 19, 2016
The
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INSIDE
Week in Review
This page
Sponsored by:
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O PINION
M ETRO
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Multnomah County commissioners, state lawmakers, judges and many other guests attend an Oct. 4
groundbreaking ceremony for a new central courthouse, downtown. The county is reaching out to the
public as it recruits a diverse group of workers to build the $300 million, 17-story building.
Equity for Courthouse Build
Aggressive goals set
for a diverse workforce
M iChael l eighton
t he P ortland o bserver
Multnomah County has set a high bar for hiring
a diverse group of workers to build a downtown
courthouse to replace the existing county court-
house which is more than 100 years old.
Two public outreach events to discuss the con-
tracting process and the anticipated work required,
will be held this month as a groundbreaking for the
$300 million project has just gotten underway.
Building a new 17-story courthouse with 44
courtrooms is expected to provide 500 family wage
jobs. The county says it has set aggressive goals for
many of those employment opportunities to be filed
by disadvantaged, minority-owned, woman-owned
and emerging small businesses.
by
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Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
C LASSIFIEDS
C ALENDAR
F OOD
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Aspirational goals for both minority apprentice
level and journey level workers on the project was
set at 20 percent or more of the total trades work-
force in each category. For women, the goal is for
females to hold 25 percent of the construction jobs,
both at the apprentice and journey levels.
“This is going to be one of the largest public
works projects in this region, probably over the next
several years,” said Oregon Senate Co-Chair of the
Joint Ways and Means Committee Richard Devlin
at the Oct. 4 groundbreaking ceremony. “People
should understand the more that you require women
to be apprentices on these project, the more women
will be available to be journey level partners on this
project.”
The central courthouse project team has worked
with local trade unions to develop a labor agreement
and set the goals for minority and women appren-
C ontinued on P age 5
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Input Wanted on PDC Spending
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The Portland Development
Commission is hosting a public
forum on Thursday, Oct. 20 to
gather input on how to spend $32
million in remaining property tax
revenues for economic develop-
ment in the Interstate Corridor
Urban Renewal Area of north and
northeast Portland.
The meeting, scheduled from 5
p.m. to 8 p.m. at New Song Com-
munity Center, 220 N. Russell St.,
will help PDC officials prioritize
strategic investments meant to
foster economic prosperity among
disadvantaged populations, in-
cluding African Americans and
people of color.
The goal is increase employ-
ment and wealth creation opportu-
nities for long-term and returning
residents, business and property
owners, strengthen community
capacity to produce economic op-
portunities and support cultural
and community assets.
For more information, contact
PDC Senior Project Manager Kim-
berly Moreland at 503-823-3220 or
email ~ morelandk@pdc.us.