Minority & Small Business
WEEK
Special Edition
‘City
of
Roses’
Volume XLVII • Number 39
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • October 3, 2018
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver
Raimore Construction, an African-American owned and majority black company, is blazing the trail for small, minority-owned businesses by landing major contracts for
construction work, including TriMet and the City of Portland. Pictured (from left) outside their northeast Portland headquarters are members of the diverse Raimore team,
Jesse Jackson, Jeff Moreland Jr., Mike Taylor, Ashley Henry, Co-founder and Owner Jeff Moreland Sr., Deangelo Moaning, Bill Bruce, Lauri Moreland, and Deb O’Dell.
Biggest Chair at the Table
D anny p eterson
t he p ortlanD o bserver
From humble beginnings to win-
ning multi-million dollar contracts,
the black-owned construction compa-
ny Raimore Construction of northeast
Portland has proved what positive
benefits can happen to communities of
color when government agencies and
other private contractors invest in con-
tracting with small and minority busi-
nesses.
Raimore Construction was formed
by Jeff Moreland Sr. and Andre Rai-
ford, whose last names combined to
form the company’s namesake. The
by
Black-owned firm grows
into major employer
firm’s ties to TriMet started in 1999
when it provided flagging and trucking
services for the transit agency’s Inter-
state Max project. Since then they’ve
grown from just two employees to 80
and expanded their skill sets, providing
streetscape and structural steel work.
The company is now in line to land
the largest ever contract for a Disad-
vantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)
in the state of Oregon for TriMet’s new
Division Transit Project, a contract that
is estimated to be worth $60-$65 mil-
lion. The size of the job is expected to
graduate Raimore out of its status as a
DBE.
“We’re just super excited. To us, it’s
like the biggest chair to the table that
we’ve ever had,” said Bill Bruce, Rai-
more project manager and the compa-
ny’s second-in-command.
The business relationship between
Raimore and TrMet is 20 years in the
making and has brought economic sta-
bility to a minority-owned firm that has
a workforce that is more than 50 per-
cent minority based.
Raimore also has gained the ability
to manage multiple subcontractors who
are often fledgling minority business-
es themselves, mentoring and helping
them grow along the way. Members of
Moreland’s family also work for the
company.
C ontinueD on p age 7