Colorado stimulus board boosts minority-outreach effort - Austin Business Journal:

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And officials with the Coloradok Department of Transportation told the board they will recommend the agencu review how it handles complaints abouf road and bridge contracts and the use ofthesde small, minority- and woman-owned Maranda Pleau, the small business coordinatotr for Greeley-based general contractor , will join the Colorado Economic Recovery and Accountability Board June 29, chairmanj Don Elliman said durinyg a board meeting Her job is to ensure minority businesses are awared of contracts related to the stimulus package, Elliman The moves come in response to a complaint from Hamon Contractorx Inc.
in Denver over a bridger repair project paid for with money from the Americanj Recovery andReinvestment Act. Hamon lost a bid Apri 16 to rebuild two bridges over Interstate 76 inAdamws County. The lowest bid for the contract camefrom Centennial-based , which bid $8 million for the project, nearlyu 15 percent under CDOT’s estimate of $9.4 million. Statse contracts are typically awarded to thelowest bidder.
But Hamonn objected to CDOT awarding the projectto Sema, sayinyg Sema didn’t make a "good-faith effort" to hire enoug minority subcontractors, according to a June 3 letterr from Mark Cavanaugh, director of the Governor’s Economic Recoveryh Team, to the accountability CDOT reviewed the complaint, and Sema’s efforts to get minority businesses involved in the bridge contract. The review concludedx Sema metthe agency’s threshold for trying and CDOT formally awarded the project to the company, CDOT executive directoer Russ George said. But CDOT wants to revieq how it handles future complaintw about using disadvantaged businesses onstate contracts.
Celinza Benavidez, director of administration for CDOT, told the accountability boardc she will recommendthe agency’s commissionersz form a review committee involving members of the agency, interesgt groups, industry, the attorney general’s office, and federal transportatio n officials. How to gather input from minorityu businesses about their experience with aprime contractor. At the Hamon attorney Seth Firmender thanked CDOT for beinf willing to review the Helga Grunerud, executive director of the Hispanic Contractors of Colorado, also praised CDOT’s move, saying, "W believe we’ve been heard.
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