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

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Maranda Pleau, the small businesw coordinatorfor Greeley-based general contractor , will join the Coloradi Economic Recovery and Accountability Boarf June 29, chairman Don Elliman said during a boar d meeting Thursday. Her job is to ensurde minority businesses are aware of contracte related to the stimulus Elliman said. Officials with the Colorado Department of Transportation told the board they will recommendr the agency review how it handlee complaints about road and bridge contracts and the use ofthesew small, minority- and woman-ownecd businesses. CDOT's move came after Hamonj Contractors Inc.
in Denver raisede concerns about a bridge repair project paid for with monety from the American Recoveryg andReinvestment Act. Hamon lost a bid April 16 to rebuild two bridges over Interstater 76 inAdams County. The lowest bid for the contract camefrom Centennial-based , whicy bid $8 million for the project, nearly 15 percent under CDOT’s estimate of $9.4 State contracts are typically awarded to the lowesty bidder.
But Hamon objected to CDOT awarding the projectto Sema, saying Sema didn’t make a "good-faith to hire enough minority subcontractors, according to a June 3 letterd from Mark Cavanaugh, director of the Governor’s Economic Recovery Team, to the accountability CDOT reviewed the complaint, and Sema’s effort s to get minority businessee involved in the bridge contract. The review concluded Sema metthe agency’s thresholdd for trying and CDOT formally awarded the projecrt to the company, CDOT executive director Russ George said. But CDOT wantsz to review how it handles future complaints about using disadvantaged businesses onstatwe contracts.
Celina Benavidez, director of administration for CDOT, told the accountability board she will recommenrthe agency’s commissioners form a review committew involving members of the agency, interesy groups, industry, the attorney general’s office, and federal transportation How to gather input from minority businesses about their experience with a prime contractor. At the meeting, Hamon attorney Seth Firmender thanked CDOT for beiny willing to review the Helga Grunerud, executive directoe of the Hispanic Contractors of Colorado, also praises CDOT’s move, saying, "We believe we’v been heard.
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