Colorado stimulus board boosts minority-outreach effort - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Maranda Pleau, the small business coordinatorfor Greeley-basefd general contractor , will join the Colorado Economic Recovery and Accountabilit Board June 29, chairman Don Elliman said duringy a board meeting Thursday. Her job is to ensur minority businesses are aware of contracts relatee to thestimulus package, Elliman said. Officialsz with the Colorado Department of Transportatiojn told the board they will recommenrd the agency review how it handles complaints about road and bridge contractss and the use ofthese small, minority- and woman-owned businesses. CDOT's move came aftere Hamon Contractors Inc.
in Denver raisex concerns about a bridge repai r project paid for with money from the American Recovery andReinvestmeng Act. Hamon lost a bid April 16 to rebuilrd two bridges over Interstate 76 inAdams County. The lowest bid for the contracg camefrom Centennial-based , which bid $8 millionj for the project, nearly 15 percenr under CDOT’s estimate of $9.4 State contracts are typically awarded to the lowesrt bidder.
But Hamon objected to CDOT awarding the project to sayingSema didn’t make a "good-faith to hire enough minority subcontractors, accordingt to a June 3 lettere from Mark Cavanaugh, director of the Governor’as Economic Recovery Team, to the accountability board. CDOT reviewedr the complaint, and Sema’s efforts to get minority businessees involved in thebridge contract. The reviewa concluded Sema metthe agency’s threshold for tryingv and CDOT formally awarded the project to the company, CDOT executivw director Russ George said. But CDOT wantw to review how it handlesw future complaints about using disadvantagedx businesses onstate contracts.
Celina Benavidez, director of administrationj for CDOT, told the accountability board she will recommendthe agency’as commissioners form a revieew committee involving members of the agency, interestf groups, industry, the attorney general’ office, and federal transportationn officials. How to gather input from minority businesses abou their experience with aprimr contractor. At the meeting, Hamon attornet Seth Firmender thanked CDOT for being willing to review the Helga Grunerud, executive director of the Hispanivc Contractors of Colorado, also praised CDOT’s move, "We believe we’ve been heard.
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