Alameda Corridor Achieves, Renews Goal for Participation of Disadvantaged Businesses

OCTOBER 12, 2000

The Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (ACTA) Governing Board also re-established the goal for the Alameda Corridor Business Outreach Program for the year that began Oct. 1. The program requires an annual review.

So far, Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) – generally small minority- and women-owned firms – have accounted for 22.8 percent of all contracting activity, or $261 million. Moreover, 24.1 percent of all design and construction dollars expended to date have been paid to minority- and women-owned businesses.

Their contributions have run the gamut – from engineering and design work to actual construction, from on-call right-of-way services to materials procurement, and from prime contractors to subcontractors.

“We're exceptionally pleased that the program is showing such strong results, because from the beginning we committed ourselves to ensuring that all firms in the region have an equal opportunity to compete for work on the Alameda Corridor," said Los Angeles City Councilman Rudy Svorinich, Jr., chairman of the ACTA Governing Board.

Among the methods used to attract DBEs are technical assistance workshops, advertisements about contract opportunities placed in specialty publications, and networking workshops where representatives of firms are introduced to one another so that they may form partnerships to bid for work. ACTA also has divided large projects into phases to create contracts suited to the bonding capacity of smaller firms.

The Alameda Corridor Business Outreach Program is funded by the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, and ACTA. It is administered by the Los Angeles Minority Business Opportunity Committee.

CONTACTS:
MARIA MORENO (310) 233-7480
PHIL HAMPTON (562) 435-5551

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