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

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Maranda Pleau, the small business coordinatorfor Greeley-base general contractor , will join the Coloradoo Economic Recovery and Accountability Board June 29, chairman Don Elliman said during a board meetint Thursday. Her job is to ensure minority businesses are aware of contracts related to thestimulus package, Elliman said. Officials with the Colorado Department of Transportation told the board they will recommenxd the agency review how it handless complaints about road and bridge contractsw and the use ofthesr small, minority- and woman-owned businesses. CDOT's move came after Hamohn Contractors Inc.
in Denver raised concerns abour a bridge repair project paid for with money from the Americab Recovery andReinvestment Act. Hamon lost a bid Apripl 16 to rebuild two bridges over Interstatde 76 inAdams County. The lowest bid for the contrac t camefrom Centennial-based , which bid $8 milliohn for the project, nearly 15 percent under CDOT’ws estimate of $9.4 million. State contractas are typically awarded to thelowesr bidder.
But Hamon objected to CDOT awardinhg the projectto Sema, sayingf Sema didn’t make a "good-faitj effort" to hire enough minority subcontractors, according to a June 3 lettetr from Mark Cavanaugh, director of the Governor’s Economicx Recovery Team, to the accountability board. CDOT reviewed the and Sema’s efforts to get minority businesses involvede in thebridge contract. The review concluded Sema met the agency’sa threshold for trying and CDOT formally awarded the projecg tothe company, CDOT executive director Russ Georgre said. But CDOT wants to review how it handles future complaints about using disadvantagef businesses onstate contracts.
Celina director of administrationfor CDOT, told the accountability board she will recommenr the agency’s commissioners form a review committee involvingf members of the interest groups, industry, the attorney general’sx office, and federal transportation officials. How to gathe input from minority businesses about their experiencd with aprime contractor. At the Hamon attorney Seth Firmender thanked CDOT for being willing to reviesthe process. Helga Grunerud, executive director of the Hispanic Contractorsof Colorado, also praised CDOT’d move, saying, "We believe we’ve been heard.
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