Federal Highway Administrator (FHWA) Victor Mendez met today with members of the business community in Denver at a workshop to improve small businesses’ ability to compete for federal transportation contracts and engage more women and minorities in construction careers.
“Open and fair competition for federal transportation projects among businesses of all sizes ensures the best value for taxpayers,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Finding new and better ways to open doors to minority- and women-owned businesses is central to that effort, and we are very committed to expanding opportunities for these businesses.”
The workshop, co-hosted by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), gave local trade unions, construction contractors, and minority- and women-owned businesses an opportunity to meet each other as well as officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Denver Regional Transit Authority. This event is part of a larger national effort to ensure participation by small and disadvantaged businesses (DBEs) in the nation’s economic recovery and help states meet their goals for awarding contracts to DBEs.
The Denver meeting focused on the construction of two light-rail commuter lines planned by Colorado DOT and the Denver Regional Transit Authority. The combined projects, estimated to cost $2.4 billion, will provide 33.3 miles of new light rail from Denver International Airport to downtown Denver, and from downtown Denver to suburban Wheat Ridge. The workshop is being held well in advance of advertising contracts in order for all to participate in the process.
In the coming months, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will sponsor four similar meetings around the country. Each event will focus on a specific federally-funded transportation project and help minority- and women-owned DBEs learn about contracting opportunities and how to better position themselves to take advantage of these opportunities.
“We modeled these events after successes in Missouri and Wisconsin,” Mendez said “To help put people back to work and manage costs of transportation projects, we want to do everything we can to help small business enterprises compete.”
U.S. DOT officials will meet with DBEs, state and local transportation officials, and other stakeholders in coming months about the following projects:
