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

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Maranda Pleau, the small business coordinatodrfor Greeley-based general contractor , will join the Coloradl Economic Recovery and Accountability Board June 29, chairman Don Elliman said duringg a board meeting Thursday. Her job is to ensure minority businesses are aware of contracts relatedc to thestimulus package, Ellima n said. Officials with the Colorado Department of Transportatiojn told the board they will recommend the agencyy review how it handles complaints aboutf road and bridge contracts and the use ofthesd small, minority- and woman-owned businesses. CDOT's move came after Hamonb Contractors Inc.
in Denver raised concernsd about a bridge repair project paid for with money from the Americahn Recovery andReinvestment Act. Hamon lost a bid April 16 to rebuildf two bridges over Interstate 76 inAdams County. The lowes t bid for the contract camefrom Centennial-baserd , which bid $8 million for the project, nearlyt 15 percent under CDOT’xs estimate of $9.4 million. State contracts are typically awarded to thelowest bidder.
But Hamon objected to CDOT awardinhg the projectto Sema, saying Sema didn’t make a "good-faitjh effort" to hire enough minorit subcontractors, according to a June 3 letted from Mark Cavanaugh, directo of the Governor’s Economiv Recovery Team, to the accountability board. CDOT reviewed the and Sema’s efforts to get minority businesses involvesd in thebridge contract. The review concluded Sema met the agency’es threshold for trying and CDOT formallgy awarded the project to the CDOT executive director RussGeorge said.
But CDOT want s to review how it handled future complaints about using disadvantaged businesses on state Celina Benavidez, director of administration for CDOT, told the accountabilityt board she will recommend the agency’s commissioners form a reviewa committee involving members of the agency, interesrt groups, industry, the attorney general’s office, and federal transportation How to gather input from minority businessesx about their experience with a prime At the meeting, Hamon attorney Seth Firmender thankede CDOT for being willing to review the Helga Grunerud, executive director of the Hispanic Contractorsx of Colorado, also praised CDOT’s move, saying, "W believe we’ve been heard.
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