M/WBE fiscal outlook good, but political storm clouds gathering =
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Int Chkonu u Staff Writer
The city of Winston-Salem awarded
minority and women contractors 10.31
percent of all construction and demoli
tion contracts this year, an increase of
more than 5 percent from last year.
However, the total number of
Minority/Women Business Enterprise
(M/WBE) firms providing professional
services to the city this year dropped 42
percent.
"That's disturbing, considering
everything we've put in to try to
increase awareness of these firms," said
Derwick Paige, M/WBE coordinator.
There are four categories under
which the M/WBE ofTice tracks spend
ing: materials and services, construction
and demolition, discretionary spending
and subcontract activity. Professional
services, such as engineering firms and
consultants, fall under the discretionary
spending category, which is spending by
a department under $100,000 and thus
does not require a formal bid.
This past year, only one minority and
one woman-owned firm were contracted
under the discretionary spending cate
gory. Paige said that the overall number
of minority and women contractors in
business may have decreased since last
year, and next year his department will
specifically identify professional serv
ices contractors by category.
The dramatic increase in construc
tion and demolition spending, which
showed a 128 percent rise from the
1995-96 fiscal year, was attributed to a
$1.8 million contract awarded to a
woman-owned business.
The city spent about $4 million less
overall on materials and services, so the
total amount awarded to minority and
women businesses in this category
dropped. However, the number of con
tracts awarded to M/WBE firms actual
ly rose by .02 percent.
City subcontracting decreased over
all, from over $44 million last year to
under $19 million this year. M/WBE
subcontracting amounts also dropped
about $1 million. However, the percent
age of awards to those firms rose drasti
cally, from 8.6 percent in 1995-96 to
15.42 in 1996-97.
Paige commended the M/WBE
Advisory Committee for the improve
ments in the city's program, but warned
the group to watch affirmative action
debates on the national level.
Congress introduced a proposal to
end affirmative action programs,
including M/WBE programs, this past
year. The proposal didn't make it out of
committee, but the trend away from
affirmative action continues. Motions
similar to California's Proposition 209,
which did away with race and gender
considerations in state jobs or schools,
have been introduced in North
Carolina's General Assembly on several
occasions.
Winston-Salem's M/WBE program
does not require quotas or set-asides for
minority and women business involve
ment in city contracts. Instead, it sets
voluntary goals encouraging contrac
Dorritk Paigm
tors to solicit minority and women sub
contractors.
Contractors are supposed to prove
that they made a good faith effort to
contract minority and women-owned
firms. Some of these efforts include sup
plying written notice of a bid to a rea
sonable number of M/WBEs, following
4
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up these letters with further communi-*
cation and advertising bids in a widely-!
read minority publication.
Still, those efforts seem excessive to?
_*
affirmative action opponents. And sen- ?
timent on the federal level will most def- ?
initely affect the local, said Paige \
Another immediate cause for con- *
cern was the lack of minority and
women participation in rehabilitation
projects. These projects, which usually
bid under S20.000. often serve as a foot
in the door for new businesses.
"It's kind of an incubator," said
Advisory Committee member Burley
Strader. "ltd be good to find out if
there is something we can do to help
people get into that market."
The M/WBF office sponsors Section
3 classes for minorities and women
interested in starting a business.
The 10-week program, which began
on Tuesday, teaches potential M/WBE
participants skills such as bidding and
estimating and setting up a business
plan.
Dr. Otis Moss to Start WSSU lecture series Community service, volunteerism forum set
Nationally renowned religious
. leader and community activist Dr. Otis
Moss Jr. is the first in a series of
thought provoking speakers to
I keynote the James A. Gray Religion
and Ethics lecture series, which is in its
sixth year.
The year-long series begins
'Thursday, Oct. 9, in Dillard
Auditorium at the Albert H. Anderson
Center at 9:45 a.m.
Moss is pastor of Olivet
Institutional Baptist Church in
Cleveland, Ohio. He brings more than
30 years of direct involvement in the
civil rights movement in both his roles
as a minister and a community activist.
He has co-pastored Ebenezer
?
Baptist Church with Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. He has made his posi
tion clear over the years on the use of
the nonviolent approach for affecting
social and political change.
Moss consulted with President
Carter on moral and social issues fac
ing the country. He was invited to the
signing of the peace treaty between
Israel and Jordan in 1994 by President
Clinton. He currently serves on the
Board of Directors for the Morehouse
School of Religion and the Martin
Luther King Jr. Center for Non
Violent Social Change. He has also
been recognized by Ebony Magazine
as one of this country's greatest
African-American ministers.
Mm<
Citizens residing in
Forsyth, Davidson, Yadkin,
Surry, and Stokes Counties
are invited to a public forum
on community service and
volunteerism. 5:30-7 p.m. on
either Oct. 7 or Oct. 9 at the
American Red Cross in
Winston-Salem. The forums
are hosted by the North
Carolina Commission for
National and Community
Service, the North Carolina
State Office of the
Corporation for National
Service and the Office of
Public Instruction, and the
United Way of Forsyth
Counjy.
Similar forums are taking
place across the state during
the next few weeks.
These forums will result in
a state plan for increasing col
laboration and helping define
the framework through which
community service and volun
teerism will improve the quali
ty of life in North Carolina. In
addition, they will help pro
vide the groundwork for the
upcoming Governor's Summit
on Volunteerism.
Mari Jo Winkle from the
Association for the Benefit of
Child Development and presi
dent-elect of the North
Carolina Association of
Volunteer Administration said
that these forums "are pivotal
in assuring that input is
received from the grassroots
level so that the Governor's
Summit will produce the
results needed to have a direct
impact in our community."
To RSVP call LaShawnda
Henderson at United Way of
Forsyth County, at 721-9344.
All interested residents are
encouraged to attend tfie
forums.
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