BY LISA DONOVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Doling out a fair share of contracts and jobs to women and minorities for the $146.9 million overhaul of downtown Cincinnati's freeway is going to be more difficult than city officials thought.
"There's more work than minority firms, and we still want to reach our goal," John Deatrick, the city engineer supervising the Fort Washington Way project, said Tuesday.
His remarks came on a day the city administration released a set of recommendations that, in part, may help Cincinnati reach its goal of awarding 30 percent of the contracts to minority and women-owned firms for the project.
Among the recommendations:
- Expanding eligibility to women- and minority-owned businesses from city to statewide.
- Simplifying joint-venture regulations, which would allow minority firms to team with whomever they want and bid whatever they want.
Currently, the city requires a contract to be at least $1 million before a joint venture.
In addition, the city also wants to meet "work force goals" of 11.8 percent minority and 6.9 percent female.
One of the recommendations is to set up a program to register the locally unemployed at Cincinnati's employment and training office and try to match them with jobs. Some training will be provided. "We want to be all things to all people; we want to get our unemployed people to work, and we want to help minority contractors," Mr. Deatrick said.
The city serves as an agent on the Fort Washington Way project for the Ohio Department of Transportation, which is largely funding it. About 400 construction employees will be working at the peak of the construction, with roughly 100 skilled and 100 semiskilled job opportunities, Mr. Deatrick said.
Entry-level positions
For job seekers, the project will catapult them into entry-level construction positions, according to the city administration's report.
Mr. Deatrick cited statistics that show the unemployment rate at 47 percent among African-American men between 18 and 26 years old. He also said that 40 percent of the Appalachian community lives below the poverty level.
Revamping Fort Washington Way, which connects Interstates 75 and 71, will begin in earnest in July and conclude in 2000.
Fort Washington Way carries an estimated 120,000 to 140,000 vehicles daily.
Last week, council members Todd Portune and Jeanette Cissell asked the city administration for the guidelines being used to ensure minorities and women are on the construction sites.
