To fight blight, program builds minority contractors

The contractors will bid on demolition work in the city.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Tearing down parts of his own neighborhood could turn out to be a dream come true for budding contractor Sam Jackson.
Having worked for his uncle's North Philadelphia masonry company growing up, later spending six years in a steel mill and eventually working 22 years for a local labor union, he got tired of toiling for somebody else. He'd always wanted to go out on his own, but never knew how to get together the money, applications and permits.
That could change under a new program aimed at developing minority contractors who will bid on demolition projects in the city's blight-prevention efforts. Jackson hopes to have his company -- SJ Enterprize Inc. -- running shortly after he graduates next month from the Emerging Contractor Assistance Program, which is being run by the African-American Chamber of Commerce. He'll be ready then to bid on demolition contracts.
"When they passed out these applications, I said, 'I don't want to work for somebody else for the rest of my life,"' Jackson said. "It'll be excellent for me because I was raised up in the same neighborhood and I know everybody out there."
Fueling the project
In an economy where construction work can be hard to come by, the program is being fueled by the city's neighborhood transformation project, which plans to demolish 14,000 decrepit buildings during the next five years. That should provide plenty of work for minority contractors in the program, said A. Bruce Crawley, the chamber's chairman.
Last year, Crawley said, his group decided to start a minority contractor development program after reviewing data showing minority firms got less than 2 percent of the $16.2 billion worth of construction business in the Philadelphia area in 1997. He said the group quickly found out that one of the reasons why was because there were hardly any minority contractors in the region.
So the group started recruiting and, since June 1, contractors in the program have undergone more than 200 hours of classroom instruction on business plans and estimates, credit, permitting and on-the-job training.
Of the 52 minority contractors who originally expressed an interest, 25 are expected to graduate from the program next month. They leave with more training, a special certificate and an improved chance of getting insurance bonding.
Banks' involvement
Six area banks have also put up $2.5 million in credit each to help support the contractors and help them get to the point where they can be bonded, having their work guaranteed by an insurance company. The city paid $400,000 for the program's other costs, including staff salaries, the use of a building for classes, and consultant fees, said Pat Smith, the city's director of neighborhood transformation.
Jerry Vallery, the training director, said program organizers hope to continue with new groups of contractors, and provide new classes for those who have already graduated.
"We have some people in this program going to be big contractors in the next six months," Vallery said. "We're not turning them loose. We're going to continue to develop them."
Organizers hope the program will help people like Jackson who come from those same blighted neighborhoods by injecting money into those areas, Crawley said.
Philadelphia's program is unique, according to the National Minority Business Council, and is in many ways a descendant of minority contracting programs that were struck down by the Supreme Court in the 1970s and '80s.
"Of course, some people have graduated them and become very strong and viable contractors," said John F. Robinson, the group's president and chief executive. "Others haven't been able to connect with viable contract opportunities and haven't been able to get off the ground."
The main difference between Philadelphia's program and ones in other cities decades ago is that Philadelphia's doesn't guarantee contracts, Robinson said; it just makes contractors more qualified to place a bid. It helps some like Jackson start their companies from scratch, while helping others find ways to improve their businesses and make them more likely to get financial backing.