DOWNTOWN CIC aims to raise minority presence

Minority businesses received less than $25,000 out of a $7 million project.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The downtown redevelopment agency will try to do a better job of making sure there is adequate minority participation from the beginning on future construction projects.
The executive committee of the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp. spent some time Wednesday rehashing a complaint against Jance Construction of Mentor that the general contractor did not make a good-faith effort to ensure minority participation on the $7 million Mahoning County Children Services Board building being constructed at West Federal and Hazel streets.
After an executive session to analyze the matter, the CIC executive committee made these findings:
*There was no legal basis for a recommendation from the committee to the CIC board to make changes to the CSB project.
*The committee expressed disappointment in the level of minority participation by certified minority business enterprise firms in the CSB project.
*As the CIC moves forward with future projects, bidders will have to meet at the beginning with its monitor to ensure there is minority participation.
Monitor
The CIC hired William Carter, executive director of the Youngstown Area Development Corp., to monitor minority hiring on the Jance project.
The company, the executive committee, and Carter first dealt with the issue in October, but the matter wasn't resolved.
Jance used a minority landscaper on the CSB project for $17,500. The company said it was able to get a minority business to handle drywall finishing for $7,000.
Carter said the construction contract calls for 25 percent minority business enterprise program participation. He said a total of under $25,000 doled out to minority businesses on a $7 million project is "hardly a good-faith effort."
Andrew J. Natale, company lawyer, said Jance has tried diligently to find qualified minority businesses on the CSB project. In fact, he said, on the company's recent bid submitted for the 7th District Court of Appeals building, 18 bid packages were submitted to minority businesses on a list Carter provided.
The company received just two responses; one was included in the company's bid, the other was rejected because it was not competitive.
Paul Jance, company owner, said a letter also was went to Youngstown-area unions and subcontractors requesting more minorities. He was told all minorities were working.
Carter reminded Jance officials that it was the bidder's responsibility, not his, to provide for minority participation. He said Jance should have gone outside Youngstown to find the proper level of minority participation.
More skilled trades
Natale said the CSB project was a community-based job, and the company felt it was important to foster development of minority participation in this community.
"We made a good-faith effort to get the type of participation we wanted," Natale said. "We have nothing to hide."
When the CIC executive committee recessed into an executive session, Carter said "the day has to come to put an end to companies coming in and taking out $7 million from the community and offering minorities just $25,000" worth of work.
One of the minority businesses shut out of the CSB project was Leon Jackson, owner of L & amp;J Contractors on Miami Avenue on the city's East Side. He is a painting contractor.
He submitted a bid of $73,000, but it was rejected because Jance said it was too high, he said.
Carter's contention is that Jance could have asked Jackson what he could do the job for. If that price was still too high and rejected, Jance as least made a good-faith effort to solicit minority business, Carter said.
"Trying to include, not exclude, individuals and businesses is what qualifies as a good-faith effort," Carter added.