School Bonds Provide Jobs for Minority, Women-Owned Businesses

The 2008 School Bond is adding thousands of square feet and countless improvements to school facilities in Guilford County. Additionally, the projects are providing a much-needed economic boost to the construction industry, especially to minority and women-owned businesses.

Minority and women-owned businesses looking for opportunities to provide services to Guilford County Schools (GCS) or public universities, colleges and local government agencies can learn more at the first Gate City Minority Business Opportunity Fair on Thursday, Feb. 9, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Galleria Events Center, 1325 S. Eugene St., Greensboro. The business fair is supported by the East Market Street Development Corporation and GCS.

"The agencies will be prepared to share upcoming opportunities that may be of interest to contractors," said Tammie Hall, administrator of the GCS minority and women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) program. "In addition, attendees can learn firsthand what will be required of them to do business with these entities. This was a very successful event in the Triangle prior to my arrival in Guilford County. I saw a need for such an event here, shared the idea with my colleagues at other agencies, and they agreed unanimously."

Since the first design work on the 2008 School Bond projects began, GCS has awarded more than $72.8 million of the construction and design work to minority and women-owned businesses. As of January, 28.69 percent of the construction funding and 28.04 percent of the design funding was awarded to these businesses.

These totals are far above the district's good faith effort goal of 12.46 percent, set by the Guilford County Board of Education in 2007 as a target for minority (MBE) and women-led (WBE) participation in school construction. Following state law, the board set this goal for MWBE participation for construction projects in excess of $100,000.

GCS has also awarded $6.2 million of the $16.8 million in Qualified School Construction Bond dollars to minority and women-owned businesses for heating, ventilation and air conditioning, roofing, and window and door replacements. MWBE participation for the projects totals 69.30 percent for design and 32.82 percent for construction.

The district's 12.46 percent good faith effort goal of MWBE participation is based on a 2004 disparity study from the North Carolina Department of Administration. The study provides data on the availability of prime and subcontractors in North Carolina by race, ethnicity and gender classification for 17 construction regions. GCS data from August 2010 to present shows that GCS contracts to MWBE exceed the percentage of firms available in the local region.