Thomas Breen photo
Local Black construction contractors protesting outside the Q House development site.
The Board of Alders voted unanimously in support of a five-year update of the city law designed to increase work opportunities for local minority- and women-owned construction companies.
Alders took that vote Monday night during the full board’s latest monthly meeting. As City Hall remains largely closed to the public because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the meeting was held online via the Zoom videoconferencing platform.
The local legislators voted unanimously in favor of a five-year renewal of Chapter 12 ¼ of the New Haven Code of Ordinances. That’s the city law that sets hiring goals for small Black, Hispanic, and women-owned businesses on publicly funded construction projects.
The update approved by the alders on Monday includes several changes pitched by the city earlier this summer with the goal of reducing barriers to underrepresented businesses interested in securing work and support through the program.
One change reduces from $50,000 to $10,000 the threshold at which department heads can select three contractors to bid for a given contract. For projects above that baseline, department heads are required to hold an open bid.
A second change allows companies that have been open for only six months to enter the city’s small business contractor program through the creation of a new “precertification phase.” The current program is open only to businesses that have been in operation for at least a year.
East Rock Alder and Legislation Committee Chair Charles Decker noted that the Board of Alders recently voted unanimously in support of creating a working group charged with reviewing the small business contractor program in greater detail and coming up with recommendations on how to further promote local minority- and women-owned construction companies.
“These amendments tonight are an important beginning to this work,” he said.
Zoom
Monday night’s virtual Board of Alders meeting.
The program has come under increased scrutiny lately as local Black-owned small contractors joined the Q House Avisory Board in criticizing the city for failing to meet its own hiring guidelines for the Dixwell Avenue community center construction project. While the city has doubled down on its outreach to such local contractors and has increased the share of work on that project going to Black-owned businesses, the Independent’s recent review of three years of primary contractor awards for city-funded projects showed that minority- and women-owned businesses make up a relatively small share of the overall work.
The newly renewed ordinance maintains the same representation goals for city construction contracts that were included in the current version.
The law aims for at least 10 percent of the city’s construction contracts and 10 percent of subcontracts to be awarded to African American-owned businesses. It aims for 2.5 percent of contracts and 6 percent of subcontracts to be awarded to Hispanic American-owned businesses. And it aims for 11 percent of contracts and 15 percent of subcontracts to be awarded to businesses run by women. The program is open to small businesses from the Greater New Haven region, not just the city proper. And its definition of “minority” is limited to African American and Hispanic.