Schools’ Minority Contracts Scrutinized

Of the 42 companies that clean New Haven school buildings, plow snow and help with other kinds of maintenance, three are owned by Black or Hispanic New Haveners. The only other minority-owned company on the list is run out of West Haven.

That news emerged at a meeting of the Board of Education Finance and Operations Committee.

The discussion was prompted by board member Darnell Goldson, who ifrequently asks for more information at full board meetings on which companies are minority-owned.

“Transparency keeps all of us honest. The more we see of this, the less questions we have, hopefully, and the more we can focus on doing the right thing,” Goldson said by phone.

The discussion occurred at a time when the issue of minority contracts on government construction projects in general has been the subject of public protests.

The State Of Facilities Contracts

New Haven Public Schools administrators presented a detailed spreadsheet at the committee meeting Monday night of contracts that the district has awarded to companies to help maintain school buildings for the 2020 – 2021 school year and summer months.

Seven of the 51 contracts, or around 14 percent, were won by minority-owned companies. Since some companies won multiple contracts, the number of Black and Hispanic-owned companies reduces to a total of four.

The total dollars going to minority-owned companies is much higher, at 63 percent of the contractor budget, thanks to two large contracts for facilities maintenance and custodial work. These contracts provide up to $4.7 million to Eco Urban Pioneers LLC and $1.5 million to Go To Services LLC.

Eco Urban is a Black-owned company. Go To Services is listed on the state small business directory as Hispanic American owned, with Elyse Sadler and Manuel Gomez listed as the owners. Both companies are New Haven-based.

“If those numbers are complete and correct, then I am happy that I have been able to help push the district towards providing more funding towards minority contractors,” said Goldson, who was not at Monday’s meeting. ​“When I came onto the board, I was not seeing any minority contractors getting funding.”

Goldson sees looking for these opportunities that can be awarded to Hispanic and African American contractors as one of the responsibilities of leadership of the city and Board of Education. Goldson stepped down in January from a two-year stint as president of the board and was replaced by Yesenia Rivera.

“I’m concerned that [these numbers] won’t stand up to time,” Goldson said. ​“Minority contractors may not have the focus of new leadership. We may end up losing the ground that we gained.”

Aside from the two large Eco Urban and GTS contracts, minority contractors will get up to $568,500 this year, or around 5 percent of the facilities contract budget.

This slice of the pie includes three contracts for floor repairs, painting and carpentry going to Tim’s Enterprises LLC and two contracts for painting and landscaping going to Amazon Landscaping Design & Handyman Services LLC.

Goldson said that he does not yet have goals of percentages of work that he would like to see go to minority contractors.

“I would like to see us set a goal,” Goldson said.

In the meantime, Goldson said that he would like to see spreadsheets like the one presented on Monday on a more regular basis. He also suggested that the district pay more small contractors up front, so they can cover payroll for their employees during a job.

“Small businesses should get an equal shot at participating. Quicker payments gives them a better opportunity to do that,” he said.

Developing More Minority Contractors

Both Tim’s Enterprises and Amazon Landscaping are part of the city’s Small Contractor Development Program (SCDP) run by Lil Snyder.

Tim Washington started Tim’s Enterprises around 20 years ago through Snyder’s program. Washington explained that the SCDP and the minority business advocacy group Greater New Haven Business and Professional Association taught him the nuances of bidding for public projects.

For example, Washington learned that he can bill for ​“mobilization” as soon as he, his employees and his materials are on the job site. This helps him continue to pay insurance and payroll as those costs go up during jobs. Many minority business owners are at a disadvantage because they don’t know these tricks, he said.

“[Snyder] was basically a portal for the city to teach us things — how to do estimates, how to do bids, how to do accounting,” Washington said. ​“That was how I got started.”

After years of taking Snyder’s classes as soon as an interesting topic came up, Washington has now learned and gotten certified in everything he could possibly need, he said. The only time he takes these classes now is for innovations that are new to the field.

The SCD Program is still helpful to him as a way to get public projects. All contracts eligible for the city’s purchasing products get sent to the SCDP participants first if the contract is for less than $150,000. Washington and around 250 of the other small business owners get an email to send in their proposals to compete.

Washington pointed out that when he wins a contract, he brings on subcontractors who are minorities, women and New Haveners as well.

“When I get the job, I share,” Washington said.

Washington’s problem with the process is that he is often the only bidder. He then encounters a rule where his documents are returned to him and he has to rebid in a larger pool of companies.

This does not seem fair to Washington, who does not know in advance whether he will be up against 250 companies or zero. In contrast, if there is only one bidder in the larger, public process, they will get the job, he said.

“My office staff spent all that time putting that together. I have to get prices for the products and go to the job site. All of that is my time and money,” Washington said.

Monday’s spreadsheet breaks out the results of this process. The sheet lists 16 contracts where there were one or no bidders from the SCDP, or there was no one in the SCDP registry who had that particular skill. Of these 16 contracts, only one participant from the SCDP was able to win a contract. None of the 16 winners are minority-owned businesses.

Minority business advocate Rodney Williams has another critique: businesses should grow through the SCD Program and move on.

“When you look at the Small Contractor Development Program, what are we developing? There are some businesses that have been in the program forever and are now passing the baton to their children,” Williams said.

Williams recently led a rally about the low numbers of Black-owned businesses hired for the construction of the new Q House.

“When you look at the breakdown, we damn near get nothing,” Williams said.

Williams said that the city should conduct a follow-up to the 1992 study of local economic disparities so it can adjust its goals for minority sourcing. He suggested that the city should break out the kinds of minorities under that umbrella. Williams said that previously the term minority just encompassed African Americans and Puerto Ricans but recent immigration has changed that equation.

He said that he would also like to see more loans to Black and Hispanic small businesses, without strings attached like credit score filters. He said that he would also like to see more minority business owners at the table to revamp or do away with the SCDP.

“They’re not growing us. They are throwing seeds out, but they’re not seeing if we need water,” Williams said.

Snyder did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Beyond The Buildings

Much of the conversation at Monday’s Board of Education committee meeting centered on what was on the spreadsheet and what was not.

The district’s executive director of facilities, Joseph Barbarotta, compiled the spreadsheet for the board. It included the kinds of hourly wage and trade-type contracts he oversees.

From Monday’s meeting alone, it was clear that the Board of Education hires out work to many other groups. The committee discussed specific agreements with translators, community nonprofits, technology companies and lawyers before moving onto Barbarotta’s spreadsheet.

“I would like to think of ways we can get at the things that aren’t on [this spreadsheet],” said Finance and Operations Committee chair Matthew Wilcox. “I’m assuming the board is going to want that.”

NHPS Chief Financial Officer Phillip Penn said that providing information on these other kinds of agreements would be complicated. Barbarotta’s spreadsheet documents information on ownership already checked by the state and the SCDP.

Other organizations would have to self-report that kind of information, since the finance office does not currently have the staff to check, Penn said. In addition, how do you determine whether a nonprofit or publicly traded company is “minority-owned”, Penn asked.

These are some of the questions considered in the new Professional Services Procurement Policy that board members Edward Joyner and Tamiko Jackson-McArthur recently shepherded to approval.

“Companies are going to have to tell us how many minorities they employ,” Joyner said. “Minorities may not have the capital to get big contracts, but the companies that do should hire minorities in their organizations.”

Joyner also lauded the policy’s language that requires the groups the school district hires to demonstrate their results. If an afterschool program says that it will serve 30 children, it should serve 30 children for the entire duration of the program. If 20 drop out, that program is not doing what it said it would do, Joyner said.

Joyner said that there should be an impact assessment at the end of the program on what went well and what needs to be improved.

“The overarching goal is that we hire the best people to do the best work. Then we need to make sure it’s a fair process and that minorities have a fair and transparent way of demonstrating that they can do the work. They can do it as well or better because of who they are than people that have been doing it,” Joyner said.

Joyner offered examples of non-white professors at Southern Connecticut State University, Yale and the University of New Haven who would be great fits for work the district needs to hire out. He said the same thing of current and retired teachers who could do part-time afterschool work.

“The advertising hasn’t been as robust as I think it should be,” Joyner said.

Joyner said that the next step in procurement reforms is putting it into motion. He offered the example of a scoring system. The new policy mentions a scoring system that would weigh small, local, minority and women-run firms more heavily than other firms.

Finance and Operations Committee members asked to incorporate Barbarotta’s spreadsheet more regularly into board meetings. Wilcox said that he thought the committee could next work on a way to report minority status about individual consultants like the translators.

“I would find that useful. I would hope that this discussion continues on at least a quarterly basis,” committee member Larry Conaway agreed.

New Haven Public Schools Contracts, 2020-2021

Below is a list of every company that has received a facilities-related contract award from the New Haven Board of Education for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, sorted from high to low based on the maximum amount of the contract.

Businesses that are New Haven-based have “NHB” in parentheses next to their names. Minority-owned businesses have “MBE” next to their names. Women-owned businesses have “WBE” next to their names. And businesses that won the award through the Small Contractor Development Program have “SCDP” next to their names.

Eco Urban Pioneers LLC (NHB, MBE): $4,680,681.77
Go To Services LLC (NHB, MBE): $1,470,030.63
Hillyard Inc: $450,000
CT Controls Corporation: $200,000
Tucker Mechanical Inc/Emcor: $200,000
Boisvert Plumbing LLC: $200,000
Amazon Landscaping Design & Handyman Serves LLC (MBE, SCDP): $175,750
Amazon Landscaping Design & Handyman Serves LLC (MBE, SCDP): $175,750
Honeywell EBI: $175,398
Doosan Fuel Cell America Inc: $162,532
Kone Elevator: $150,000
Encore Holdings LLC D/B/A Allstate Fire Systems: $150,000
Pasquariello Electric Corporation (NHB): $150,000
Eagle Rivet Roofing: $150,000
Encore Holdings, LLC D/B/A Allstate Fire Systems: $150,000
Tri State Maintenance, LLC (NHB): $100,000
Concrete Creations LLC (NHB): $100,000
Tim’s Enterprises, LLC (NHB, MBE, SCDP): $100,000
Lior Excavating LLC (NHB, WBE, SCDP): $100,000
Cheapscapes LLC (WBE): $100,000
East Shore Glass Inc (NHB, WBE, SCDP): $95,000
Artis Energy Intelligence LLC: $94,860
Longwharf Transport, LLC (NHB): $75,000
Hillyard Inc: $75,000
Utility Communications Inc: $75,000
Tim’s Enterprises, LLC (NHB, MBE, SCDP): $67,000
Cintas Corporation: $63,000
Anytime Sewer Drain & Jetting Services LLC: $60,000
Consolidated Electric Inc (NHB, SCDP): $60,000
Clearwater Industries, Inc: $60,000
Tri-State Maintenace Services LLC (NHB): $50,000
Connecticut Custom Aquatics, LLC (SCDP): $50,000
Precision Cutting Service LLC (NHB): $50,000
Tim’s Enterprises LLC (NHB, MBE): $50,000
Cohen’s Key Shop Inc (NHB, SCDP): $50,000
Total Lighting Services, LLC (SCDP): $50,000
Filter Sales & Service Inc: $50,000
EnviroMed Services, Inc: $50,000
New Haven Pictograph LLC (NHB): $50,000
Sports Construction & Supplies LLC: $50,000
Connecticut Pest Elimination Inc: $35,000
Hy-Way Safety Systems Inc: $30,000
Hillyard Inc D/B/A Rovic: $30,000
United Rentals North America Inc: $30,000
Honeywell Radionics: $25,695
All American Waste LLC: $25,000
Select Fence and Guardrail LLC (NHB, WBE, SCDP): $25,000
Lior Construction LLC (NHB, WBE, SCDP): $25,000
Fastsigns Of North Haven LLC DBA L&D: $25,000
Trassig Corporation: $25,000
Flowtech Inc: $6,975