Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com November 9, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 5 PDS has been meeting the needs of the construction industry since 1965. Our dedicated team of design and construction professionals welcomes the challenge of serving its past and future customers on their most demanding projects. The Eye Center | Hamden and West Haven, CT PDS Engineering & Construction served as General Contractor for interior renovations at two comprehensive medical and surgical eye care facilities located in southern Connecticut. All construction was completed while the spaces were fully occupied, including the demolition and replacement of existing interior finishes. Project Features: - Twenty optometry chairs and test stations - Ophthalmology rooms - Office, reception and patient waiting areas Total Project Size: 6,000 SF 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002 (860) 242-8586 | Fax (860) 242-8587 www.pdsec.com DESIGN BUILDERS • GENERAL CONTRACTORS • CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS SPOTLIGHT ON: Healthcare PDS ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION, INC. THINK • PLAN • BUILD Come join us: Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at the NEW Carvel Shoppe in Bristol, CT 650 Farmington Ave., Bristol, CT 09010 7:00-9:00pm - Light Dinner Served Register for our Discovery Day at http://conta.cc/20dRa0J or call us at 404-705-2083. Own a business with: 80 years of success 90% brand recognition in our markets Record sales growth in 2015 Exciting new shop design Leader in innovative products Check us out at carvel.com Be your own boss ©2015 Carvel Corporation Save $15,000* by visiting our Discovery Day on Nov. 18 *from your initial franchise fee Expanded minority set-aside goals roil municipalities, contractors By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com T he state mandate that was effective Oct. 1 to extend minority-contractor inclusion to municipal public-works projects involving state dollars is drawing skepticism from contractors and small-town administrators. Contractors and their proponents pub- licly doubt that the state human-rights agency assigned to ensure vendor com- pliance with the new rule has the skill and staffing to do the job effectively. But the state Com- mission on Human Rights and Oppor- tunities counters it is doing everything administratively pos- sible to certify ven- dors based on their a ffir mative-action plan filings with the agency. The agency even was assigned — and has retrained — 10 former staff - ers from the state Department of Labor to whittle the backlog, says one official, who adds CHRO is prepared to ask for more staff, if necessary, to speed its work. As state agencies have done for some time, municipalities, too, must earmark at least a quarter of a state-funded public-works contract for small business enterprises. Of that 25 percent, one quarter, or 6.25 percent, must go to a woman- or minority-owned con- tractor or subcontractor. "This is not a quota,'' CHRO Deputy Direc- tor Cheryl Sharp said of the purpose of state and municipal contract set-asides. "It's a very important goal we have here, one I think contractors share. But change is sometimes difficult.'' Don Shubert, president of the Connecti- cut Construction Industries Association, said that while set-asides are nothing new to state contractors, this is fresh ground for municipalities. The law was passed by state lawmakers in the last legislative session. Shubert said cities and towns unfamiliar with the state set-aside process for vetting contractors to ensure they make a "good faith effort'' to engage small and women- and minority-owned firms in their projects may bog things down more than they are now. The reason is, contractors claim and CHRO does not dispute, that the state human-rights/opportunities overseer is understaffed and has a backlog of con- tractor affirmative-action plans awaiting review and approval. The state Depart- ment of Administrative Services oversees minority-contractor engagement on all pub- lic-works projects among state agencies. Affirmative-action plans from contrac- tors are a cornerstone of the state's goal for increasing women and minority participation in state-funded public works, officials say. It is the responsibility of contractors, not cities and towns, to ensure they have filed an approved plan and adhere to it. Fail- ure to file the plan can render contractors ineligible to bid on projects, or the state can withhold the final 2 percent of a contract award until one is filed and approved. Madison First Selectman Fillmore McPherson, a member of the state Commis- sion on Municipal Opportunities and Regional Efficien- cies (MORE), said at its Oct. 27 meeting at the State Capitol that several contractors told him the time and paperwork to comply would add 5 percent to 8 percent to the job cost. They also vowed, McPherson said, not to pursue such contracts. "I'm opposed to set-asides,'' McPher- son said. "Set-asides won't encourage a diversity of bidders. There's going to be additional red tape … Many contrac- tors just won't bid on smaller jobs.'' The Connecticut Council of Small Towns (COST), whose members have pop- ulations of 30,000 or less, too, is unhappy about the imposition of set-asides on them, according to COST Executive Director Eliz- abeth "Betsy" Gara. Initially, for instance, it was unclear wheth- er the mandate applies to municipal contracts already agreed to before or after Oct. 1. CHRO has since clarified, Gara and others say, that it applies to contracts agreed to after Oct. 1. It also applies to municipal contracts with $50,000 or more of state tax dollars. Another threshold involves compliance with the filing of an affirmative action plan for enlisting minor- ity contractors with 50 or more workers, and/ or $50 million in revenue for the preceding year. COST also is concerned that CHRO lacks manpower to administer set-aside certification and compliance, Gara said. "We're concerned that the towns will be held responsible for compliance,'' she said. Smaller towns lack, she and others say, the money, staff and time to ensure their public-works contracts aren't afoul of state minority-contractor guidelines. The reality is that some communities projects are small enough to be handled by town crews. "For many of us small towns, we are the general contractors,'' Mark E. Lyon, Wash- ington's first selectman and a MORE mem- ber, said at the Oct. 27 meeting. Sharp said CHRO will closely moni- tor its progress overseeing compliance with the set-aside, and will be the first to approach state lawmakers with extra staff- ing requests, if necessary. Meantime, McPherson urged the munici- pal set-aside be delayed, pending further study. Alternatively, he urged lifting the threshold for state dollars to either $500,000 or $5 million, curbing the number of contrac- tors impacted. n Municipal public-works contract set-aside requirements • Towns must notify the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) of each public-works project to be funded with $50,000 or more of state dollars. • Towns must publicly specify from the start to contractors all bid specifications for a project; also incorporate a notice of bid invitation with the bid language. • Contracts must include nondis- crimination language, including citing the specific state statute. • Notice must be given of the contract and contract award. S O U R C E : C O N N E C T I C U T C O M M I S S I O N O N H U M A N R I G H T S A N D O P P O R T U N I T I E S

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