As the general contractor for the new GTECH Corp. headquarters in Providence and many other major projects, Gilbane Building Co. is well versed in the requirements of the state’s minority business enterprise laws when it comes to subcontractors.
Rhode Island requires that at least 10 percent of contract work on any public or publicly subsidized project be done by a certified minority- or woman-owned business. That includes not only projects directly supported by the state, but also, those benefiting from programs such as the historic preservation investment tax credit.
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But Gilbane strives to do even better, said spokesman Wes Cotter, setting a goal of at least 5 percent for all its projects, even when it’s not mandated.
“For Gilbane, we don’t look at this as a requirement – we look at this as the right way to do business,” he said. “We look to have minority participation on all of our projects.”
Gilbane’s work at the University of Rhode Island met the 10-percent target, and the GTECH project surpassed the target, Cotter said.
Unfortunately, said Harvey Simms, president of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Rhode Island, Gilbane has been the exception, not the rule. But other contractors are making efforts to reach minority- and woman-owned businesses.
Baltimore-based Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse has set up vast outreach programs.
For the Rising Sun Mills, it subcontracted 20 percent of the work – or about $8.35 million in contracts – to minority- and woman-owned businesses. And for the $333 million American Locomotive Works project in Olneyville, Struever Bros. hired a community outreach coordinator and began hosting quarterly “open houses” to help such companies learn about contract opportunities.
Nonprofit developers also have been doing their part. For instance, West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation doled out 14.2 percent of its $9.8 million Westfield Lofts project to minority- and female-owned enterprises.
But, according to Simms, many projects in the state do not meet the 10-percent targets. The smaller, minority businesses often are forced to look to the private sector for work, he said, and fare much better there, despite the lack of public projects.
“They’re able to do a fair amount of work, and they’re growing,” Simms said, “but they could grow faster if they were given greater access to some of the public projects.”
Charles C. Newton, executive director of the R.I. Minority Business Enterprise Program, which certifies companies for the set-asides, said it’s easier for general contractors to meet the targets on larger projects, such as the Renaissance Providence Hotel.
“I think in those areas where we have a large spectrum of subcontract opportunities, or a large spectrum of materials that can be utilized on the project, [general contractors] tend to do, if not the 10 percent, close to it,” Newton said.
But some state contracts, he said, leave general contractors unable to meet the requirements of the law. Smaller contracts and jobs that require no subcontract work, such as a roof replacement, don’t necessarily allow for the involvement of other companies.
In those cases, Newton said, he can waive the requirements of the law or set a lower target. “You can have the requirement, but if there’s no opportunity, there’s no opportunity.”
Gregory A. Mancini, executive director of BuildRI, an alliance of building-trades unions and contractors who use union labor, suggested that another factor could be playing a role: a lack of minority-run companies available for subcontract work in the state.
That idea is supported by 2002 U.S. Census figures, which show that only 8 percent of the businesses in Rhode Island are minority-owned. And many of those businesses fall into categories that aren’t generally under consideration for subcontracting work, such as retail or dining establishments.
Mancini noted that the state’s Minority Business Enterprise Web site, www.mbe.ri.gov, lists only 53 certified contractors, several of whom are based outside of Rhode Island.
“There are some good companies out there, but it seems to me that there are not a lot of companies out there,” said Mancini, who does not generally deal in contract procurement.
But Stanford E. Cameron, chairman of the Center to Advance Minority Participation in the Construction Industry and past president of the Black Contractors Association of Rhode Island, said that the state has done a “very bad job” of enforcing the rules outlined for minority business enterprises.
Cameron said his organization’s internal research shows that minority participation in public construction contracts is currently at less than 1 percent.
That, he said, has caused such subcontractors to look for ways to survive without work from institutional or government-subsidized projects.
“There are many, many businesses out there that are frustrated and don’t look to the city or the state anymore for the opportunities,” Cameron said.
