Monday, October 28, 2002

If Governor McGreevey has his way, many more Latino contractors will be building schools, roads, and other public facilities next year. At least that's what he told the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at its annual convention this month.

"We haven't done a good enough job," McGreevey said. "I'm concerned of the fact that while our administration is moving in the right direction, we still need to do more."

The state recently awarded $46 million in construction contracts to minorities, but "only 19 percent went to Hispanic-owned businesses," McGreevey said. "We need to bring that way up."

But it's not as easy as it sounds.

"You have an administration that wants to embrace you, that wants to provide you with the opportunities," McGreevey said. "But I need to be clear. Right now, there are many businesses in the state that cannot qualify as general contractors."

Nevertheless, at a banquet attended by hundreds of Latino entrepreneurs, the governor challenged those in construction to step up to the plate. He said that following the suggestions of the chamber's president, Daniel Jara, the state has found a way to make Latino contractors eligible for building projects.

"What we are doing now in the state of New Jersey Economic Development Authority, we're saying we will pre-qualify you to be a subcontractor," McGreevey said. "And subcontractor means you don't have to have the bonding capacity of a contractor, you don't have to have the staffing requirements, you don't even necessarily have to have the prolonged work history."

Those have been the big hurdles for minority builders for years, according to Jara. "The regulations have always impeded the participation of Hispanic firms because the criteria were too strong in regard to prior experience and financial backing," he said. "For our Latino firms, which are relatively young, qualifying was practically impossible."

The governor said Jara has aggressively lobbied the state. "Daniel made that point at private meetings again and again and again," McGreevey said. "So we went back to the program, and said, 'Let's revise it, let's break it open.'" He said the state is about to embark on important construction projects, including an $8.6 billion school building initiative and an investment of $2 billion per year in road and transportation infrastructure. He said other multimillion-dollar development projects are expected in the Meadowlands and Newark.

"We have already targeted Hispanic, African-American, and women engineers, consultants, architects, and contractors to be part of that equation," he said."If you are pre-qualified, I'm accepting responsibility to get you to be married with a general contractor ... to ensure that you have a piece of this business."

For the school construction initiative, the governor encouraged Latino contractors to contact the state Economic Development Authority by Jan. 1, because "our goal is to move expeditiously to get schools built."

Jara said the chamber is recruiting Hispanic firms to get pre-qualified as soon as possible. Vendors and contractors should call the Hispanic chamber at (800) 621-4086. Jara not only wants to assist firms in applying, he wants to keep track of applicants so he can monitor the state's progress in keeping McGreevey's promises.

But again, it's not as easy as it sounds.

"The problem now is that Latino contractors have a lot of apathy about participating in these things, because in the past they have invested a lot of time, money, and effort to get government contracts, and they have been unsuccessful," Jara said. He noted that his challenge is convincing these firms that things have changed in Trenton.

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