Forum focuses on minority contractors

As the number of students on campus grows, so does the number of construction projects to build new buildings and renovate old ones.

Officials said they hope to increase the number of minority contractors who are working on these projects.

"We need additional business partners to help us keep pace with that growth," said Samory Pruitt, vice president for Community Affairs. "We need to share some of that work with minority and women-owned businesses."

To increase that number, the University hosted a minority business forum last week to provide minority business owners with bidding information for upcoming construction projects.

Pruitt said the number of minority-owned businesses the University gives contracts has not been tracked in the past but will be in the future.

The forum, which was sponsored by Community Affairs and Financial Affairs, consisted of a series of presentations aimed at increasing business between the University and minority businesses.

The forum was the second of its kind to be held at the University - the first took place in March at the Bryant Conference Center.

Pruitt, who is also executive director of Community-Based Partnerships, said about 45 representatives attended the forum to hear about the upcoming campus construction projects.

Assistant Vice President for Construction Tim Leopard, who conducted a construction session at the forum, said the number of minority-owned businesses that make bids on construction projects is usually small.

The bidding process depends on the size of the project, Leopard said. Projects worth more than $50,000 advertise for bidders, and contractors must pre-qualify to post bids. To pre-qualify, a company must match a list of criteria specific to the project.

For these large projects, Leopard said few bids are received from minority-owned businesses. For smaller projects, he said about 10 percent of total bids come from minority businesses.

Leopard said one of the main reasons minority businesses make up such a small percentage of total bidders is the small number of those businesses.

"There are very few minority general contractors in the state of Alabama," he said.

According to data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 28,666 minority firms in Alabama in 2002. These firms represent 12.7 percent of all firms in the state.

Though the percentage is not high, it has increased significantly in recent years. The number of minority firms increased by 36 percent between 1997 and 2002, compared to the 8 percent increase for all firms in Alabama.

Despite the small percentage of minority businesses that work with the University, Leopard said officials encourage general contractors to work with minority subcontractors to do projects.

"We strongly encourage contractors to use minority and disadvantaged contractors as subcontractors," he said.

Forum helps businesses make connections

The University's forum aimed to help minority businesses overcome problems and weaknesses that stand in the way of bidding on contracts, and organizers said the program was effective.

Michael Bell, executive director of the Birmingham Construction Industry Authority, a voluntary program that provides certification and assistance to minority and disadvantaged businesses, said he has seen many problems, especially with making connections.

"The relationships have to be built and nurtured. In the construction industry, that's paramount," Bell said. "The hub of it all is relationships, and once you establish those everything else seems to fall into place."

Bell said forums such as the one sponsored by the University help minority businesses make these connections and was pleased with the event, saying it brought many opportunities to light for business owners.

"It was a very good forum and it brought some very good resources together at the University," he said. "It was a pleasant discovery for me to know that minority businesses get the opportunity to do business with the University."

Brett Oates, a manufacturer's representative from Andrew Zow & Associates, also attended the event and gave positive feedback.

"I think it was an excellent forum, and they need more of them," he said. "I think it was organized fantastically and that it was relevant for who was there."

Oates said Andrew Zow & Associates, which is a certified minority business enterprise and functions as a manufacturer's representative and a distributor, hasn't submitted bids to the University in the past because they weren't aware of how to go about it.

"Before, we just didn't know how to do business with the University or what their needs were," he said.

Founder Andrew Zow is a 2001 UA graduate and former quarterback for the Crimson Tide, and Oates said even Zow did not know who to contact for information about construction projects. For that reason, Oates said Zow was proud of his alma mater for sponsoring the forum, and the company plans to submit bids in the future.

"We certainly will, and that's due to the forum," Oates said. "We look forward to doing business with the University."

Christopher Spencer, associate director for community development in the Center for Community-Based Partnerships, served as the planner for the forum. He said participants were pleased with the information they received.

"I think it was a great opportunity for them to come and learn, and they left really enthusiastic," he said.

Pruitt said he is confident the number of minority contractors doing business with the University will rise because of the information and connections the forum provided participants.

"We definitely think our efforts will result in more minority and women-owned businesses doing business with the University of Alabama," Pruitt said.