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SBA Training Class schedule for April thru June 2008

Small Business Administration
455 Market St., 6th floor
San Francisco CA 94105

TRAINING AT SBA
The Small Business Administration offers a variety of classes for business owners in our Entrepreneur Center, located at 455 Market St., 6th Floor in downtown San Francisco.

Click here for the training schedule and description for April through June 2008

To register for classes, go to http://www.acteva.com/go/sba

For more information, please contact Gary Marshall at (415) 744 6771 or

Chiang Urges CalPERS and CalSTRS to Address Diversity on Corporate Boards

PR08:011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
FEBRUARY 6, 2008
CONTACT: HALLYE JORDAN (916-445-2636)

SACRAMENTO - State Controller John Chiang today asked the nation's first and second largest public pension funds to lead an effort to increase women and minority representation on corporate boards.

"Across the nation, the faces of companies' shareholders are rapidly changing, and in order to tap into a wider range of talents and ideas, corporate boardrooms should reflect this changing diversity," Chiang said.  "I am asking that CalPERS and CalSTRS leverage their leadership in corporate governance and diversity initiatives to help women and minorities increase their representation on corporate boards."

In letters to the CalPERS and CalSTRS Investment Committees, Chiang wrote women and minorities continue to be underrepresented on corporate boards nationwide, despite widespread acknowledgement that diversity strengthens a healthy corporate structure. Chiang cited a 2005 report from the Alliance for Board Diversity that found women and minorities hold fewer seats on the boards of Fortune 100 companies when compared to general population demographics for race and gender.

Institutional investors have acknowledged that diverse corporate boards are necessary to properly represent shareholders and maintain a competitive edge in global markets. The CalPERS Core Principles of Accountable Corporate Governance recommend that corporate boards consider a mix of director characteristics and diverse perspectives when nominating directors, and also suggest that boards should include members from historically underrepresented groups.

"Diversity in the boardroom leads to greater creativity, dynamic debates, and more integrity of processes - all of which are strong traits for a board and good corporate governance practices," Chiang added.

Chiang is recommending that the pension funds study the most recent available data on board diversity and consider amending its corporate governance policy to address diversity when the funds nominate directors, establishing best practices for corporations to follow in seeking diversity, and actively engaging companies on the issue of diversity, including filing shareowner proposals that address diversity when appropriate.

As California's Controller, Chiang is a board member of both CalPERS and CalSTRS, the nation's two largest public pension funds with more than $413 billion in combined assets.

Copies of Chiang's letters are available here.

# # #

CALTRANS PROMOTES SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FIRES REBUILDING PROCESS

NEWS RELEASE
Today's Date: November 5, 2007
District: Headquarters - Sacramento
Contact: Tamie McGowen
Phone: (916) 657-5060

Sacramento -The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has authorized 13 emergency contracts with a total value of $17.05 million for essential work related to the recent firestorms in Southern California. Small businesses will receive 45 percent of their total value.
One of the small businesses is Blaisdell Construction, which will repair fire damage, clear drainage systems, and perform debris removal and erosion control around Interstate15 in San Bernardino County, as quickly as possible.

"Small businesses are important contributors to California's economy," said Caltrans Director Will Kempton. "I am pleased that we are able to employ them to help the state recover from these fires."

The other certified small businesses include Pacific Restoration, which will perform erosion control around State Routes 76 and 78 and Interstate 15 in San Diego County. Diversified Landscape will do the same in Orange County. Their work will include hydro-seeding to regenerate vegetation on hillsides, before the rainy season begins. The roots of plants help to hold soil in place and prevent erosion and mudslides.

Union Engineering will clear drains and remove debris from the fires in Ventura County.

Due to the State of Emergency declared by Governor Schwarzenegger on October 21, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is likely to reimburse nearly 100 percent of the cost of this fire-related work. The FHWA has been on-scene, responsive, and helpful throughout these fire events.

Executive Order S-02, issued by the Governor, requires all state agencies to dedicate 25 percent of all procurement dollars to certified small businesses. By awarding 45 percent of $17.05 million in emergency contracts to small businesses, Caltrans is following the Governor's direction as embodied in the Executive Order.

###

Public Works Dept. Mends Fences With APA Contractors

source: http://www.asianweek.com/2007/08/17/public-works-dept-mends-fences-with-apa-contractors/

SAN FRANCISCO - The Department of Public Works is mending a tattered relationship with Asian American contractors.

Dr. Fred Abadi told fifty Asian American Contractors Association dinner guests that his "major responsibility" is to change the culture of his department, after bids had declined for Department work in recent years. City departments, like public libraries, resorted to begging contractors to bid on their projects.

"It will require us to think of you not as the enemy, but as a partner," said Abadi. The city must allow contractors to earn a living and create a "competitive environment where it brings the costs down and improves quality overall," he said.

The department handles construction projects worth billions, including $105 million in library construction or $600 million to replace SF General Hospital.

After contractor complaints to Mayor Gavin Newsom, City Attorney Dennis Herrera and City Administrator Ed Lee, subcommittees were created to implement plans in nine areas, such as prompt payment to contractors and handling change orders.

Abadi called city change orders "unacceptable." "We don't know if we are on budget or not," he said. Disputes over change orders delayed payment to contractors.

"Many of you are small-time contractors, where having a cash flow is extremely important. And the city has a reputation for not paying on time. … Not only that, you have to produce a lot of paperwork to get paid," he said.

Contractors also balked at the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement. "We cannot and should not be focusing on a single group of contractors, and we need to be consistent and treat all contractors equally," said Abadi.

Russell Snyder, regional manager of the Association of General Contractors, had long warned about "the very awful state of affairs in city contracting."

"There are 89 different unique requirements the city imposes on contractors, and you don't see elsewhere," he said. "What changed? People stopped bidding on the work. … Prices were going through the roof."

"If there was a problem with a certain part of the invoice, they would hold up the whole payment. Even if it was minuscule … you got to pay your vendors, payroll. [A delay] could put your cash flow in topsy-turvy. That is not fair to the business owner."

- Accountant Calvin Louie, whose clients include contractors in the Asian American Contractors Association

"The most complaints I have heard or experienced are that they're not paying promptly. Small contractors especially rely on progressive payments, so it's a hardship for the small contractors. Transparency is a major problem. [On seeking a city contract,] I would be very, very cautious."

- Hanson Lee of Hanson Lee Electrical, encouraging transparency so that subcontractors can track city payments to their prime contractors

"The changes the city wants to do will only happen if the department leaders and senior management have the authority to force the changes. Once the city attorney's office gets involved, things will not happen."

- Matthew Huey of MH Construction, encouraging the appointment of a city engineer who knows the city bureaucracy and contracting

"Once again, the goals set out by Dr. Abadi are admirable and desired, but the road to reach the streamlined process for the local contractors seems to be set off in the distance."

-Cindy Lee of Feng and Lee, whose practice includes construction

CalTrans Needs More APA Contractors

source: http://www.asianweek.com/2007/08/10/caltrans-needs-more-apa-contractors/

People use the term “diversity” too often these days as a catch-all to include every community of color. But the very principle of diversity should make us aware of and appreciate differences between communities, rather than lump all people together as minorities.

California’s Department of Transportation recently commissioned a study of 10,000 construction and engineering contracts and interviews with 18,000 businesses to investigate their own practices of diversity. The results they found were as diverse as they were surprising.

Groups that have been traditionally underrepresented still were - including firms owned by women, blacks and Native Americans, as well as most Asian Pacific American enterprises. Overall, the study estimated that 19 percent of state transportation dollars should have been doled out to minority- and women-owned firms. Only 11 percent actually were.

But those numbers don’t tell the whole story. Hispanic-owned firms showed great improvement. Some APA firms, those owned by South Asian Americans, were actually overrepresented.

The study used a disparity index, where a score of 100 constitutes parity. Indian- and Pakistani-owned contractors rated 124. Latino firms rated 81. An index below 80 is considered “substantial disparity.”

Even among those groups underrepresented, the range was huge. African Americans were the most disadvantaged, scoring only 15. Chinese- and Filipino-owned firms fared little better with a score of 31.

Instituting an across-the-board policy to hire more minority contractors would not be an improvement, particularly if the same minority contractors ended up being hired over and over, simply to fill artificial quotas.

Even worse is the knee-jerk reaction in the other direction to eliminate race-conscious decisions in awarding contracts. That response produced Proposition 209 in California, which instituted a colorblind policy that has resulted in greater and greater disparities between white and Californians of color, in everything from education to health care.

In this case, CalTrans is moving in the right direction. They are asking that a small portion of highway funds be used to address the disadvantages faced by blacks, women and certain Asian Pacific American, contractors. What is also needed is aggressive outreach to find more and new qualified contractors in these underrepresented communities.

Diversity means being aware of and understanding differences; then using that understanding to bring communities together for a fuller, stronger society.

Greater Share of California Highway Funds for APA Firms

http://www.asianweek.com/2007/08/10/greater-share-of-california-highway-funds-for-apa-firms/

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The California Department of Transportation has identified Asian Pacific American owned firms as among those underutilized and eligible for $3 billion in federal highway funds.

The state transportation agency has submitted a plan seeking a federal waiver to use race-conscious programs to allot 13.5 percent of highway funds for Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) programs during fiscal year 2008.

Half of the 13.5 percent will be race-conscious, while the other half will be race-neutral, pending federal approval. Defined by federal regulations, DBEs are small businesses that are both economically and socially disadvantaged.

“The federal government has required the state to meet approved DBE goals,” said Caltrans Director Will Kempton, “and if the state were to fail to meet those goals, we would jeopardize our federal transportation dollars.”

“There was evidence of disparity for both construction and engineering [in most of Caltrans districts] for both prime contracts and subcontracts,” said Kimpton. “Depending on the type of contracts, disparities between utilization and availability was most severe among African American, Asian Pacific American, Native American and women-owned firms.”

The study by Denver’s BBC Research and Consulting found that groups who were properly represented included subcontinent Asian Americans (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka) and Latinos.

Caltrans efforts were praised, particularly in collecting and tracking data in minority and women firms.

“I am really happy to see that Caltrans is making a commitment to go that route,” said Eddy Lau of San Francisco’s Asian American Architects and Engineers.

Lau’s organization said prime contractors should advertise for and solicit DBE subcontractors. AAAE criticized them for “go[ing] through the motions” and recommended that Caltrans should evaluate the primes’ “good efforts.”

The Filipino American Society of Architects and Engineers in Southern California reported that only about ten of 200 members are certified as DBEs with Caltrans. “It’s lip service,” complained one Asian contractor, “because major primes use the same DBE firms and do not outreach.”

While Caltrans could contract federal highway dollars with limited race-conscious programs, state transportation dollars cannot be used under Proposition 209, a 1996 state constitutional amendment barring the use of race in public contracting.

Public comments on the Caltrans DBE goal and methodology will be taken until September 14. For more information: www.dot.ca.gov/hq/bep.

View Archived News

 

 

Public Notice

Caltrans Industry Forums - April 24th and April 25th, 2007

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION CIVIL RIGHTS
1823 - 14TH STREET, MS-79
SACRAMENTO, CA 95814
Phone (916) 324- 0552
Toll Free (866) 810-6346
Fax (916) 324-1949
TTY 711

April 11, 2007

Dear Industry Association and Community Leader,

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) must implement the Federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program in order to receive U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) funds. Recent legal decisions and guidance from USDOT have led Caltrans to reexamine how it implements the Program. As a result, Caltrans is conducting a Disparity Study that will serve to assist Caltrans and local governments in implementing their DBE Programs in accordance with 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 26, and the Federal DBE Program.

The Study includes an analysis of the experiences of vendors and contractors with Caltrans and local agencies in connection with Caltrans' implementation of their DBE Program, and involves an analysis of whether or not there is evidence of discrimination or its effects in the transportation contracting industry in California.

You have been identified as an industry association and community leader and are invited to attend a Disparity Study Industry Forum to offer accounts of experiences and incidents by vendors and contractors in the California public transportation contracting industry, many of whom may be members of the organization you represent.

Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Whether or not firms face difficulties or barriers when bidding as prime contractors, subcontractors, or suppliers;
  • Whether or not business owners believe they have been treated fairly or unfairly based on their race, ethnicity or gender;
  • Whether or not prime contractors solicit, or fail to solicit, bids or price quotes from DBEs on non-DBE goal projects; and
  • Whether or not there is a level playing field for firms in access to capital, bonding and insurance.

The Industry Forums will be held at the following Caltrans locations:

  • Tuesday, April 24, 2007 from 9:00 am - 12:00 Noon
    • Sacramento 1823 14th Street, Room 207, Sacramento, CA
    • Fresno 2015 E. Shields, Sequoia Room #127, Fresno, CA
    • San Diego 4050 Taylor Street, San Diego, CA
  • Wednesday, April 25, 2007 from 9:00 am - 12:00 Noon
    • Los Angeles 100 So. Main, 1st Floor Conference Room A, Los Angeles, CA
    • Stockton 1976 E. Charter Way, Room #51, Stockton, CA
    • Oakland 111 Grand Avenue, 15th Floor Park View Conference Room, Oakland, CA

If you are unable to personally attend a public hearing to provide us your testimony, you may submit it electronically to Robert_Padilla@dot.ca.gov or by US mail to: Caltrans Office of Civil Rights, 1823 14th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 Attention: Robert Padilla.

In the meantime, should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (916) 324-0552 or by e-mail at .

Sincerely,
ROBERT PADILLA
Disparity Study Project Manager

Caltrans Public Hearing - March 20 - April 4, 2007

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is conducting an Availability and Disparity Study. The Study will serve to assist Caltrans and local governments in implementing their DBE Programs in accordance with 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 26. A Disparity Study Interim Report has been prepared and will appear on the Department's website at http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/bep/. The final Study is expected to be completed June 30, 2007.

The Study includes an analysis of the experiences of vendors and contractors with Caltrans and local agencies in connection with implementation of their DBE Program, and involves an analysis of whether or not there is evidence of discrimination or its effects in the transportation contracting industry in California. The California transportation contracting industry includes contracts funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and administered by Caltrans and local agencies as a primary recipient and sub-recipient of FHWA and FTA funds.

Public Hearings will be held statewide. The purpose of the Public Hearings is to obtain personal testimony and accounts of experiences and incidents by vendors and contractors in the California public transportation contracting industry. The information Caltrans will be seeking includes, but is not limited to:

  • Whether or not firms face difficulties or barriers when bidding as prime contractors, subcontractors, or suppliers;
  • Whether or not business owners believe they have been treated fairly or unfairly based on their race, ethnicity or gender;
  • Whether or not prime contractors solicit, or fail to solicit, bids or price quotes from DBEs on non-DBE goal projects; and
  • Whether or not there is a level playing field for firms in access to capital, bonding and insurance.

Public Hearings are scheduled as follows:

  • Tuesday, March 20, 2007
    • Stockton: 1976 Charter Way, Room #56/71, Stockton, CA from 3:00 - 7:00 pm; contact Germaine Gordon at (209) 941-1923.
    • Eureka: 1656 Union Street, Eureka, CA from 3:00 - 7:00 pm; contact Brenda Bowie at (707) 441-5814.
    • San Bernardino: 655 West 2nd Street, Room # 201, San Bernardino, CA from 3:00 - 7:00 pm; contact Rhody Soria at (909) 383-4285.
  • Thursday, March 22, 2007
    • San Diego: 4050 Taylor Street, San Diego, CA from 3:30 - 7:30 pm; contact Nellie Richardson at (619) 220-7343.
    • Sacramento: 1020 O Street, Auditorium, Sacramento, CA from 3:00 - 7:00 pm; contact Evelyn Dodson at (530) 741-4354 or Delores Rogers-Phillips (916) 324-0987.
    • Fresno: 2015 E. Shields, Yosemite Room #145, Fresno, CA from 3:00-7:00 pm; contact Pam Gentleman at (559) 445-6925.
  • Tuesday, March 27, 2007
    • Oakland: 111 Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA from 3:00 - 7:00 pm; contact Ruby Louie at (510) 286-5898.
    • Bishop: 500 South Main Street, Room 305, Coffee Room, Bishop, CA from 3:00 - 7:00 pm, contact Suzi Carter at (760) 872-0719.
    • San Luis Obispo: 50 Higuera Street, Cypress Room, San Luis Obispo, CA from 3:00 - 7:00 pm; contact Gillian McCallum at (805) 549-3037.
  • Thursday, March 29, 2007
    • Los Angeles: 100 So. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA from 1:00 - 4:00 pm; contact Norma Dorsey at (213) 897-6107.
    • Irvine: 3347 Michelson Drive 1st Floor, Room C1-165, Irvine, CA from 3:00 - 7:00 pm; contact Norma Quezada at (949) 724-2344.
    • Redding: 4300 Caterpillar Road, Redding, CA from 3:00 - 7:00 pm; contact Rebecca Selby at (530) 225-3529.
  • Wednesday, April 4, 2007
    • San Jose: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Auditorium, 3331 North First Street, Building A, San Jose, CA from 3:00 - 7:00 pm; contact Ruby Louie at (510) 286-5898.
    • Los Angeles: 100 So. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA from 1:00 - 4:00 pm; contact Norma Dorsey at (213) 897-6107.

If you are unable to attend a public hearing to provide Caltrans your testimony, you may submit it electronically to Robert_Padilla@dot.ca.gov; or by US mail to: Caltrans Office of Civil Rights, 1823 14th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 Attention: Robert Padilla no later than April 20, 2007.

For more information on the Availability and Disparity Study, contact Robert Padilla, Disparity Study Project Manager at (916) 324-0552 or Robert_Padilla@dot.ca.gov.

 

Press Release

Governor Calls for Small, Disadvanted Business to Participate in California's Infrastructure Growth http://gov.ca.gov/index.php/press-release/2536/

Current information from the census dept.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/005514.html

 

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