ODOT Working To Get More Minority Contractors on Northeast Ohio Bridge, Roadway Projects
By Alison Grant, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The top official of the Ohio Department of Transportation's Cleveland-area operations said the agency is ramping up efforts to award construction contracts to minority-owned businesses.
Myron Pakush, deputy director of ODOT's District 12, said that not enough minority-owned companies are in the pipeline -- certified as disadvantaged business enterprises and pre-qualified for highway and bridge projects -- to be tapped for ODOT work in Northeast Ohio.
The agency wants to help remove barriers to raise the number of minority contractors and subcontractors on projects such as Opportunity Corridor and the Lakefront West Project that is adding links between the West Shoreway and Lake Erie.
Myron Pakush, deputy director of District 12 of the Ohio Department of Transportation, talks Tuesday about a push by ODOT to get more Hispanic- and African-American-owned construction companies on roadway projects.Alison Grant, The Plain Dealer
"We want to encourage more African-American and Hispanic and other minority contractors to become DBE-certified," Pakush said Tuesday.