Ohio Governor John Kasich has announced that 20 percent of the $267 million Opportunity Corridor project will be earmarked for the use of Cleveland-area minority and disadvantaged business enterprise (MDBE) construction firms. Additionally, 20 percent of the workforce for the project must be residents of the Cleveland wards abutting the project location.
Of the money intended for MDBE firms, the funds will be further divided based on particular disadvantaged group. Black-owned companies are allocated 8.5 percent, or $22.7 million of the total contract awards; Hispanic-owned companies and Asian/Native American companies are each respectively assigned 1.5 percent or $4 million. All other companies that are certified as disadvantaged businesses, which include female-owned businesses, are in line for an 8.5 percent, or $22.7 million share. While the Governor confirmed that these numbers are merely goals for the project, he reassured interested parties that he will be personally over-seeing his cabinet members to help the goals be met.
Later in the announcement, the Governor named Jacqueline Williams, the current chief of the minority business development division of the Ohio Development Services Agency, as the point person on this project. Kasich also revealed that alongside with the contracting pledges, the project will commit $500,000 to the Ohio Means Jobs program for on-the-job training for 80 residents in various jobs to help locals get work on the Opportunity Corridor project.
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