MINORITY CONTRACTORS GET SHARE OF SEMO WORK

Companies owned by minorities and women have been awarded nearly 15 percent of the $15.8 million worth of work on Southeast Missouri State University's College of Business building, surpassing a state goal.

The figure drops to nearly 9 percent when all other construction projects at Southeast are included.

In contrast, university records show only about 4 percent of the school's general-purchase orders go to minority- and female-owned businesses. The university encourages more of those companies to bid for campus business.

"We are trying to actively target minority and women vendors and encourage them to participate in the process,' said Laura Stock, Southeast's director of purchasing.

The university, which spends about $15 million a year on goods and services, wants to do as much business as possible with local firms. To that end, it is holding a seminar today at the Show Me Center to instruct local businesses on the university's purchasing procedures, which are governed by state law.

The morning seminar is co-sponsored by the Cape Girardeau, Scott City and Jackson chambers of commerce.

"Sometimes the process can seem very complex and confusing," said Dr. Ken Dobbins, university executive vice president.

"We are developing a vendor registration process so we can register and track all university vendors," Stock said.

State bond money is being used to construct the business building. In August 1994, Missourians approved a constitutional amendment authorizing the state to issue $250 million in bonds for construction of prisons and university buildings. The amendment, drafted by lawmakers, stipulated that the governor's Office of Administration would develop a plan to allow minority businesses an opportunity to get a piece of the contracting pie.

The resulting plan calls for 5 percent participation by minority contractors on the state-bond-funded projects in outstate Missouri and 10 percent participation in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas.

Randy Allen, director of the state's Division of Design and Construction, said the percentages are goals. "It is not a set-aside or quota," he said.

Allen said minority contractors have to meet the same requirements as other bidders.

Waivers can be obtained from the state if good-faith but unsuccessful efforts have been made to secure qualified minority contractors.

Allen said the goal is achievable in most cases.

Southeast officials were concerned at first as to whether the school could meet the goal. But Dobbins said it hasn't been a problem. "It worked very well," he said.

The goal doesn't apply to other capital projects at Missouri's public colleges that aren't funded with money from the state bond issue.

Outside of higher education, Missouri has followed such a policy on construction of state buildings for about 10 years, Allen said.

In addition, Gov. Mel Carnahan signed an executive order that sets a goal of awarding 5 percent of state contracts to minority vendors. The executive order took effect January 1994.

Under state law, Southeast must take bids for any purchases over $3,000, Stock said.

Southeast, she said, has made strides in recent years to do more business with minority-owned firms. But that isn't easy in outstate Missouri, where generally there are few minority-owned businesses.

The university has done business with a handful of local companies where the majority ownership rests with women. One such business is SEMO Ready Mix, which is one of the subcontractors on the business building project.

Black-owned businesses are even rarer in this area.

Dawn Evans, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the group wants to hold a seminar to aid blacks in starting businesses.

"I talk to people who have the talents and experience, but it is not always easy for people in the African American community to get small-business loans and get started," Evans said.