NEWS INFORMATION FROM |
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THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED |
FOR IMMEDIATE USE |
ATLANTA OLYMPICS DIVERSITY MODEL EMBRACED BY HARRISBURGMayor Stephen R. Reed today said that the City of Harrisburg has embraced the diversity and minority business development model utilized in Atlanta, Georgia for the construction of the Summer Olympics Project. The program utilized there was successful in increasing the percentage and extent of minority-owned business involvement in providing materials, supplies and professional services, as well as direct involvement in construction work. The end result was a measurable increase in the start-up, expansion and growth of minority owned businesses. “This is a goal worthy of full support from the public, private and non-profit sectors. Inclusiveness in the day-to-day business affairs of the region, by assuring business opportunities for minority-owned businesses and entrepreneurs, makes good business sense and serves to strengthen us economically, socially and culturally,” Reed said. Reed said the model utilized in Atlanta, which was successful, evolved through an extensive planning and implementation effort there. “There is no need to reinvent the wheel. A proven systemic and structured approach to achieving minority business development offers good example to every other place,” the mayor stated. The Atlanta Diversity Model is now joined with other existing initiatives, already underway, aimed at minority business inclusion on procurement, professional services, and construction work. Titled the “Atlanta Construction Model: Building Blocks for the American Dream,” a team from Atlanta that helped craft and implement the program is in Harrisburg and the midstate today and tomorrow to advise local governmental and business leaders on how to maximize local diversity efforts. They include Karen Curry, the Atlanta United Way’s economic development director, who heads the Atlanta delegation; Miguel Candelaria, a major contractor, and Hebrew L. Dixon, a major construction manager. The delegation met with a select group of local corporate executives in the Mayor’s Office in Harrisburg today and will be meeting with local leaders in Lancaster city tonight. Business Builders Worldwide, a Lancaster minority-owned construction and engineering firm, arranged the delegation’s visit. BBW is already in a joint venture with Reynolds Construction Management, Inc., of Harrisburg for the John Harris Campus Renovation and Expansion Project of the Harrisburg School District and the upcoming Commerce Bank Park upgrade and expansion on City Island. Miguel Candelaria, since founding the company known as MA&O in 1995, has become one of the most successful Hispanic CEOs in the construction industry. Hebrew L. Dixon has been responsible for delivering millions of dollars in opportunity to the M/WBE community in his liaison roles with construction titans Fluor Daniel, Turner Construction and America’s largest African American construction firm, H.J. Russell. Mr. Dixon is now CEO of his own consulting firm, Circle D Enterprises. Karen Curry, as economic development director of Metro Atlanta’s United Way, extended the organization’s mission into small business development and thus maximized its economic impact. “We are fortunate to have snared a delegation of this caliber to share their experience and look forward to using it to improve our current posture on M/WBE utilization, not just in Harrisburg, but with the construction management team of Reynolds and Business Builders Worldwide anticipating work in Lancaster and elsewhere in the region,” said Reed. The delegation, at the invitation of the Uptown Economic Development Corporation, will travel to Lancaster for a 5 p.m. briefing with Lancaster Mayor Charlie Smithgall and his civic leadership who are planning to build a $129 million dollar Marriott Hotel and Convention Center. The group will end its mid-state visit by meeting with Central Pa minority and women business owners at 7 p.m. in the Spanish American Civic Association’s community building at 545 Pershing Avenue, Lancaster. |
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