t u r n i n g - wcoewcoeusa.org/sites/default/files/august 2010 turning point.pdf · building...
TRANSCRIPT
Programs for our mid-year meeting are almost finalized; and as you
know, we have made plans to hold this meeting in Houston, Texas.
There were several reasons for this decision but the most important
was to reach out to "fellow" women contractors in the area. The
women contracting community was adversely impacted by a recent
disparity study that found discrimination against women in the
construction industry did not exist in Houston and therefore removed
women from the affirmative action program.
By WCOE members gathering in Houston, we hope to express our
support of women businesses in the area and also provide our
members with outstanding programs. One such session will discuss
how to secure contracting opportunities with the Federal Government
from the prime....to subcontractor....to supplier levels. Also, Deborah
Wilder, former WCOE National President and current legislative chair
will bring us up to the minute on recent federal legislation impacting
our businesses. Social networking is always one of the highlights of
our conferences. Please come prepared with business cards and be
ready to share your stories, knowledge and experiences with old and
new friends.
WCOE is a very unique organization that is strengthened by the
quality and information sharing of its members....we need your
participation to make our organization even better. See you in
Houston!
Regards,
Theresa Kern
Inside This Issue
1 Message from the President
1 Quote of the Month
2 Upcoming Events
2 House Passes Small Business Jobs and Credit Act
2 Support for ConsensusDocs Construction Contracts Grows as WCOE Joins
Coalition 3 WCOE Central Region
Report 4 Executive Director’s
Report 5 California Court Rules on
Proposition 209
Challenge 5 Congress is in Recess –
Time for a Visit 6 Tentative Schedule for
WCOE 2010 Mid-Year Meeting
7 WCOE 2010 Mid-Year Meeting Registration Form
T U R N I N G Point
VOLUME 27 ISSUE 7
WOMEN CONSTRUCTION OWNERS & EXECUTIVES, USA
August 2010
WCOE, USA National Office
1004 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA22314
Phone: (800) 788-3548
Fax: (202) 330-5151
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.wcoeusa.org
Gina Marton, Executive Director
Quote of the Month
“What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for
the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not
enough, that you have got to have hard work and a
certain sense of purpose.”
~Margaret Thatcher
Message from the President By Theresa Kern
PAGE 2 TURNING POINT
WCOE Mid-Year Meeting
October 17 – 18, 2010
Houston, TX
More information on page 7
Upcoming Events
(If you know of events, that you would like to see added to this section of the Turning Point,
please email the information to Gina Marton, Executive Director at: [email protected])
House Passes Small Business Jobs and Credit Act
By Deborah Wilder
Support for ConsensusDOCS Construction Contracts Grows as WCOE Joins Coalition
Last month, the House passed the Small Business Jobs and Credit
Act. The bill deals with the regulation of banking and the mandate
that small business loans be part of the Recovery Funding. The Bill
establishes a $30 billion Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF).
Additionally, it requires each institution receiving a capital
investment under the program to: (1) issue a quarterly report
detailing new loans to small businesses; and (2) state on its internet
website that, as a participant in the program, it is seeking to make
small business loans to qualified borrowers and may not
discriminate on the basis of any factor prohibited under the Equal
Credit Opportunity Act, including race, color, religion, national
origin, sex, marital status, or age. For more information, you can
view the full text of the bill at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-
bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.r.05297:
The bill was blocked by a Republican filibuster last week in the
Senate. However, there is some thought that the bill may be passed
later this year with some additional amendments.
WCOE has announced that it has joined the ConsensusDOCS coalition, which creates standard contract
documents for use by all participants in the construction industry.
ConsensusDOCS are the first and only industry standard contracts written and endorsed by 27 leading
construction organizations. ConsensusDOCS help you achieve better results for your construction projects!
Unlike other standard contracts, ConsensusDOCS fairly allocate risk to help reduce adversarial negotiations and
costly contingencies while creating a better contractual foundation. With 90+ documents, editable to meet your
project-specific needs, they are cost-effective and address cutting-edge issues as well as practical needs,
including:
Building Information Modeling (BIM) Integrated Project Delivery (IPD)
Green Building Design-Build
Electronic Communications Owner Financial Information
WCOE endorses ConsensusDOCS, and as a WCOE member, you are entitled to a 20% discount on all
ConsensusDOCS products! We will be sending out a special email to members with ConsensusDOCS order
forms and a WCOE promotion code to receive the discount.
WCOE Members:
Do you have news, announcements, or
articles about your company that you
would like people to know about?
Email them to Kim Reome at
[email protected] to have
them posted online on WCOE’s
LinkedIn and Twitter pages. To have
items posted in the Turning Point, please
email them to Gina Marton at
PAGE 3 TURNING POINT
The Central region of WCOE continues to email daily any information on
current projects out for bid to all members of the Central Region unless the
member requests to be removed from the list. If you are not on the list,
please contact April Ramirez at [email protected] to be added.
WCOE members attended a National Nuclear Security Administration
(NNSA) informational meeting held on July 21st. This meeting stated the
goals set for the NNSA plant project and an introduction of the selected
contractors that are taking bids for various bid packages.
We have also informed members by email of an informational meeting
being offered by the City of KCMO regarding "Mastering the Maze of
Bidding" in Kansas City to be held on August 5th.
WCOE's Central Region will be holding an October Luncheon with the
Minority and Women Coalition of Greater Kansas City. This will be an
informational luncheon about the processes used by various government
agencies in the bidding process.
President – Theresa Kern MA Steel Erectors Worth, IL (708) 597-5810 [email protected]
Senior Vice President – Rosana Privitera-Biondo Mark One Electric Company, Inc. Kansas City, MO (816) 842-7023 [email protected] Vice President – Rosemary R. Barbour Alcatec, LLC Flowood, MS (601) 368-4542 [email protected]; [email protected]
Secretary – Caryn Boisen Larson King, LLP St. Paul, MN (651) 312-6529
Treasurer – Kristine Cook Lindsey CEI Group Howell, MI (517) 548-0039 [email protected] Immediate Past President – Deborah Wilder Contractors Compliance and Monitoring San Mateo, CA (650) 551-5583 [email protected] Corporate Alliance Partner Chair – Karen Corbin A and H Insurance Reno, NV (775) 829-2600 [email protected]
Membership Chair – Lee Cunningham Bay Tank and Boiler Works Eureka, CA (707) 443-0934
East Central Regional Director – Gina Raffin Scale Construction Chicago, IL [email protected]
Central Regional Director - Jane Weiland Gateway Building Products of Missouri Kansas City, MO [email protected]
Western Regional Director – Sandi Sinicrope ASF Millworks & Design, Inc. Alhambra, CA [email protected]
North Eastern Regional Director - Deborah Bradley Deborah Bradley Constr. & Management Services, Inc. New York, NY [email protected]
WCOE Executive Committee and Regional Directors
WCOE Central Region Report By Jane Weiland and Rosie Privitera-Biondo
Rosie Privitera-Biondo
(above) and Jane
Weiland (below)
Jane Weiland
WCOE Central Regional Director
Rosie Privitera-Biondo
WCOE Senior Vice President
PAGE 4 TURNING POINT
Executive Director’s Report
By Gina Marton
On Monday, July 26 I attended the 2010 OSDBU Small Business Vendor Day in the beautiful offices
of the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. which focused on procurement
opportunities at USDOT with an emphasis on Women Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs). The
Vendor Day included panel sessions on issues related to WOSBs and public policy and initiatives
underway at the DOT to promote contracting and networking opportunities for small businesses.
Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood along with OSDBU Director, Brandon Neal, and Executive
Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls, Tina Tchen, addressed the attendees and
announced the expansion of the USDOT’s Women and Girls Internship program to encourage young
women to pursue careers in the transportation infrastructure industry and inspire them to enter the
science, engineering, and technology fields. The DOT program will now expand from one to all
eleven Offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) regions enabling young
women from colleges and universities across the country to participate. The program, based on a
successful pilot with Spelman College in Atlanta in 2009, is part of a broader effort led by the White
House Council on Women and Girls to ensure that programs and polices of federal executive
departments and agencies take into account the distinct needs and concerns of women and girls.
One of the OSDBU panels moderated by Ginger Lew, Senior Counselor to the Director of National
Economic Council and presented by Congresswoman Laura Richardson and Congresswoman Donna
Edwards, discussed public policy and congressional updates. In their presentation they talked about
their awareness for changes that need to take place on a number of issues women-owned firms have
been struggling to change for many years such as achieving a uniform certification process,
unbundling contracts, and to have better reporting, just to name a few. They also discussed House
Bill H.R. 4814 called the “Not Too Small to Succeed in Business Act” also known as the “Small
Business Reform Act of 2010”, which was introduced in March 2010. This bill addresses the need to
raise the net worth and income caps, to extend eligibility limits, and increase participation periods in
the program.
Also this month, WCOE is proud to announce that we have signed a memorandum of understanding
with ConsensusDOCS and are now part of the ConsensusDOCS Coalition which creates standard
contract documents for use by all participants in the construction industry. As ConsensusDOCS
partners, WCOE members will receive a 20% discount on the purchase of all of their contract
documents and products. For more information see page 2.
Lastly, we are looking forward to seeing you in October at our Mid-Year Meeting in Houston, where
we have an excellent program and networking opportunities lined up for you. The conference agenda
and registration form are included in the Turning Point so be sure to register soon!
Gina Marton
WCOE Executive Director
PAGE 5 TURNING POINT
While Congress is in recess in August, this is a perfect time for WCOE members to visit your
representatives from Congress and the Senate. Remember to take along a copy of WCOE’s position
California Court Rules on Proposition 209 Challenge By Deborah Wilder
By Carol J. Patterson ~ Senior Partner at Zeitlan & De Chiara LLP
The California voters approved Proposition 209 at the November 1996 general election, adding Section 31 to
Article I of the state Constitution. Section 31 declares that the State, including its political subdivisions, “shall
not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex,
color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public
contracting.” (§ 31, subd. (a)). San Francisco continues to maintain certain ordinances regarding the use of
women and minority owned business enterprises in regards to the award of city contracts. The City argues that
these procurement goals are an exception to Section 31 in order to keep the City eligible for the receipt of federal
funds.
In 2000, the California Supreme Court held that Section 31 invalidated the City of San Jose’s public contracting
program because it mandated participation goals for, and preferential outreach efforts directed to, MBE’s and
WBE’s (Hi-Voltage, supra, 24 Cal.4th 537, 562-565).
Coral Construction then filed suit against the City of San Francisco challenging the local ordinance. The superior
court granted the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment stating the City’s ordinance was not an exception to
Section 31 and was not necessary to maintain eligibility for federal funds.
The California Supreme Court ruled last week Section 31 poses no obstacle to federal funding requirements and
race- or gender-conscious measures required by federal law or the federal Constitution would be allowed in
California. In order to defeat Coral Construction’s summary judgment motion, San Francisco would have to
show that triable issues of fact exist on each of the factual predicates for its federal compulsion claim, namely:
(1) that the City has purposefully or intentionally discriminated against MBE’s and WBE’s; (2) that the
purpose of the City’s 2003 ordinance is to provide a remedy for such discrimination; (3) that the ordinance is
narrowly tailored to achieve that purpose; and (4) that a race- and gender-conscious remedy is necessary as the
only, or at least the most likely, means of rectifying the resulting injury. If any of these points can be resolved as
a matter of law in the plaintiff’s favor, it follows that the City cannot establish federal compulsion and that the
plaintiffs are entitled to summary judgment. The matter was remanded back to the lower court for review and
opinion. To read the full court opinion, go to:
http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/mainCaseScreen.cfm?dist=0&doc_id=1884612&doc_no=S152934
paper (found on our website) and also remind your Congress member that we support Senator Olympia Snowe’s bipartisan
bill Fairness in Women-Owned Small Business Contracting Act of 2010. The bill is still in the Senate Small Business
Committee, but could use our help to keep moving.
The Fairness in Women-Owned Small Business Contracting Act of 2010 will provide women entrepreneurs with the tools
they need to compete fairly in the federal contracting arena by allowing for receipt of non-competitive contracts when
circumstances permit. Moreover, the legislation would eliminate a restriction on the dollar amount of a contract that
women-owned small businesses can compete for, putting them on a level playing field with the other federal small
business socio-economic contracting programs. The federal government has consistently failed to meet its annual
women’s contracting goal of five percent, and this legislation will assist in satisfying, if not exceeding that goal. (Read
more at http://snowe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=d0135437-
802a-23ad-49c1-5f82e8e1cbf4).
Congress is in Recess – Time for a Visit
PAGE 6 TURNING POINT
Tentative Schedule for WCOE 2010 Mid-Year Meeting
8:00 am Breakfast Buffet
Welcome and State of the Organization: Theresa Kern, WCOE National President
Legislative Updates and How to Identify and Bid on ARRA Funded Projects in Your Area:
Deborah Wilder, WCOE Legislative Chair
Presentation: Strategies and Tactics to Win Federal Contracts:
How to be a Successful in this Demanding but Lucrative Market Gloria Berthold Larkin, President
TargetGov at Marketing Outsource Associates, Inc.
Presentation: Bonding
TBD
Lunch
Presentation: "Not Too Small to Succeed in Business Act of 2010"
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee - Tentative
Presentation: Disparity Studies
Colette Holt, Attorney at Law - Tentative
Presentation: Beyond Low Bid – Building Profitable Relationships for Growth
Wendy Kram, President Entrespect
5:00 - 7:00 pm
Networking Reception
1004 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 p (800) 788-3548 f (202) 330-5151 www.wcoeusa.org
Women Construction Owners & Executives, USA
PAGE 7 TURNING POINT