THE OREGONIAN

MINORITY ALLIANCE CONTRACT
DRAWS NATIONAL ATTENTION

Date: Friday, July 25, 2003
Section: LOCAL STORIES
Edition: SUNRISE

Page: E01 ANGIE CHUANG - The Oregonian
Illustration: Color Photo by BENJAMIN BRINK of The Oregonian staff

Summary: People are asking how the group won a parking management bid in Portland, where there's a small minority-owned base

Ever since the city awarded its $4.35 million, five-year downtown parking garage management contract to an alliance of minority business associations, Roy Jay has been hearing from business people all over the country.

They ask: "How the heck did you do this in Portland, Oregon?" says Jay, president of Portland's African American Chamber of Commerce.

The responses underscore what Jay, as well as Latino and Asian American business leaders, tout as a major victory in a city with a relatively small base of minority-owned businesses. The Alliance of Minority Business Chambers, formed specifically to bid on this contract, could usher in a new era in city contracting, they say.

The African American Chamber of Commerce, Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Oregon and Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber have partnered with Star Park to run the six city-owned Smart Park garages, which offer short-term downtown parking.

The city awarded the contract in late May, choosing the chambers over the Portland Business Alliance, which had previously managed the garages with City Center Parking as parking operator. The contract took effect July 1.

The chambers decided to bid for the contract as a way to raise their profile, to offer subcontracts to minority businesses and to generate money for their activities and programs. They chose Star Park to bid with them.

The new contract presents a savings to the city of $400,000 a year. Minority chamber leaders have pledged to address long-standing concerns, such as the cleanliness of the garages.

Chamber leaders such as Jay say Smart Park is a milestone because it shattered the status quo in the contracting process -- long a contentious one for minority business owners, who claimed an old-boys-network mentality kept them from getting large city contracts.

Ron Bergman, director of the city's Bureau of General Services, isn't as quick to characterize the parking contract as a big shift. "We have a long history of using a competitive process for our contracts, and that's exactly what this is," he said.

Expertise cited
The chambers, Bergman said, got the contract primarily because of Star Park's expertise.

If city officials aren't raising their eyebrows, national minority business organizations are.

"I know of no other community anywhere in the United States where a consortium of chambers won a bid for management of any city facility," said Yolanda Ortega Stern, president of the Federation of Philippine-American Chambers of Commerce.

The minority chambers will have to make sure its management structure is airtight, she said -- it's a daring concept, and some competitors might be looking for it to fail.

"All eyes will be on this group," she said.

Minority chamber leaders, who established a panel of representatives from each organization to manage the contract, say they're up to the challenge. In fact, they're bidding for marketing of downtown parking services, too. Worth about $400,000, the marketing was split off from the original all-inclusive Smart Park contract.

The minority chambers aren't stopping there. Leaders say they have sights set on possible contracts from South Waterfront and Memorial Coliseum development projects. They want a wide network of connections with specialized companies, whether parking garage management or construction.

Volunteers submit contracts
It won't be easy. Among them, the three chambers have only three full-time and one part-time paid staff members -- all of whom work for the Hispanic chamber -- so most of the bid writing and contract management is being done by volunteers. By contrast, the Portland Business Alliance has 40 full-time staff members working on a large number of business promotion and support programs. Six and one-half positions were eliminated after the business alliance lost the parking contract.

Already, the minority chambers have encountered complaints from the Service Employees International Union Local 49 about not hiring unionized janitors to clean the garages. The previous janitors hired by the Portland Business Alliance had been union members.

Barry Schlesinger, manager of Star Park, said the city never mandated unionization in the request-for-proposal process.

"If it had been a requirement, we would have met it," Schlesinger said. "I'm all for janitors being paid a living wage, and ours are."

Alice Dale, Local 49 president, said her main concern is for future contracts.

"We think it's great that the city wants to work with minority chambers," Dale said, "but they (the chambers) should work with people who treat their workers fairly."

Better business environment
Gale Castillo, executive director of the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber, said ultimately, the chambers' success is about not only diversity but also a better business environment.

"The way we approached this was not from a token point of view, but as equal partners in the process," she said. "This is not just about minority businesses; this is about opening up contracting opportunities for everybody."

Diversity was considered by the citizen evaluation committee, which recommended awarding the contract to the minority chambers. But it was the least weighted category, Bergman said. "The way that category is scored, I'm not sure it gives them an advantage over someone else that has an active program to encourage diversity," he said.

In early May, the seven-member committee of city officials and citizens gave the minority chambers and Star Park's proposal a 9.1 out of 10 in diversity. The Portland Business Alliance received a 6.7. The minority chambers also outscored the business alliance in cost/financial benefit -- the most-weighted category -- references and firm experience.

Kevin Montgomery-Smith, spokesman for the Portland Business Alliance, said diversity has always been a priority in his organization.

"We have riders on our contracts asking for all subcontractors to use the best candidates possible within a broad range of incomes and nationalities," he said.

National ties
The minority alliance's ties to national chambers offer unique benefits. Its members have applied to the national African American Chamber of Commerce for a subsidy that would be added city payments to help pay for operating expenses and, potentially, augment wages and benefits.

Jaime Lim , president of the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Oregon, said he's confident that the minority alliance can take on the management of multiple large contracts.

"We want to go after every opportunity we have a chance to do, if we can do it," Lim said. "We will joint-venture with more experienced people."

Another goal of Lim's is to involve more of the Asian American business community.

Ramon Rodriguez, chief operating officer of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said the minority alliance's new venture reflects a trend among business organizations nationwide.

"A move that corporate America is endorsing is to see traditionally nonprofit entities engaging in for-profit activities to generate income for themselves," he said, "as opposed to just going out and soliciting funds."

Angie Chuang: 503-221-8219; angiechuang@news.oregonian.com

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