PRESS  RELEASE
March 27, 2007 

MDC CLEAN WATER PROJECT FORMS COMMITTEE FOR OUTREACH
TO SMALL, MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES

HARTFORD – The Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) has formed a panel to help the MDC maximize the opportunities available for small, women- and minority-owned businesses in the $1 billion Clean Water Project to upgrade the region’s sewage system.

The Strategic Advisory Committee is comprised of leading business, government and construction leaders from throughout Connecticut, as well as MDC commissioners and staff.

“The MDC’s Clean Water Project represents a unique opportunity for many  sements of the region’s contractors and labor pool to become involved in the largest project in MDC history,” said Charles P. Sheehan, MDC Chief Executive Officer. “As a public agency, we are always mindful of our role in helping to open doors and to remove obstacles,” he said.

Members of the Strategic Advisory Committee are:

·        Bob Jackson, executive director of the Upper Albany Collaborative in Hartford;

·        Dr. Fred McKinney, executive director of the Connecticut Minority Suppliers Development Council;

·        John B. Farnham of the Associated General Contractors of Connecticut;

·        Lelah Campo, president of the Connecticut Associated Builders and Contractors;

·        Marco Torelli of Express Scripts, New York City;

·        Patricia Williams of the Hartford Housing Authority;

·        Meg Yetishefsky of the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services;

·        Lillian Ruiz of the City of Hartford Department of Human Relations;

·        Sam Hamilton of Hartford Economic Development Corp.;

·        William Cianci of the Construction Institute at the University of Hartford;

·        MDC Commissioners Richard Vicino of Rocky Hill and Adam Cloud of Hartford.

Mr. Sheehan as well as staff members Bob Weimar, Chief of Program Management, and Rick Gomez, the Clean Water Project’s Diversity Officer, will support the Strategic Advisory Committee’s work.

 The committee has held one meeting and will continue to meet to better define its scope and roles. Likely areas of activity include:

·        Helping businesses to have the tools to compete for contracts and to arrange joint ventures;

·        Examining and evaluating approaches to engaging minority and women-owned firms, such as including training and mentoring programs and apprenticeships. 

·        Ensuring contractor and subcontractor compliance with state and MDC hiring and contracting goals;

·        Communicating issues of concern to the public and keeping them informed of project schedules and activities.

“Over the next 15 years, the MDC’s Clean Water Project will create more than $100 million in opportunities for minority and women-owned firms,” said Mr. Vicino.  Mr. Cloud added, “These opportunities cover consulting, engineering, and related services. As the project moves from concept to drawing board to construction, the Strategic Advisory Committee will be a valued resource in our outreach.”

The MDC is a nonprofit municipal corporation chartered by the Connecticut General Assembly in 1929. The MDC provides water, sewer and household hazardous waste collection services to its member municipalities: Bloomfield, East Hartford, Hartford, Newington, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor. In addition, under a series of special agreements, the District supplies treated water to Glastonbury, the southern portion of South Windsor, the eastern portion of Farmington, East Granby and Unionville.

The Clean Water Project includes reduction of combined sewer overflows with the Hartford Central Sewer System, and elimination of sanitary sewer overflows in the sanitary sewers of Wethersfield, West Hartford, Windsor, Rocky Hill and Newington.

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For further information:

Matt Nozzolio (860) 278-7850, ext. 3209

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