RTD exceeds goals for minority participation in FasTracks

The Regional Transportation District has exceeded its contracting targets for small and disadvantaged businesses with awards totaling $480 million on FasTracks projects such as the West Rail Line, Denver Union Station and the Interstate 225 Light Rail Line.

In addition, RTD's Small Business Enterprise/Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, Workforce Initiative Now (WIN) and Technical Assistance Intitiatives programs have helped hundreds of workers and small businesses in the Denver area.

"Throughout my career I've seen what unemployment and a lack of opportunities can do to communities in both big cities and more rural areas," says RTD General Manager Phil Washington, who created RTD’s WIN program. "We implemented our ... programs to train workers for RTD and the broader metro area community, and to give small-business enterprises the chance to compete for high-profile construction and transit-oriented jobs that might not otherwise have come their way."

For example, RTD recently awarded four on-call construction contracts to prime contractors. Three of the four contracts went to African-American-owned prime contractors (Gilmore Construction, ITP and Sky Blue Builders). Each of the prime contractors is supported by diverse teams of Denver-area small or disadvantaged businesses. The fourth prime (Krische) identified more than 20 Denver-area small or disadvantaged businesses that subcontract for the company.

Since October 2010, nine groups of up to 25 students each have gone through WIN, which combines classroom and in-the-field job training. Currently, 179 people are employed in 50 different disciplines within RTD's FasTracks program, which is building out the region’s light-rail and commuter-rail lines. Additionally, WIN participants have been placed within RTD's rail and bus operations divisions as administrative support, mechanics, operators and maintenance providers.

Contact Confluence Denver Development News Editor Margaret Jackson with tips and leads for future stories at margaret@confluence-denver.com.